Current through Reg. 49, No. 12; March 22, 2024
(a) Requirements for spacing, density, and
units. An application for a permit to drill, deepen, plug back, or reenter any
oil well, gas well, or geothermal resource well shall be made under the
provisions of §§3.37, 3.38, 3.39, and/or 3.40 of this title (relating
to Statewide Spacing Rule; Well Densities; Proration and Drilling Units:
Contiguity of Acreage and Exception Thereto; and Assignment of Acreage to
Pooled Development and Proration Units) (Statewide Rules 37, 38, 39, and 40),
or as an exception thereto, or under special rules governing any particular
oil, gas, or geothermal resource field or as an exception thereto and filed
with the commission on a form approved by the commission. An application must
be accompanied by any relevant information, form, or certification required by
the Railroad Commission or a commission representative necessary to determine
compliance with this rule and state law.
(b) Definitions. The following words and
terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1)
Application--Request by an organization made either on the prescribed form or
electronically pursuant to procedures for electronic filings adopted by the
commission for a permit to drill, deepen, plug back, or reenter any oil well,
gas well, or geothermal resource well.
(2) Commission--The Railroad Commission of
Texas.
(3) Commission
representative--A commission employee authorized to act for the commission. Any
authority given to a commission representative is also retained by the
commission. Any action taken by the commission representative is subject to
review by the commission.
(c) Commencement of operations. Operations of
drilling, deepening, plugging back, or reentering shall not be commenced until
the permit has been granted by the commission and the waiting period, if any,
has terminated, or authorization has been granted pursuant to subsection (d) of
this section.
(d) Testing of
existing wells in other reservoirs inside the casing. For an existing well, an
operator may request authorization to commence operations to deepen inside the
casing or plug back prior to the granting of a permit to deepen or plug back.
(1) This authorization shall be requested by
submitting a request with the district office to deepen inside the casing or
plug back. The request shall include:
(A) the
operator name;
(B) the lease
name;
(C) the lease number or gas
identification number;
(D) well
number;
(E) county;
(F) field name;
(G) a list of all reservoir(s) to be
tested;
(H) the casing setting
depth and the depth of the deepest reservoir to be tested;
(I) a plat showing the well location;
and
(J) a statement as to whether
or not the well location would require an exception to §§3.37, 3.38,
3.39, and/or 3.40 of this title (relating to Statewide Spacing Rule; Well
Densities; Proration and Drilling Units: Contiguity of Acreage and Exception
Thereto; and Assignment of Acreage to Pooled Development and Proration Units)
(Statewide Rules 37, 38, 39, and 40) if completed in any of the reservoirs to
be tested. If an exception would be required, the request shall also include a
statement that all affected offsets have been given written notice of the
intent to test with the opportunity to witness the testing and the offsets
shall be identified on the plat.
(2) Operations of deepening inside the casing
or plugging back shall not be commenced until the district office has reviewed
and approved the request. Testing pursuant to this authorization shall be
completed within 90 days from the date the district office approves the
request.
(A) No reservoir tested pursuant to
the provisions of this subsection shall be tested for more than 15
days.
(B) If the operator desires
to place the well on production, the operator shall shut in the well, with no
production being sold, and file a permit application for the tested reservoirs
with the appropriate fees. If the permit application for the tested reservoirs
requires an exception to §§3.37, 3.38, 3.39, and/or 3.40 of this
title (relating to Statewide Spacing Rule; Well Densities; Proration and
Drilling Units: Contiguity of Acreage and Exception Thereto; and Assignment of
Acreage to Pooled Development and Proration Units) (Statewide Rules 37, 38, 39,
and 40), no consideration will be given by the commission to the cost of
recompleting and testing the well in determining whether or not to grant the
exception.
(C) Within 30 days of
completion of testing, the operator must either file an application for a
permit to produce a reservoir tested pursuant to this subsection or file an
amended completion report in accordance with §
RSA
3.16 of this title (relating to Log and
Completion or Plugging Report) (Statewide Rule 16) with a copy of the request
signed by the district office and a statement that a permit to produce a tested
reservoir is not being sought, or if the well has been plugged and abandoned, a
plugging report including reservoir and perforation data. If a permit is not
obtained for the tested reservoirs and/or an allowable is not assigned, the
producer shall report all test production on Form PR, Monthly Production
Report, filed for the last permitted reservoir in which the well was completed
and may request authorization to sell the test production. The test production
may be sold after such authorization is granted.
