Idaho Administrative Code › Title IDAPA 20 - Lands, Department of › Rule 20.07.02 - RULES GOVERNING CONSERVATION OF OIL AND NATURAL GAS IN THE STATE OF IDAHO › Subchapter F - WELL ACTIVITY AND RECLAMATION › Section 20.07.02.502 - WELL PLUGGING

Current through August 31, 2023
01.
Plugging Required
. The operator or owner shall not permit any well drilled for oil, gas, saltwater disposal or any other purpose in connection with the production of oil and gas, to remain unplugged after such well is no longer used for the purpose for which it was drilled or converted. (3-18-22)
02.
Notice of Intention to Abandon Well
. Before beginning abandonment work on an oil or gas well, a Notice of Intention to Abandon shall be filed with the Department and approval obtained as to the method of abandonment before the work is started. The notice must show the reason for abandonment and must give a detailed statement of the proposed work, including such information as kind, location, and length of plugs (by depths), and plans for mudding, cementing, shooting, testing, and removing casing as well as any other pertinent information. (3-18-22)
03.
Plugging Dry Holes
. If a nonproductive well, or dry hole, is drilled and not needed for any specific purpose, it must be plugged and abandoned prior to removal of the drill rig. A verbal notification and approval may be used for dry holes in lieu of the written notification referenced in Subsection  502.02  of these rules. The standards in Subsections  502.04  through  502.06  of these rules will still apply. (3-18-22)
04.
Plugging of Wells
. The owner or operator of any well drilled for oil or gas, or any seismic, core, or other exploratory holes, whether cased or uncased, and regardless of diameter shall be responsible for the plugging of said hole in a manner sufficient to properly protect all freshwater-bearing and possible or probable oil- or gas-bearing formations. The material used in plugging, whether cement, mechanical plug, or some other equivalent method approved in writing by the Director, must be placed in the well in a manner to permanently prevent migration of oil, gas, water, or other substance from the formation or horizon in which it originally occurred. The preferred plugging cement slurry is that recommended in API Bulletin E3. Pozzolan, gel, and other approved extenders may be used if the owner or operator can document to the Department's satisfaction that the slurry design will achieve a minimum compressive strength of three hundred (300) psi after twenty-four (24) hours, and eight hundred (800) psi after seventy-two (72) hours measured at ninety-five (95) degrees F and at eight hundred (800) psi. No substances of any nature or description other than those normally used in plugging operations shall be placed in any well at any time during plugging operations. (3-18-22)
05.
Plugged Intervals
. The following plugging standards shall be followed for all wells: (3-18-22)
a. Cement must be placed for a length of at least one hundred (100) feet on either side of each casing shoe, or casing bottom if no shoe is present. If the bottom of the hole is less than one hundred (100) feet from the bottom of the lowest casing, then the entire length of the uncased hole below the casing will be cemented. (3-18-22)
b. In the uncased portions of a well, cement plugs must be placed to extend from one hundred (100) feet below the bottom up to one hundred (100) feet above the top of any oil, gas, and abnormally high pressure zones, so as to isolate fluids in the strata in which they are found and to prevent them from escaping into other strata. (3-18-22)
c. A cement plug shall be placed a minimum of one hundred (100) feet above all producing zones in uncased portions of a well. (3-18-22)
d. A cement plug shall be placed a minimum of fifty (50) feet above and below the following intervals: (3-18-22)
i. Where the casing is perforated or ruptured. If no cement is present behind the casing, then cement must also be squeezed out the perforations or ruptures and into the annular space between the casing and the borehole. (3-18-22)
ii. Top and bottom of fresh water zones. If fresh water zone is less than one hundred (100) feet thick, then continuous cement must be placed from fifty (50) feet below the zone upward to fifty (50) feet above the zone. (3-18-22)
e. The top of all cement plugs will be tagged to verify their depth. (3-18-22)
f. The owner or operator shall have the option as to the method of placing cement in the hole by: (3-18-22)
i. Dump bailer; (3-18-22)
ii. Pumping a balanced cement plug through tubing or drill pipe; (3-18-22)
iii. Pump and plug; or (3-18-22)
iv. Equivalent method approved by the Director prior to plugging. (3-18-22)
g. Unless prior approval is given, all wellbores shall have water based drilling muds, high viscosity pills, or other approved fluids between all plugs. (3-18-22)
h. All abandoned wells shall have a plug or seal placed at the surface of the ground or the bottom of the cellar in the hole in such manner as not to interfere with soil cultivation or other surface use. The top of the pipe must be sealed with either a cement plug and a screw cap, or cement plug and a steel plate welded in place or by other approved method, or in the alternative be marked with a permanent monument which shall consist of a piece of pipe not less than four (4) inches in diameter and not less than ten (10) feet in length, of which four (4) feet shall be above the general ground level, the remainder to be embedded in cement or to be welded to the surface casing. (3-18-22)