Current through September 21, 2024
(a) Before any
owner or operator shall spud in anticipation of drilling any well on fee,
patented, state, or federal lands, or deepen/re-enter any such well(s) by
drilling to a lower formation, such owner or operator shall file an Application
for Permit to Drill or Deepen (Form 1) with the Commission and pay a fee of
five hundred dollars ($500.00) for a permit. No well pad construction activity
shall commence until such application is approved and a permit to drill is
issued by the Commission. For good cause, the Supervisor may approve pad
construction after an application for permit to drill has been
received.
(b) For wells drilled on
fee, patented and state land, prior to construction of the drilling location,
approval of Form 14B (Application to Construct a Reserve Pit) must be obtained.
The Application for Permit to Drill will not be processed until this
requirement is met.
(c) The
Application for Permit to Drill or Deepen (Form 1) shall be accompanied by an
accurate plat showing the location of the proposed well with reference to the
nearest lines of an established public survey. Information to be included in
such application and its addendums shall include:
(i) Proposed depth to which the well will be
drilled;
(ii) Type of drilling
tools to be used;
(iii)
Identification of all water sources located within one-half mile of the surface
location for proposed oil well, gas well (including coalbed methane wells),
dedicated injection well or Commission approved monitoring well, and the
depth(s) from which water is being appropriated;
(iv) Formation depth, geological and
hydrological detail from public records, published or otherwise known
information of useable groundwater underlying the drilling and spacing unit or
the Commission approved drilling unit. Consistent with Wyoming Department of
Environmental Quality Chapter 8, as revised April 26, 2005, "Quality Standards
for Wyoming Groundwaters," and for purposes of these rules, groundwater will be
protected, except for Class VI Groundwater of the State that is unusable or
unsuitable for use:
(A) Due to excessive
concentrations of total dissolved solids or specific constituents;
or,
(B) Is so contaminated that it
would be economically or technologically impractical to make water useable;
or,
(C) Is located in such a way,
including depth below the surface, so as to make use economically and
technologically impractical.
(v) Estimated depth to the top of important
geologic markers, including the estimated depth to the top of objective
horizons;
(vi) Proposed casing
program, including size, anticipated setting depths, API grade, weight per
foot, burst pressure, tensile strength for both body and joint, yield pressure,
if new or used casing is planned for the well, and other information required
by the Supervisor. Note that prior approval of the Supervisor is required for
use of non-API tubular.
(vii)
Description, type and setting depths of isolation techniques if used in
openhole and uncemented liner stimulations in high angle and horizontal
wells,
(viii) Description of the
cementing program, including API class of cement, additives to be used, slurry
density to be mixed, estimated volumes to be used, including percent of excess
volume. For openhole completions, similar information is required for the
cement program above the completed interval. The Supervisor must be notified of
the intent and give prior approval for the use of non-API class cement and
additives.
(ix) Description of the
anticipated completion and stimulation program, including the base stimulation
fluid and its source, the chemical additives and proposed concentrations to be
mixed, identified by additive type as identified in Chapter 3, Section 45 of
these rules. If this required data is not available at the time of submission
of Form 1, then it must be submitted on a Sundry Notice (Form 4) and no
stimulation of the well can occur without approval of the Supervisor.
(x) The Owner or Operator shall provide to
the Supervisor, as an addendum to Application for Permit to Drill (Form 1), or
as part of a comprehensive drilling/completion/recompletion plan, or on a
Sundry Notice (Form 4), additional representative well drilling detail from
adjacent or offset drilled wells that would inform and possibly influence
drilling and cementing practices on the proposed well. Known information shall
be provided regarding hole integrity, such as lost circulation zones by depth
and barrels of fluid lost, zones of over or under pressure conditions, hole
drift, key seats or tight hole if encountered, stuck pipe and depths
experienced, water flows or kicks requiring an increase in mud weight beyond a
predetermined amount to control, and depths experienced and as reported on Well
Completion Report (Form 3). If any of this information or detail has already
been presented to the Supervisor, identifying the wells is sufficient on
subsequent wells for compliance with this subsection.
(xi) Where multiple Applications for Permit
to Drill (Form 1) will be sought for several wells proposed to be drilled to
the same zone within an area of geologic similarity, approval may be sought
from the Supervisor to file a comprehensive drilling plan containing the
information required above which will then be referenced on each Application
for Permit To Drill (Form 1). No Application for Permit to Drill (Form 1) shall
contain the exact well name as another permitted well in the same quarter
quarter, section, township and range.
