MT Code § 82-11-101 (2021)
2021 Montana Code Annotated|Title 82. Minerals, Oil, and Gas|Chapter 11. Oil and Gas Conservation|Part 1. Regulation by Board of Oil and Gas Conservation|82-11-101. Definitions

  82-11-101. (Temporary) Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply:   (1) "Administrator" means the administrator of the division of oil and gas conservation.   (2) "Board" means the board of oil and gas conservation provided for in 2-15-3303.   (3) "Class II injection well" means a well, as defined by the federal environmental protection agency or any successor agency, that injects fluids:   (a) that have been brought to the surface in connection with oil or natural gas production;   (b) for purposes of enhancing the ultimate recovery of oil or natural gas; or   (c) for purposes of storing liquid hydrocarbons.   (4) "Department" means the department of natural resources and conservation provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 33.   (5) "Determinations" means those decisions delegated to the state by or under authority of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 or any successor or similar legislation relating to oil and gas.   (6) "Enhanced recovery" means the increased recovery from a pool achieved by artificial means or by the application of energy extrinsic to the pool; such artificial means or application includes pressuring, cycling, pressure maintenance, or injection into the pool of any substance or form of energy as is contemplated in secondary recovery and tertiary programs but does not include the injection in a well of a substance or form of energy for the sole purpose of aiding in the lifting of fluids in the well or stimulating of the reservoir at or near the well by mechanical, chemical, thermal, or explosive means.   (7) "Field" means the general area underlaid by one or more pools.   (8) "Fluid" means any material or substance that flows or moves, whether in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gas, or any other form or state.   (9) "Owner" means the person who has the right to drill into and produce from a pool and to appropriate the oil or gas the person produces from a pool either for the person or others or for the person and others, and the term includes all persons holding that authority by or through the person with the right to drill.   (10) "Person" means any natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, or other representative of any kind and includes any agency or instrumentality of the state or any governmental subdivision of the state.   (11) "Pollution" means contamination or other alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of any state waters that exceeds that permitted by state water quality standards or standards adopted by the board, including but not limited to the disposal, discharge, seepage, drainage, infiltration, flow, or injection of any liquid, gaseous, solid, or other substance into any state waters that will or is likely to create a nuisance or render the waters harmful, detrimental, or injurious to public health, recreation, safety, welfare, livestock, wild animals, birds, fish, or other wildlife. A disposal, discharge, seepage, drainage, infiltration, flow, or injection of fluid that is authorized under a rule, permit, or order of the board is not pollution under this chapter.   (12) "Pool" means an underground reservoir containing a common accumulation of oil or gas or both; each zone of a structure which is completely separated from any other zone in the same structure is a pool, as that term is used in this chapter.   (13) "Producer" means the owner of a well or wells capable of producing oil or gas or both.   (14) "Responsible person" means a person who is determined by the board under 82-10-402 to have abandoned an oil or gas well, injection well, disposal well, water source well, drill site, sump, seismographic shot hole, or other area where oil and gas drilling and production operations were conducted.   (15) "State waters" means any body of water, either surface or underground.   (16) (a) "Waste" means:   (i) physical waste, as that term is generally understood in the oil and gas industry;   (ii) the inefficient, excessive, or improper use of or the unnecessary dissipation of reservoir energy;   (iii) the location, spacing, drilling, equipping, operating, or producing of any oil or gas well or wells in a manner which causes or tends to cause reduction in the quantity of oil or gas ultimately recoverable from a pool under prudent and proper operations or which causes or tends to cause unnecessary or excessive surface loss or destruction of oil or gas; and   (iv) the inefficient storing of oil or gas. (The production of oil or gas from any pool or by any well to the full extent that the well or pool can be produced in accordance with methods designed to result in maximum ultimate recovery, as determined by the board, is not waste within the meaning of this definition.)   (b) The loss of gas to the atmosphere during coal mining operations is not waste within the meaning of this definition.   82-11-101. (Effective on occurrence of contingency) Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply:   (1) "Administrator" means the administrator of the division of oil and gas conservation.   (2) "Board" means the board of oil and gas conservation provided for in 2-15-3303.   (3) "Carbon dioxide" means carbon dioxide produced by anthropogenic sources that is of such purity and quality that it will not compromise the safety of a geologic storage reservoir and will not compromise those properties of a geologic storage reservoir that allow the reservoir to effectively enclose and contain a stored gas.   (4) (a) "Carbon dioxide injection well" means a well that injects carbon dioxide for the underground storage of carbon dioxide in a geologic storage reservoir.   (b) The term does not include a class II injection well in which carbon dioxide is injected for the purpose of enhancing the recovery of oil and gas.   (5) "Class II injection well" means a well, as defined by the federal environmental protection agency or any successor agency, that injects fluids:   (a) that have been brought to the surface in connection with oil or natural gas production;   (b) for purposes of enhancing the ultimate recovery of oil or natural gas; or   (c) for purposes of storing liquid hydrocarbons.   (6) "Department" means the department of natural resources and conservation provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 33.   (7) "Determinations" means those decisions delegated to the state by or under authority of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 or any successor or similar legislation relating to oil and gas.   (8) "Enhanced recovery" means the increased recovery from a pool achieved by artificial means or by the application of energy extrinsic to the pool; artificial means or application includes pressuring, cycling, pressure maintenance, or injection into the pool of any substance or form of energy as is contemplated in secondary recovery and tertiary programs but does not include the injection in a well of a substance or form of energy for the sole purpose of aiding in the lifting of fluids in the well or stimulating of the reservoir at or near the well by mechanical, chemical, thermal, or explosive means.   (9) "Field" means the general area underlaid by one or more pools.   (10) "Fluid" means any material or substance that flows or moves, whether in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gas, or any other form or state.   (11) "Geologic storage operator" means a person holding or applying for a carbon dioxide injection well permit.   (12) (a) "Geologic storage reservoir" means a subsurface sedimentary stratum, formation, aquifer, cavity, or void, whether natural or artificially created, including vacant or filled reservoirs, saline formations, and coal seams suitable for or capable of being made suitable for injecting and storing carbon dioxide.   (b) The term does not include a natural gas storage reservoir. However, the owner of a natural gas storage reservoir may convert a depleted natural gas storage reservoir into a geologic storage reservoir to be used pursuant to Title 82, chapter 11, parts 1 and 2.   (13) "Owner" means the person who has the right to drill into and produce from a pool and to appropriate the oil or gas the person produces from a pool either for the person or others or for the person and others, and the term includes all persons holding that authority by or through the person with the right to drill.   (14) "Person" means any natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, or other representative of any kind and includes any agency or instrumentality of the state or any governmental subdivision of the state.   (15) "Pollution" means contamination or other alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of any state waters that exceeds that permitted by state water quality standards or standards adopted by the board, including but not limited to the disposal, discharge, seepage, drainage, infiltration, flow, or injection of any liquid, gaseous, solid, or other substance into any state waters that will or is likely to create a nuisance or render the waters harmful, detrimental, or injurious to public health, recreation, safety, welfare, livestock, wild animals, birds, fish, or other wildlife. A disposal, discharge, seepage, drainage, infiltration, flow, or injection of fluid that is authorized under a rule, permit, or order of the board is not pollution under this chapter.   (16) "Pool" means an underground reservoir containing a common accumulation of oil or gas or both. Each zone of a structure that is completely separated from any other zone in the same structure is a pool. For the purposes of unitization pursuant to Title 82, chapter 11, part 2, "pool" also includes an underground reservoir for the long-term storage of carbon dioxide after the effective date of this section.   (17) "Producer" means the owner of a well or wells capable of producing oil or gas or both.   (18) "Responsible person" means a person who is determined by the board under 82-10-402 to have abandoned an oil or gas well, injection well, disposal well, water source well, drill site, sump, seismographic shot hole, or other area where oil and gas drilling and production operations were conducted.   (19) "State waters" means any body of water, either surface or underground.   (20) "Verification and monitoring" means measuring the amount of carbon dioxide stored at a specific geologic storage reservoir, checking the site for leaks or deterioration of storage integrity, and ensuring that carbon dioxide is stored in a way that is permanent and not harmful to the ecosystem. The term includes:   (a) using models to show, before injection is allowed, that injected carbon dioxide will be securely stored. Modeling includes but is not limited to consideration of seismic activity, possible paths for fugitive emissions, and chemical reactions in the geologic formation.   (b) tracking plume behavior after injection of carbon dioxide, including the use of pressure monitoring; and   (c) establishing a system of leak monitors.   (21) (a) "Waste" means:   (i) physical waste, as that term is generally understood in the oil and gas industry;   (ii) the inefficient, excessive, or improper use of or the unnecessary dissipation of reservoir energy;   (iii) the location, spacing, drilling, equipping, operating, or producing of any oil or gas well or wells in a manner that causes or tends to cause reduction in the quantity of oil or gas ultimately recoverable from a pool under prudent and proper operations or that causes or tends to cause unnecessary or excessive surface loss or destruction of oil or gas; and   (iv) the inefficient storing of oil or gas.   (b) (i) The production of oil or gas from any pool or by any well to the full extent that the well or pool can be produced in accordance with methods designed to result in maximum ultimate recovery, as determined by the board, is not waste within the meaning of subsection (21)(a).   (ii) The loss of gas to the atmosphere during coal mining operations is not waste within the meaning of subsection (21)(a).   History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 238, L. 1953; amd. Sec. 55, Ch. 253, L. 1974; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 336, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 60-126(part); amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 19, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 239, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 503, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 10, Ch. 530, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 734, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 379, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 474, L. 2009.