Alabama Administrative Code › Title 400 - STATE OIL AND GAS BOARD OF ALABAMA › GOVERNING SUBMERGED OFFSHORE LANDS OPERATIONS › Chapter 400-2-1 - GENERAL › Section 400-2-1-.05 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
The words defined hereafter shall have the following meaning
				  when used within these rules:
(1)
Abandoned well
shall mean, for purposes only of compliance with
				requirements herein, that a well is to be considered abandoned when it has not
				been used for six (6) consecutive months, and has not been classified as
				temporarily abandoned or shut in pursuant to Rule
				400-2-4-.14, and cannot be
				operated, whether because it was drilled as a dry hole or has ceased to
				produce, or operations have not been conducted thereon, or for some other
				reason.
(2)
Area of
				exposure
shall mean the area within a circle constructed with the point
				of escape as its center and the radius of exposure as its radius.
(3)
Barrel
shall mean forty-two
				(42) U.S. gallons, and when used for liquid hydrocarbon volumes it shall be at
				a temperature of sixty degrees Fahrenheit (60°F), with deductions for the
				full percent of any basic sediment, water, and other impurities present,
				ascertained by centrifugal or other recognized and customary tests.
(4)
Blow out
shall mean any
				uncontrolled escape of fluids, hydrocarbons, or any other materials from a
				well.
(5)
Blow-out
				preventer
shall mean a heavy casinghead device or devices that helps
				control or prevent a blow out by closing around the drill string, or work
				string, or that completely closes the top of the casing if the drill string,
				tubing, or other pipe is withdrawn.
(6)
Board
shall mean the State
				Oil and Gas Board of Alabama.
(7)
Bottom-hole pressure
shall mean the pressure per square inch (psi)
				at or near the face of the producing horizon obtained by means of a
				pressure-recording instrument or other method approved by the Board, with
				readings corrected to a predetermined plane or datum.
(8)
Casing pressure
shall mean
				the pressure at the surface of a well between the casing and tubing or between
				two (2) strings of casing.
(9)
Casinghead gas
shall mean any gas or vapor or both, indigenous to
				an oil pool and produced from such pool with the oil.
(10)
Christmas tree
(wellhead
				connection) shall mean an assembly of valves and fittings attached to the head
				of the casing of a well to control the flow.
(11)
Class II injection well
shall mean an injection well which is used (1) to inject brine or other fluids
				which are brought to the surface in connection with natural gas storage
				operations or oil or natural gas production and which may be commingled with
				waste waters from plants which are an integral part of production operations,
				unless those waters are classified as a hazardous waste at the time of
				injection; (2) for enhanced recovery of oil or natural gas; or (3) for storage
				of hydrocarbons which are liquid at standard temperature and
				pressure.
(12)
Cleansing
shall mean the removal or neutralization of any
				impurities found in produced oil or natural gas.
(13)
Completion
shall mean, for
				purposes only of compliance with requirements herein, that a well is considered
				completed when drilling operations have ceased or at such other times as the
				Supervisor may determine.
(14)
Condensate
shall mean the liquid produced by the condensation of
				gas or vapor, either after it leaves the reservoir or while still in the
				reservoir.
(15)
Consenting
				owner
shall mean an owner having a working interest in an oil and gas
				lease or an unleased oil and gas interest in an established or proposed
				drilling unit, who has reached an agreement in writing with the Board-appointed
				operator of the unit relative to the terms and conditions which will govern the
				manner in which his interest shall be developed and operated.
(16)
Conservation
shall mean the
				conserving, preserving, guarding, or protecting of oil and gas resources of the
				State by obtaining the maximum efficiency with minimum waste in the production,
				transportation, processing, treating, and marketing of the nonrenewable oil and
				gas resources of the State.
(17)
Contingency plan
shall mean a written document that shall provide
				an organized plan of action for alerting and protecting the public within an
				area of exposure following the accidental release of a potentially hazardous
				volume of hydrogen sulfide.
(18)
Cubic foot of gas
shall mean a volume of gas expressed in cubic
				feet and computed at a base pressure of 14.65 pounds per square inch absolute
				(psia), and flowing temperature of sixty degrees Fahrenheit (60°F);
				correction to be made for pressure deviation and for specific gravity according
				to tests made by the Balance Method, or other methods customary to the industry
				if approved by the Supervisor.
(19)
Day
shall mean a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive hours from
				7:00 a.m. one day to 7:00 a.m. the following day.
(20)
Developed area or developed
unit shall mean a drainage unit having a well completed thereon which is
				capable of producing oil or gas in paying quantities; however, in the eventit
				is shown, and the Board finds, that a part of any unit is nonproductive, then
				the developed part of the unit shall include only that part found to be
				productive.
(21)
Disposer
shall mean any person or company who receives wastes for
				disposal in a disposal facility that is in compliance with existing state and
				federal regulations.
(22)
Drainage or production unit
shall mean the area in a pool, which
				may be drained efficiently and economically by one well. For simplicity, the
				term "production unit" is used hereinafter from time to time in place of the
				term "drainage or production unit."
(23)
Drilling unit
shall mean
				the unit temporarily assigned a well for the purpose of exploring, evaluating,
				or delineating the oil and gas resources underlying an offshore tract or
				section in submerged offshore lands, or a portion thereof. A drilling unit may
				be designated as a drainage or production unit after notice and
				hearing.
(24)
Drilling and
				development
unit shall mean the unit temporarily assigned to one or more
				wells for the purpose of exploring, evaluating, or delineating the oil and gas
				resources underlying an offshore tract in submerged offshore lands, or a
				portion thereof. Production of oil and gas from a drilling and development unit
				is prohibited, except for test production until further action of the Board
				establishing a production unit or unit operations. Drilling and development
				units established in accordance with Rule
				400-2-2-.02 may consist of an
				entire offshore tract, or a portion thereof as described below:
(a)
One-quarter (1/4) offshore tract
				unit:
a spacing unit comprising one-quarter (1/4) of a regular offshore
				tract, configured as a square, which has one corner in common with the offshore
				tract, and contains twelve hundred ninety (1,290) acres, more or
				less.
(b)
One-half (1/2)
				offshore tract unit:
a spacing unit comprising two (2) one-quarter (1/4)
				offshore tracts that have one offshore tract boundary in common, and containing
				two thousand five hundred eighty (2,580) acres, more or less.
(c)
Three-quarter (3/4) offshore tract
				unit:
a spacing unit comprising three (3) one-quarter (1/4) offshore
				tracts and containing three thousand eight hundred seventy (3,870) acres, more
				or less.