Kansas Administrative Regulations › Agency 82 - KANSAS CORPORATION COMMISSION › Article 3 - PRODUCTION AND CONSERVATION OF OIL AND GAS › Section 82-3-101 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 28, July 11, 2024
(a) As used in
			 these regulations, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) "Acreage factor" means the quotient
			 obtained by dividing the acreage attributable to a well by the basic acreage
			 unit as defined in K.A.R. 82-3-207 and K.A.R. 82-3-312 or as decided by the
			 commission on a case-by-case basis in the basic proration order for the common
			 source of supply in which the well is located.
(2) "Allowable" means the amount of oil or
			 gas authorized to be produced by order of the commission.
(3) "Allowable period" means the time in
			 which the allowable may be produced.
(4) "Alternate cementing materials" means
			 materials used in lieu of portland cement blends, as prescribed by commission
			 order, dated March 29, 1985, Docket No. 34,780-C (C-1825), which is adopted by
			 reference.
(5) "Artesian pressure"
			 means groundwater under sufficient hydrostatic head to rise above the rock unit
			 containing the aquifer.
(6)
			 "Assessment" means any charge against the parties involved in any hearing,
			 application, investigation, or the enforcement of an order, and the assessment
			 on natural gas and oil produced to pay the costs associated with the
			 administration of the oil or gas conservation act.
(7) "Attributable acreage" means the acreage
			 assigned to a well in accordance with the well spacing program for each of the
			 prorated fields.
(8) "Casing"
			 means tubular materials used to line a well bore.
(9) "Casinghead gas" means gas produced that
			 was in solution with oil in its original state in the reservoir.
(10) "Cement" means portland cement or a
			 blend of portland cement used in the oil and gas industry to support and
			 protect casing and to prevent the migration of subsurface fluids by the
			 formation of an impermeable barrier.
(11) "Coalbed natural gas" means natural gas
			 produced from either coal seams or associated shale.
(12) "Coarse ground bentonite" means a
			 nontreated swelling sodium montmorillonite that exhibits the following
			 properties:
(A) A moisture content between 13
			 and 17 percent by dry weight;
(B)
			 a clay aggregate particle size between 38 and 78 of an inch;
(C) a pH of 9 or less; and
(D) an inert solid percentage of less than
			 0.15 percent.
(13)
			 "Commingling" means the mixing of production from more than one common source
			 of supply.
(14) "Commission" means
			 the state corporation commission.
(15) "Common source of supply" means each
			 geographic area or horizon separated from any other area or horizon that
			 contains, or appears to contain, a common accumulation of oil, gas, or both.
(16) "Confining layer" means a
			 formation that serves as a barrier between water-, oil-, or gas-bearing
			 formations.
(17) "Conservation
			 division" means the division of the commission in charge of the administration
			 of the oil and gas conservation acts, the protection of fresh and usable water,
			 well plugging, saltwater disposal, enhanced recovery, and surface ponds.
(18) "Contractor" means any person
			 who acts as an agent for an operator as a drilling, plugging, service rig, or
			 seismograph contractor in the operator's oil and gas operations.
(19) "Core" means a continuous section of
			 formation recovered during drilling.
(20) "Core hole" means a hole drilled with
			 the intention of collecting geologic information by the recovery of cores.
(21) "Correlative rights" means
			 the privilege of each owner or producer in a common source of supply to produce
			 from that supply only in a manner or amount that will not have any of the
			 following effects:
(A) Injure the reservoir
			 to the detriment of others;
(B)
			 take an undue proportion of the obtainable oil or gas; or
(C) cause undue drainage between developed
			 leases.
(22) "Day"
			 means a period of 24 consecutive hours.
(23) "Deliverability" means the amount of
			 natural gas, expressed in Mcf per day, that a well is capable of producing into
			 a pipeline, while maintaining a back pressure against the wellhead. The amount
			 of back pressure to be maintained and the test procedure shall be specified by
			 the commission in the basic proration order for the common source of supply in
			 which the well is located.
(24)
			 "Department" means the Kansas department of health and environment.
(25) "Dike" means a permanent structure that
			 meets the following conditions:
(A) Is
			 constructed at or above the surface of the earth and totally encloses
			 production facilities or lease equipment; and
(B) is used to temporarily contain fluids
			 resulting from oil and gas activities and discharged as a result of unforeseen
			 circumstances.
If there is any excavation below the surface of the earth
				within the containment area, the dike shall be considered an emergency pit and
				shall require a permit in accordance with K.A.R. 82-3-600.
(26) "Director" means the director
			 of the conservation division of the commission.
(27) "Division order" means a dated, written
			 statement, duly signed by the owners and delivered to the purchasers,
			 certifying and guaranteeing the interests of ownership of production and
			 directing payment according to those interests.
(28) "Drilling time log" means the
			 chronological tabulation or plotting of the rate of penetration of subsurface
			 rocks by the rotary bit.
(29)
			 "Enhanced recovery" means any process involving the injection of fluids into a
			 pool to increase the recovery of oil or gas.