(e) Exploratory and specialty
wells. An application for any exploratory well or cathodic protection well that
penetrates the base of the fresh water strata, fluid injection well, injection
water source well, disposal well, brine solution mining well, or underground
hydrocarbon storage well shall be made and filed with the commission on a form
approved by the commission. Operations for drilling, deepening, plugging back,
or reentering shall not be commenced until the permit has been granted by the
commission. For an exploratory well, an exception to filing such form prior to
commencing operations may be obtained if an application for a core hole test is
filed with the commission.
(f)
Drilling permit fee. With each application or materially amended application,
the applicant shall submit to the commission a nonrefundable fee as determined
by §
RSA
3.78 of this title (relating to Fees and
Financial Security Requirements) (Statewide Rule 78).
(g) Expiration. Any permit to drill, deepen,
plug back, or reenter granted by the commission expires no later than two years
after the date of original approval.
(h) Plats. An application to drill, deepen,
plug back, or reenter shall be accompanied by a neat, accurate plat, with a
scale of one inch equals 1,000 feet. The plat for the initial well on the
lease, pooled unit, or unitized tract shall show the entire lease, pooled unit,
or tract, including all tracts being pooled. If necessary to show the entire
lease, the scale may be one inch equals 2,000 feet. Plats for subsequent wells
on a lease or pooled unit shall show at least the lease or pooled unit line
nearest the proposed location and the nearest survey/section lines. The
Division Director or the director's delegate may approve plats with other
scales upon request.
(1) The lease shall be
outlined on the plat using either a heavy line or crosshatching.
(2) For vertical wells, the plat shall
include the following:
(A) the surface
location of the proposed drilling site;
(B) perpendicular lines providing the
distance in feet from the two nearest non-parallel survey/section lines to the
surface location;
(C) perpendicular
lines providing the distance in feet from the two nearest non-parallel lease
lines to the surface location;
(D)
a line providing the distance in feet from the surface location to the nearest
point on the lease line, pooled unit line, or unitized tract line. If there is
an unleased interest in a tract of the pooled unit that is nearer than the
pooled unit line, the nearest point on that unleased tract boundary shall be
used;
(E) a line providing the
distance in feet from the surface location to the nearest oil, gas, or oil and
gas well identified by number either applied for, permitted, or completed in
the same lease, pooled unit, or unitized tract and in the same field and
reservoir;
(F) the geographic
location information, including the Latitude/Longitude or X/Y coordinates in
the NAD 27, NAD 83, or WGS 84 coordinate system;
(G) a labeled scale bar; and
(H) northerly direction.
(3) For horizontal wells, the plat shall
include the following:
(A) the surface
location of the proposed drilling site, penetration point, first take point,
last take point, and terminus location;
(B) perpendicular lines providing the
distance in feet from the two nearest non-parallel survey/section lines to the
surface location;
(C) perpendicular
lines providing the distance in feet from the two nearest non-parallel lease
lines to the surface location; if location is offlease, then provide the
distance in feet from the two nearest non-parallel survey/section lines to the
surface location;
(D) a line
providing the distance in feet from the horizontal wellbore between and
including the penetration point and the terminus location to the nearest point
on the lease line, pooled unit line, or unitized tract line. If there is an
unleased interest in a tract of the pooled unit that is nearer than the pooled
unit line, the nearest point on that unleased tract boundary shall be
indicated. A line providing the distance in feet from the horizontal wellbore
between and including the first take point and the last take point to the
nearest point on the lease line shall be indicated. If there are multiple
leases, pooled units and/or unitized tracts closer to the horizontal course(s)
of the drainhole(s) than allowed by the applicable spacing rule, then the
operator shall provide the distance in feet from the closest take point to each
such tract;
(E) a line providing
the distance in feet from the wellbore from the penetration point through the
terminus location to the nearest oil, gas, or oil and gas well identified by
number either applied for, permitted, or completed in the same lease, pooled
unit, or unitized tract and in the same field and reservoir. A line providing
the distance in feet from the wellbore between and including the first take
point and the last take point to the nearest oil, gas, or oil and gas well
identified by number either applied for, permitted, or completed in the same
lease, pooled unit, or unitized tract and in the same field and
reservoir;
(F) the geographic
location information for the surface location of the well, including the
Latitude/Longitude or X/Y coordinates in the NAD 27, NAD 83, or WGS 84
coordinate system;
(G) a labeled
scale bar; and
(H) northerly
direction.
(4)
Requirements for plats as provided for in §
RSA
3.11, §
RSA
3.37, §
RSA
3.38, and §
RSA
3.86 of this title (relating to Inclination
and Directional Surveys Required, Statewide Spacing Rule, Well Densities, and
Horizontal Drainhole Wells) may supplement or replace the plat requirements set
out above.