(d) The Application for Permit to Drill or
Deepen (Form 1) shall also be accompanied by a statement of compliance with
Wyo. Stat. Ann. §
30-5-403(a) (Form 1A), if
the application is not exempted from the Split Estates Act. Included in this
statement shall be the surface owner's name, contact address, telephone number
and any other relevant and necessary contact information. The statement shall
certify that the Owner/Operator has done the following:
(i) Provided notice of proposed oil and gas
operations to the surface owner;
(ii) Engaged in good faith negotiations to
reach a surface use agreement with the surface owner; and,
(iii) Satisfied the conditions of Wyo. Stat.
Ann. §
30-5-402(c) and how they
were satisfied.
The Owner/Operator shall not file a copy of any surface use
agreement, nor will the terms of any such agreement be disclosed.
(e) The Commission has
authority under Wyo. Stat. Ann. §
30-5-104(d)(v)(B) to require
that each Application for Permit to Drill or Deepen (Form 1) be accompanied by
a sworn statement from the Owner/Operator, on a form approved by the
Commission, that all underground electrical conductors
outside of its facilities, fenced enclosures or posted
areas, well site or facilities under control of the Owner or Operator:
(i) Comply with the National Electrical Code
in effect for the year electrical conductors were installed and energized;
and,
(ii) Comply with the Wyoming
Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety Act, WYO. STAT. ANN.
§§
35-9-106 and
35-9-123;
(iii) Owner or Operator shall provide the
Commission at least twenty-four (24) hours notice prior to installation of
underground electrical conductors outside of its
facilities, fenced enclosures, or posted areas. With routine maintenance,
emergency or repair work, the Operator shall provide the Commission notice
within twenty-four (24) hours of completing the electrical
work.
(f) In addition to
any other required form or attachment to the Application for Permit to Drill,
the following shall be submitted:
(i) For
directional wells, a diagram clearly showing the proposed direction of the
deviation and the proposed horizontal distance between the bottom of the hole
and the surface location;
(ii) For
horizontal wells, a diagram clearly showing the wellbore path to be permitted,
as well as offset wellbore paths (vertical and horizontal wells to the same
formation) that are permitted, drilled or completed within the spacing unit
from the surface through the terminus of the lateral. A horizontal well's
number shall be appended with an "H" suffix, denoting horizontal, in Block 8 of
Form 1. If more than one lateral borehole extends from the same vertical
wellbore, each such lateral must be permitted as an individual horizontal well
with an "H" suffix. The surface location and the proposed footage locations of
both the initial penetration into the productive formation and the terminus of
the lateral shall be entered under "Location". If the application is for a
permit to drill a horizontal well, notice of the application shall be given by
certified mail to all Owners within one-half (1/2) mile of any point on the
entire length of the horizontal wellbore, from the surface location through the
terminus of the lateral. In the absence of any special Commission order, notice
is not required for horizontal wells in federally supervised units or in API
units provided that no portion of the horizontal interval is closer than six
hundred sixty feet (660') from a drilling or spacing unit boundary or any
uncommitted tract.
(g)
After receipt by the Commission at the office of the Supervisor of a proper
application from an interested party requesting the establishment of drilling
units or the revision of existing drilling units for the spacing of wells
within a certain designated area, or upon a decision by the Supervisor or the
Commission to call a hearing for the establishment of drilling units or the
revision of existing drilling units within a certain designated area, any
Application for Permit to Drill within any such designated area will be held in
abeyance by the Commission until such time as the matter has been fully heard
and determined; except, however, a permit shall be issued by the Supervisor if
an Owner files a sworn application and demonstrates therein to the Supervisor's
satisfaction that on the date the application requesting such drilling units
was filed:
(i) Owner has the right or
obligation under the terms of an existing contract to drill said well;
and,
(ii) Owner has a leasehold
estate or right to acquire a leasehold estate under said contract which will be
terminated unless he is permitted to commence the drilling of said well before
the matter of spacing can be fully heard and determined by the
Commission.
(h) If
drilling is not commenced, the permit to drill shall not be valid after the
expiration of a period of two (2) years from the date of the issuance thereof
by the Commission or its Authorized Agents. A new application shall be
submitted no more than two months prior to the expiration date of the permit to
drill, along with a $500.00 extension fee, in order to request a two (2) year
extension from such expiration date.
