Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 15 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (§§ 15-1-101 — 15-76-324) › Subtitle 6 - OIL, GAS, AND BRINE (§§ 15-71-101 — 15-76-324) › Chapter 76 - BRINE (§§ 15-76-201 — 15-76-324) › Subchapter 3 - BRINE PRODUCTION (§§ 15-76-301 — 15-76-324) › Section 15-76-302 - Definitions

As used in this subchapter:
(1)
"Aquifer" means any subsurface geological interval in which brine may lie or from which brine is being produced and saved or sold for the primary purpose of extracting chemical substances contained in the subsurface geological interval;
(2)
(A)
"Brine" means salt water, whether contained in or removed from an aquifer, and all other chemical substances produced with or extracted from such salt water except for commercial production of oil and gas.
(B)
"Brine" does not include brine produced as an incident to the production of oil and gas, unless the brine is saved or sold for the purpose of extracting the chemical substances in the brine;
(3)
"Brine expansion unit" means each separate composite area of land so designated by order of the Oil and Gas Commission as an expansion area adjacent to an existing brine production unit for the production of brine or the injection of effluent;
(4)
"Brine production unit" means each separate composite area of land so designated by order of the commission for the production of brine and the injection of effluent;
(5)
"Commission" means the Oil and Gas Commission;
(6)
"Director" means the Director of Production and Conservation;
(7)
"Effluent" means the liquid remaining after extraction of any chemical substances from brine and any other material or chemicals in solution therein or associated therewith;
(8)
"Injection well" means a well utilized for injecting effluent or other substances into an aquifer for disposal purposes;
(9)
"Just and equitable share of brine" of an owner in:
(A)
A brine production unit or brine expansion unit containing one (1) or more production wells means that part of the actual production of brine from the brine production unit or brine expansion unit that is in the same proportion to the total production of brine from the brine production unit or brine expansion unit as the interest of the owner in the brine of the brine production unit or brine expansion unit expressed in surface acres is to the total surface acreage of the brine production unit or brine expansion unit; and
(B)
A brine expansion unit containing only one (1) or more injection wells means that part of the average production of brine from all production wells in the adjacent brine production unit that is in the same proportion to the average production as the interest of the owner in the brine of the brine expansion unit expressed in surface acres is to the total surface acreage of the brine expansion unit;
(10)
"Owner" means the person who has the right to drill into and to produce brine from an aquifer and to appropriate the production either for himself or herself or for himself or herself and another or others;
(11)
"Person" means any natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver, trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, fiduciary, or representative of any kind;
(12)
"Producer" means the owner of an existing well or wells capable of producing brine, as well as any owner or owners who are capable and willing to incur the capital investment required for purposes of drilling, completing, and equipping the proposed well or wells within any existing or proposed brine production unit;
(13)
"Unit" means a brine production unit or a brine expansion unit; and
(14)
"Waste" in addition to its ordinary meaning shall include:
(A)
Inefficient, excessive, or improper use or dissipation of energy or alteration of fluid levels contained within an aquifer; and the location, spacing, drilling, or operating of any producing or injection well or wells in a manner which results in a significant reduction in the economic recoverability of brine from an aquifer or the chemical substances contained therein;
(B)
Abuse of the correlative rights and opportunities of each owner of brine in an aquifer due to nonuniform and disproportionate withdrawals causing undue drainage between units;
(C)
Injecting effluent or other wastes in a manner as to cause unnecessary water channeling or undue forced migration of brine between units;
(D)
The undue drowning with effluent of any stratum or part of a stratum containing commercial quantities of oil or gas; or
(E)
The employment of any practice with respect to brine in an aquifer which results or tends to result in a significant reduction in the economic recoverability of the brine or the chemical substances contained in the brine.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 374,§ 43, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2015, No. 89,§ 1, eff. 2/13/2015.
Acts 1979, No. 937, § 2; A.S.A. 1947, § 53-1302.