Current through Reg. 49, No. 12; March 22, 2024
(a) Certificate of
Compliance and transportation authority.
(1)
Each operator who seeks to operate any well subject to the jurisdiction of the
Commission shall file with the commission's Austin office a commission form P-4
(certificate of compliance and transportation authority) for each property on
which the wells are located certifying that the operator has complied with
Texas Natural Resources Code, Title 3; Texas Water Code, §
RSA
26.131; and Texas Water Code, Chapter 27, and
orders, rules, and regulations of the commission pursuant to Texas Natural
Resources Code, Title 3; Texas Water Code, §
RSA
26.131; and Texas Water Code, Chapter 27, in
respect to the property. The Commission form P-4 establishes the operator of an
oil lease, gas well, or other well; certifies responsibility for regulatory
compliance, including plugging wells in accordance with §
RSA 3.14 of
this title (relating to plugging); and identifies gatherers, purchasers, and
purchasers' commission-assigned system codes authorized for each well or lease.
Operators shall file form P-4 for new oil leases, gas wells, or other wells;
recompletions; reclassifications of wells from oil to gas or gas to oil;
consolidation, unitization or subdivision of oil leases; or change of gatherer,
gas purchaser, gas purchaser system code, operator, field name or lease name.
When an operator files a form P-4, the oil and gas division shall review the
form for completeness and accuracy. The Commission may require an operator who
files a form P-4 for the purpose of changing the designation of an operator for
a lease or well to provide to the Commission evidence that the transferee has
the right to operate the lease or well. Except as otherwise authorized by the
Commission, a transporter (whether the operator or someone else) shall not
transport the oil, gas, or geothermal resources from such property until the
Commission has approved the certificate of compliance and transportation
authority. No certificate of compliance designating or changing the designation
of an operator will be approved that is signed, either as transferor or
transferee, by a non-employee agent of the organization unless the organization
has filed with the commission, on its organization report, the name of the
non-employee agent it has authorized to sign such certificates of compliance on
its behalf.
(2) An approved
certificate of compliance and transportation authority shall bind the operator
until another operator files a subsequent certificate and the Commission has
approved the subsequent certificate and transferred the property on commission
records to the subsequent operator.
(3) The appropriate district office or the
Austin office may grant temporary authority for an operator to use a
transporter not authorized for a particular property in order to take care of
production and prevent waste. The operator shall secure such temporary
authority in writing from the appropriate district office or the Austin office
before the oil or condensate is moved. In an emergency situation the operator
may secure such temporary authority verbally but shall notify the district
office in writing within 10 days after the oil or condensate is moved. An
emergency situation exists when oil or condensate must be moved off a lease
because it poses an imminent threat to the public health and safety, or when
the threat of waste is imminent. The operator shall also furnish copies of such
authorization or notification to the regular transporter and to the temporary
transporter.
(4) If an applicant
wishes to assume operator status for a property, but is unable to obtain the
signature of the previous operator on the certificate of compliance and
transportation authority, the applicant shall file with the oil and gas
division in Austin a completed form P-4 signed by a designated officer or agent
of the applicant, along with an explanatory letter and legal documentation of
the applicant's right to operate the property. Prior to approval of such an
application, the office of the general counsel will notify the last known
operator of record, if such operator's address is available, affording such
operator an opportunity to protest.
(b) Monthly production report (oil, natural
gas and geothermal resources). For each calendar month, each operator who is a
producer of crude oil, natural gas or geothermal resources shall file with the
commission a report for each of the operator's producing properties. Operators
shall file such reports on commission Form PR, Monthly Production Report, or
commission Form GT-2 (producer's monthly report of geothermal wells). These
commission forms report monthly production and disposition of oil and
condensate, and casinghead gas and gas well gas (Form PR) and geothermal
resources (Form GT-2). On or before the last day of the month subsequent to the
period of the report, the operator shall file the original form with the Austin
office, and one copy with the transporter taking the oil, gas or geothermal
resources from the property if requested by the transporter.
(c) Recovered load oil.
(1) The operator of each lease from which
load oil is recovered shall file the original and one copy of commission form
P-3 (authority to transport recovered load or frac oil) with the district
office, and another copy with the transporter prior to running the load oil.
Form P-3 requires a producer to report the quantity of recovered load or frac
oil to be transported from a particular lease and to identify the transporter.
The form P-3 (authority to transport recovered load or frac oil) filed by the
operator shall be the authority for the transporter to run the quantity of
recovered load or frac oil stated in the form.
(2) The provisions of this subsection apply
only to oil that has been obtained from a source other than the lease on which
it is used. "Recovered load oil or frac oil," as that term is used herein, is
any oil or liquid hydrocarbons used in any operation in an oil or gas well, and
which has been recovered as a merchantable product.
(d) Subdivision and consolidation of oil
leases.
(1) An operator seeking to subdivide
or consolidate existing oil leases shall file and obtain approval of a
commission form P-4 (certificate of compliance and transportation authority)
and a commission form P-6 (request for permission to subdivide or consolidate
oil lease(s)). Form P-6 identifies the leases to be subdivided or consolidated
as well as the resulting leases. Two plats shall be filed with form P-6, one
showing the boundaries of the lease(s) before and one showing the boundaries of
the lease(s) after the subdivision or consolidation.
(2) An operator seeking to subdivide an
existing oil lease that it operates or to assume operatorship of fewer than all
of the wells on an oil lease shall file and obtain approval of a commission
form P-4 (certificate of compliance and transportation authority) and a
commission form P-6 (request for permission to subdivide or consolidate oil
lease(s)). A request to subdivide an oil lease may be approved administratively
if the commission staff determines that approval of the request will not cause
waste, harm correlative rights, or result in the circumvention of commission
rules.
(3) An operator seeking to
consolidate two or more existing oil leases that it operates shall file and
obtain approval of a commission form P-4 (certificate of compliance and
transportation authority) and a commission form P-6 (request for permission to
subdivide or consolidate oil lease(s)). A request to consolidate two or more
oil leases may be approved administratively if the commission staff determines
that approval of the request will not cause waste, harm correlative rights, or
result in the circumvention of commission rules and:
(A) the mineral and royalty ownership of the
leases proposed for consolidation is identical in all respects;
(B) the operator has obtained a surface
commingling exception permit pursuant to §
RSA
3.26 of this title (relating to separating
devices, tanks, and surface commingling of oil) that authorizes commingling of
production from all of the leases proposed for consolidation; or
(C) the operator has filed and obtained
approval of a valid commission form P-12 (certificate of pooling authority)
authorizing pooling of all of the leases proposed for consolidation.