Alabama Administrative Code › Title 400 - STATE OIL AND GAS BOARD OF ALABAMA › GOVERNING COALBED METHANE GAS OPERATIONS › Chapter 400-3-1 - GENERAL › Section 400-3-1-.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 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)
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.
(3)
Blow out
shall mean any
				uncontrolled escape of fluids, hydrocarbons, or any other materials from a
				well.
(4)
Blow-out
				preventer
shall mean a heavy casing head 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				tubing, or other pipe is withdrawn.
(5)
Board
shall mean the State
				Oil and Gas Board of Alabama.
(6)
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.
(7)
Cased completion
shall mean
				a coalbed methane gas well in which production casing is set through the
				productive coalbed or coalbeds.
(8)
Cased/open hole completion
shall mean a coalbed methane gas well
				in which at least one coalbed is completed through casing and at least one
				coalbed is completed open hole.
(9)
Casing pressure
shall mean the pressure at the surface of a well
				between the casing and tubing or between two (2) strings of casing.
(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)
Coalbed
				methane gas
shall mean occluded natural gas found in coalbeds.
(13)
Coalbed methane gas field
shall mean the area as defined by the operator and approved by the Board which
				is underlain or appears to be underlain by at least one coalbed, capable of
				producing occluded natural gas.
(14)
Coalbed methane gas well
shall mean a well capable of producing occluded natural gas from a coalbed or
				coalbeds.
(15)
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.
(16)
Compressor
				station
shall mean an installation in a pipeline in which the pressure
				of gas is raised for transmission through pipelines.
(17)
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 spacing 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.
(18)
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.
(19)
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.
(20)
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.
(21)
Developed area or developed
				unit
shall mean a drainage or production unit having a well completed
				thereon which is capable of producing oil or gas in paying quantities; however,
				in the event it 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.
(22)
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.
(23)
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."
(24)
Drilling unit
shall mean an
				administrative unit established by the Board to provide and allow for the
				drilling of a well.
(25)
Enhanced recovery
shall mean the increased recovery from a pool
				achieved by flooding, pressuring, cycling, or pressure maintenance and which
				may include the injection into the pool of a substance or a form of energy
				extrinsic to the pool.
(26)
Field
shall mean the general area which is underlain or appears to
				be underlain by at least one pool, and field shall include the underground
				reservoir or reservoirs containing crude oil or natural gas, or both. The words
				field and pool mean the same thing when only one underground reservoir is
				involved; however, field, unlike pool, may relate to two or more
				pools.
(27)
Flowline
shall mean a pipeline that transports full well stream production from a well
				site to the production equipment where produced hydrocarbons are first
				separated, dehydrated, commingled with other production, or otherwise processed
				or to the point of custody transfer.
(28)
Forced integrated unit or forced
				pooled unit
shall mean a spacing unit in which all nonconsenting owners
				have been ordered by the Board to integrate or pool their tracts and interests
				and develop them in accordance with law and the rules and regulations of the
				Board.
(29)
Gas
shall
				mean all natural gas, including casinghead gas and occluded natural gas found
				in coalbeds, and all other liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons not defined as
				oil.
(30)
Gas well
shall mean a well capable of producing gas from a gas pool or gas
				pools.
(31)
Gathering
				line
shall mean all pipelines, equipment, facilities, or buildings
				downstream of production equipment and used in the transportation of
				hydrocarbons to a treatment or storage facility or to a transmission
				line.
(32)
Gob well
shall mean a coalbed methane gas well which is drilled in conjunction with
				underground mining of one or more coal beds and produces from cavities and
				fractures resulting from the collapse of an underground mine. A gob well is
				initially drilled as a vertical well and is not considered a gob well until
				after the well has been mined through and the roof of the mine has
				collapsed.
(33)
Horizontal
				borehole
shall mean a hole drilled horizontally into a coalbed at the
				mine face of an underground mine.
(34)
Illegal gas
shall mean gas
				which has been produced within the State of Alabama from any well or wells in
				excess of the amount allowed by any rule, regulation, or order of the Board, as
				distinguished from gas produced within the State of Alabama not in excess of
				the amount so allowed, which is legal gas.