(i) All plats shall contain the following
information:
(i) Section, township, range and
county that the well is to be located within;
(ii) North arrow;
(iii) Scale of drawing, to include a bar
graph and a ratio showing the scale of the map;
(iv) A description of all monuments found,
set, reset or replaced and notation of all distances measured between the
corners used in establishing the section boundary in which the well is
located;
(v) Distances from the
nearest established section boundary lines to the proposed well;
(vi) Ungraded ground elevation of the
well;
(vii) Basis of
elevations;
(viii) Basis of
bearings;
(ix) Signed Wyoming
Registered Land Surveyor Certificate or statement indicating that the well was
actually staked by the surveyor or others under his direct supervision as
exhibited on the plat.
(j) Latitude and longitude in degrees, with
five (5) decimal places and the datum used, if not contained on the plat, is to
be furnished within thirty (30) days of the completion of the well. Latitude
and longitude values shall be accurate to within one hundred fifty feet
(150').
(k) Within the Special
Sodium Drilling Area -A or -B (SSDA -A or -B) as defined in Chapter 1, Section
2(ww) or (xx), a notice of the Application for Permit to Drill shall be given
by certified mail to all trona producers holding current valid Department of
Environmental Quality permits to mine trona.
(l) In a drilling and spacing unit (DSU) for
horizontal wells, only APD(s) from the Owner/Operator of a spud or completed
well may be submitted or extended. In the absence of spud or completed wells in
the DSU, only APD(s) from the Owner/Operator of the oldest pending or approved
APD may be submitted or extended. An APD submission or extension from any other
Owner/Operator will be denied, except as provided for in Chapter 3, Section
8(m).
(m) An Owner/Operator whose
APD cannot be submitted or extended under Section 8(l) may file a hearing
application requesting approval of an APD(s). The Owner/Operator ("Applicant")
shall file a notice of intent to file an application within fifteen (15) days
and a complete application in accordance with Section 8(m)(i) within thirty
(30) days of its receipt of a horizontal well application notice pursuant to
Section 8(f)(ii), or within fifteen (15) days of each two (2) year anniversary
of the most recent spud in the DSU.
(i) A
hearing application filed under Section 8(m) shall include at a minimum:
(A) Copy of the submitted APD(s) requested
for approval;
(B) A description of
the technical ability and experience to drill and complete similar
wells;
(C) Percentage of working
interest ownership within the DSU and any written support from other working
interest owners in the DSU;
(D)
Working interest ownership in the area;
(E) The number of operated wells producing or
capable of production within the DSU;
(F) The number of wells operated in the
surrounding lands;
(G) Status of
any necessary Federal permitting;
(H) Contractual obligations, if
any;
(I) If the well pad is on Fee
surface, proof that negotiations have commenced between the Owner/Operator and
surface owner;
(J) Proof of
delivery of Authorization for Expenditure (AFE) and Joint Operating Agreement
(JOA) to all other Owners/Operators and unleased mineral interest owners in the
DSU.
(ii) Commission
staff will review any APD(s) submitted in accordance with Section 8(m) prior to
a hearing before the Commission.
(iii) The Owner/Operator of a completed well
or the oldest pending or approved APD in a DSU may protest an application
submitted under subsection 8(m) within thirty (30) days of receipt of notice of
intent to file the 8(m) application. The Owner/Operator ("Protestant") shall
include at a minimum the information listed in Section 8(m)(i).
(iv) In contested case proceedings under
Section 8(m), the Commission shall consider the applications of the Applicants
and Protestants and other relevant evidence. If all evidence evaluated by the
Commission is deemed equal, the Commission shall approve the Application or
Protest of the party who has secured the largest percentage of working interest
ownership combined with working interest owners who have expressed written
support to partner in the proposed well(s).
(v) The Commission shall issue an order in
accordance with the following:
(A) If the
Commission denies an Owner/Operator's 8(m) application, the Applicant's APD(s)
shall be denied;
(B) If the
Commission approves an Owner/Operator's 8(m) application relating to the
initial APD in a DSU, the Protestant's APD(s) shall be denied; or
(C) If the Commission approves an Applicant's
8(m) application relating to an APD extension, the Protestant's APD(s) shall be
denied. The Protestant shall have an exclusive right to file an APD within
thirty (30) days of the expiration or withdrawal of all the Applicant's
APD(s).
