Texas Administrative Code
Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION
Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS
Chapter 3 - OIL AND GAS DIVISION
Section 3.45 - Oil Allowables
Universal Citation: 16 TX Admin Code § 3.45
Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Oil allowable yardsticks.
(1) 1947 allowable yardstick. The
following schedule allowable shall be assigned all wells according to depth of
the reservoir and proration unit size authorized by the commission upon
expiration of the discovery allowable, if discovery of the field occurred prior
to January 1, 1965, provided that paragraph (3) of this subsection does not
apply.
(2) 1965
allowable yardstick. The following schedule allowable shall be assigned all
wells according to depth of the reservoir and proration unit size authorized by
the commission upon expiration of the discovery allowable, if discovery of the
field occurred on or after January 1, 1965.
(3)
Exception. Wells in fields discovered prior to January 1, 1965, whose discovery
allowables either have expired or will expire subsequent to July 1, 1964, upon
expiration of the discovery allowable, may be assigned allowable pursuant to
the 1965 yardstick, if such allowables exceed those which would be assigned
pursuant to the 1947 yardstick, or if the proration unit size authorized by the
commission is not provided for in the 1947 yardstick. It is provided that any
adjustment made in allowable assignment pursuant to this paragraph shall not be
made prior to the effective date of this order. Retroactive adjustment shall
not be allowed.
(4) Texas offshore
allowable yardstick.
(5) The
maximum daily allowable for a horizontal drainhole oil well or an oil well in a
designated unconventional fracture treated (UFT) field is set forth in §
3.86(d)(4) and
(5) of this title (relating to Horizontal
Drainhole Wells).
(b) Assignment of allowables for wells under statewide rules.
(1) All wells completed in fields operating
under statewide rules which were assigned the 20-acre yardstick allowable prior
to the adoption of the new spacing rule on October 1, 1962, will be continued
at the same allowable rate unless, after notice and hearing, special rules or
other special orders are adopted that would provide for a higher producing
rate. Any new well completed in such a reservoir will be given the same
allowable rate as is assigned the other wells even though it has been drilled
as a regular location under the new statewide spacing rule and density
rule.
(2) All wells completed in
fields operating under statewide rules that are presently on discovery status
or have had discovery status terminated subsequent to the adoption of the new
state spacing rule on October 1, 1962, will be given the 40-acre yardstick
allowable, until such time as a change is ordered by the commission.
(c) Production of marginal wells.
(1) To artificially curtail the production of
any "marginal well" below the marginal limit prior to its ultimate plugging and
abandonment is hereby declared to be waste, and no rule or order of the
Railroad Commission of Texas, or other constituted legal authority shall be
entered requiring restriction of the production of any "marginal well" as
defined in this chapter.
(2)
Application of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be confined to
unrestricted operating conditions which accord with established operating rules
of the commission, and shall be subject to all operating conditions designed to
prevent waste imposed by the commission, which conditions apply to all wells
alike. (Reference Order Number 20-54,115, effective January 1, 1965.)
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