(35)
Illegal product
shall mean
				any product of oil or gas, any part of which was processed or derived, in whole
				or part, from illegal oil or illegal gas or from any product thereof, as
				distinguished from legal product, which is a product processed or derived to no
				extent from illegal oil or illegal gas.
(36)
Location
or
site
shall mean the area surrounding a well, production facility,
				injection facility, storage facility, or other facility that has been developed
				for oil and gas operations.
(37)
Mode of transportation
shall mean any waste transportation method
				including trucks, rail cars, barges, maritime vessels, aircraft, or any other
				means of transportation acceptable to the Supervisor.
(38)
Month
and
calendar
				month
shall mean the period or interval of time from 7:00 a.m. on the
				first (1st) day of any month of the calendar to 7:00 a.m. of the first (1st)
				day of the next succeeding month of the calendar.
(39)
Nonconsenting 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 spacing unit, who has
				reached no 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.
(40)
Open hole completion
shall
				mean a coalbed methane gas well in which no production casing is set through
				the productive coalbed or coalbeds.
(41)
Operator
shall mean any
				person who is authorized by the Board to operate an oil, gas, or Class II
				injection well, or production facility, or engages in the transportation of
				hydrocarbons by pipeline, including the handling and disposal of wastes that
				may be generated during operation of a well or production facility. The person
				named as operator according to the most current records of the Board is charged
				with complying with the oil and gas statutes and the rules and regulations of
				the Board.
(42)
Owner
shall mean the person who has the right to drill into and to produce from any
				pool and to appropriate the production either for himself or for himself and
				another, or others.
(43)
Person
shall mean any natural person, firm, corporation,
				association, partnership, joint venture, receiver, trustee, guardian, executor,
				administrator, fiduciary, representative of any kind, or any other group acting
				as a unit, and the plural as well as the singular number.
(44)
Pipe
shall mean any pipe or
				tubing used in the transportation of hydrocarbons or produced waters.
(45)
Pipeline
shall mean all
				parts of those physical facilities through which hydrocarbons or produced
				waters move in transportation, including pipes, valves, and other appurtenances
				attached to pipes, compressor units, or metering stations.
(46)
Pool
shall mean an
				underground reservoir containing a common accumulation of crude petroleum oil
				or natural gas or both and each zone of a general structure, which is
				completely separated from any other zone in the structure. The classification
				of such pool, as to oil or gas, is determined after notice and hearing and is
				based on the type of hydrocarbons in such pool.
(47)
Pressure base
shall mean an
				absolute pressure agreed upon or set as a base for converting the volume of gas
				metered to a correct volume.
(48)
Pressure maintenance
shall mean the injection of gas, water, or
				other fluid into an oil or gas pool to maintain pressure or retard pressure
				decline in the pool for the purpose of enhanced recovery, or in the case of
				coalbed methane gas production the withdrawal of water to maintain gas pressure
				for the purpose of primary or enhanced recovery.
(49)
Produced water
shall mean
				water produced from a coalbed methane gas well as a necessary by-product of
				drilling, completing and producing methane gas from a coalbed or
				coalbeds.
(50)
Product
shall mean any commodity made from oil or gas, and shall include refined crude
				oil, crude tops, topped crude, processed crude petroleum residue from crude
				petroleum, cracking stock, uncracked fuel oil, fuel oil, treated crude oil,
				residuum, gas oil, casinghead gasoline, natural gas gasoline, naphtha,
				distillate, gasoline, kerosene, benzene, wash oil, waste oil, blended gasoline,
				lubricating oil, blends or mixtures of oil with one or more liquid products or
				by-products derived or separated from oil or gas, and blends or mixtures of two
				or more liquid products or by-products derived or separated from oil, gas, or
				sulfur whether hereinabove enumerated or not.
(51)
Production equipment
shall
				mean piping and vessels used in the production, extraction, recovery, lifting,
				stabilization, separation, initial treating, and storage of produced
				hydrocarbons.
(52)
Production
				facility
shall mean either a separation facility or a treatment
				facility.
(a)
Separation facility
shall mean a facility that uses a pressure vessel(s) for the purpose of
				separating well fluids into gaseous and liquid components.
(b)
Treatment facility
shall
				mean a facility that separates well fluids into gaseous and liquid components,
				with the addition of treatment such as stabilization of liquids from the
				gaseous phase and the dehydration of the gaseous phase or hydrocarbon liquid
				knockout.