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# Hy dr aulic Fr acturing R egula to ry Pr ocesses in Louisiana James H. Welsh Commissioner of Conserv ation2 

## Ar eas of Curr en t & P ot en tial Activity

# Re gula to ryG oals • Re sour ce Conservat ion / Sus ta inability • Wa ste Minimiz ation • Po llution Pr evention • Tr anspar ency • Aw ar eness / Surv eillance

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# Re gula to ryP ro cesses

– Wa te r Sour ce Managemen t / E va luation

– Wo rk P ermits

– We ll Cons truction Re quir emen ts

– Wa ste Managemen t / Disposal Re quir emen ts

– Fracturing Fluid Disclosur e

– Inspection & Enfor cemen t

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# Wa te r Sour ces – Surface Wate r • Use of surface w ate r is encour aged. • Cooper ative E ndea vor Agr eemen ts ma y be cr ea te d thr ough DNR – Of fice of Miner al Re sour ces (OMR) for the use of running surface w ate r. (Act 955 of 2010) • Application pr ocess in volv es assessing the en vir onmen ta l/ec ological impacts and ec onomic benefits of surface w ate r use. 5

# Wa te r Sour ces – Gr ound Wate r • Notice is r equir ed prior to ins ta llation of new wells and prior to a change in use of ex is ting we lls for ev aluation purposes. • Or der s ma y be issued to collect information, conduct metering , impose well spacing r equir emen ts, or limit pr oduction. • Information ma y be used t o es ta blish ar eas of gr oundwater concern. 6

# Wa te r Sour ces – Other • Cert ain E&P W as te s ma y be used as a fr ac fluid co mponen t in limit ed ca ses. • Pr omot es both w as te minimiz ation and re sour ce co nservat ion.

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# Wa te r Sour ces – Re porting
• Wa te r sour ces and v olumes mus t be r eport ed for wells that ar e h ydr aulically fr actur ed. • Re porting is accomplished by filing Supplemen ta l P ag e 3 of the Well His tory and Wo rk R esumé Re port (F orm WH - 1) following well completion. 8

# Wa te r Use St at is tics **Reported Usage from 10/1/2009 to**  **2/23/2012 Source**  **Volume**

**(Gallons)** Frac Groundwater 1,230,712,693 Frac Surface Wa ter 8,223,152,516 Drilling Rig Groundwater Supply 879,649,632 Drilling Rig Surface Wa ter Supply 157,839,504 Other Groundwater 155,545,829 Other Surface Wa ter, 39,007,638 Frac Stages 22,338 Total Frac W ater Used (gallons) 9,453,865,209 Volume per Frac Stage (gallons) 423,219 Average Frac Stages per W ell 11.4 Average W ater Use per We ll (gallons) 5,454,777 Average Frac W ater Use per W ell (gallons) 4,825,863 **9 Wa**  **ter Usage Data for 1959**  **Hay nesville**  **Shale Natural Gas W ells**  **Rig Supply Ground**  **Water 8%**  **Frac Supply Ground**

**Water 12%**  **Other Ground Water 1%**  **Rig Supply Surface Water**  **2% Frac Supply Surface**  **Water 77%**  **Other Surface Water**

**<0.5%**

# Wo rk Pe rmits
• A w ork permit application (F orm DM 4R) mus t be appr oved prior to conducting fracturing operations. • Process allows for OC inspection of operations. 10

# We ll Cons truction R equir emen ts • Use of multiple cemen te d casing st rings • Minimum setting depth to pr ot ect USD W • Po st - ins ta llation pr essur e t es ting 11

# Wa ste Manag emen t • E&P Was te r egulations ensur e pr oper disposal to minimiz e en vironmen ta l impacts of r esour ce development. • Manifest and re porting syste ms ensur e transpar ency and accoun ta bility. • Wa ste Managemen t options include:

– Onsite disposal

– We ll injection

– Commer cial disposal

– Re cycling in limited cases 1213

# Fr acturing Fluid Disclosur e

• Ty pes and v olumes (in g al.) of hyd ra ulic fr acturing fluid • Lis t of additiv es used • Lis t of chemical ingr edients subject to r equir ements of 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)( 2) • Ma ximum ingr edient concentrat ion within the additiv e • Ingr edients and concentrat ions of pr oprietary chemicals ar e not r equir ed. • Re quir ed information ma y be re ported to Fr ac Focus website. 14

### Fracturing Fluid Disclosur e Re quir emen ts by St ate

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# Inspection & Rule Enfor cemen t

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### • P eriodic visual inspections of wells ar e conducted during all phases of dev elopmen t • Re gulatory violations r esult in the issuance of Compliance Or ders t o the r esponsible party r equiring corr ectiv e actions. • Po ssible enfor cemen t actions include

– Levy of Civil P enalties
– Suspension of authority to sell oil
– W ithholding permits
– “Orphaning ” Declar ation• STRONGER, Inc. is a nonpr ofit multi - sta ke holder orga niz at ion which

measur es state oil and g as w aste management programs ag ains t a set of Guidelines dev eloped and agr eed t o by all the participating parties . • A Louisiana R eview focusing on h ydraulic fr acturing r egula tory practices wa s conducted in Nov ember 2010; Findings wer e issued in Mar ch 2011. • Po sitiv e Assessments of Louisiana’ s R egula tory Framework:

– Proactive conservation of gr oundw ater resource use.

– Wa ste w ater recycling pr ogram.

– Public outr each and education.

– Wa ste disposal r egulations. • Ar eas for Improvement:

– Updat ed Casing and Cementing R equir ements . (IN PROGRESS)

– Mor e systematic training of Inspectors . (IN PROGRESS)

– Re quir e the r eporting of h yd ra ulic fracturing information including component constituents of frac fluid . (COMPLETED) 17 

# STR ONGER R eview

# Po te nt ial Futur e Rule Chang es

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## • Fr ac Fluid Disclosur e

– Disclosur e r equir emen ts tied to “Right to K now ” federal law instead of OSHA safety communication rules. 

## • Casing and Cemen ting

– Clear design o bjectiv es
– Fo rma tion Integrity T

es ts
– Cemen t ev aluation following pr olonged drilling
– Liner seal t es ting
– Cemen t top verification in limited cir cums tances