(30) "Exploratory hole" means a hole drilled
			 for the purpose of obtaining geological information in connection with the
			 exploration for or production of oil or gas.
(31) "Field" means a geographic area
			 containing one or more pools.
(32)
			 "First purchaser" means the person holding the division order and issuing
			 checks to pay any working or royalty interest.
(33) "Fluid" means a material or substance
			 that flows or moves in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, or gas state.
(34) "Freshwater" means water containing not
			 more than 1,000 milligrams of total dissolved solids per liter. This upper
			 limit is approximately equivalent to 1,000 parts of salt per million or 500
			 parts of chlorides per million.
(35) "Gas" means the gas obtained from gas or
			 combination wells, regardless of its chemical analysis.
(36) "Gas (cubic foot)" means the volume of
			 gas contained in one cubic foot of space at a standard pressure base and at a
			 standard temperature base. The standard pressure base shall be 14.65 pounds per
			 square inch absolute, and the standard temperature base shall be 60 degrees
			 Fahrenheit.
(37) "Gas-oil ratio"
			 means the ratio of gas produced, in cubic feet, to one barrel of oil produced
			 during the concurrent period.
(38)
			 "Gas (sour)" means either of the following:
(A) Any natural gas containing more than 112
			 grains of hydrogen sulfide per 100 cubic feet or more than 30 grains of total
			 sulphur per 100 cubic feet; or
(B)
			 gas that is found by the commission to be unfit for sale due to its hydrogen
			 sulfide content.
(39)
			 "Illegal production" means any production in violation of the statutes, rules,
			 regulations, or orders of the commission.
(40) "Injection" means injection of fluids or
			 natural gas for enhanced recovery, or disposal of brines or fluids into an
			 injection well.
(41) "Liquid"
			 means a solution or substance, excluding gas, that flows freely at standard
			 temperature and pressure.
(42)
			 "Mousehole" means a service hole drilled at a slight angle and normally about
			 30 feet deep on those wells drilled by rotary tools.
(43) "Mud-laden fluid," as the term is
			 commonly used in the industry, means any commission-approved mixture of water
			 and clay, and may include additional materials that will effectively seal a
			 formation to which they are applied.
(44) "Multiple completion" means the
			 completion of any well that permits production from two or more common sources
			 of supply with the common sources of supply completely segregated.
(45) "Oil (crude)" means any petroleum
			 hydrocarbon that is produced from a well in liquid phase and that existed in a
			 liquid phase in the reservoir.
(46) "Oil (pipeline)" means oil free from
			 water and basic sediment to the degree that it is acceptable for pipeline
			 transportation and refinery use.
(47) "Open flow" means the volume of gas that
			 a gas well is capable of producing at the wellhead during a period of 24 hours
			 against atmospheric pressure, computed according to the standard procedure
			 approved by the commission.
(48)
			 "Operator" means a person who is responsible for the physical operation and
			 control of a well, gas-gathering system, or underground natural gas storage
			 facility.
(49) "Overage" or
			 "overproduction" means the oil or gas produced in excess of the allowable.
(50) "Person" means any natural
			 person, corporation, association, partnership, governmental or political
			 subdivision, receiver, trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, fiduciary,
			 or any other legal entity.
(51)
			 "Pipeline" means any pipes above or below the ground used or to be used for the
			 transportation of oil or gas in either a liquid or gaseous state.
(52) "Pit" means any constructed, excavated,
			 or naturally occurring depression upon the surface of the earth, which shall
			 include surface ponds as referenced in
			 K.S.A.
			 55-171 and amendments thereto.
(A) "Burn pit" means a pit used for the
			 temporary confinement of oil leakage at a lease site or of materials commonly
			 known as tank bottoms, basic sediment, bottom sediment, bottom settlings, or
			 paraffin, for the purpose of burning these contents.
(B) "Containment pit" means a temporary pit
			 constructed to aid in the cleanup and to temporarily contain fluids resulting
			 from oil and gas activities that were spilled as a result of immediate,
			 unforeseen, and unavoidable circumstances.
(C) "Drilling pit" means any pit, including
			 working pits and reserve pits, used to temporarily confine fluid or exempt
			 exploration and production waste resulting from oil and gas activities, or
			 store spent drilling fluids generated during the drilling or completion of any
			 oil and gas exploratory hole, service well, or storage well.
(D) "Emergency pit" means a permanent pit
			 that is used for the emergency storage of oil or saltwater, or both, discharged
			 as a result of any equipment malfunction.
(E) "Haul-off pit" means a pit used to store
			 spent drilling fluids and cuttings transferred from working pits or steel pits
			 at a well location whose surface geologic conditions or near surface geologic
			 conditions, or both, preclude the use of an earthen reserve pit.
(F) "Reserve pit" means a pit used to store
			 spent drilling fluids and cuttings transferred from working pits and permitted
			 as a drilling pit.
(G) "Settling
			 pit" means a pit used for the collection or treatment of fluids, or both,
			 resulting from oil and gas activities.
(H) "Working pit" means a pit used to
			 temporarily confine fluids or refuse resulting from oil and gas activities
			 during the drilling or completion of any oil, gas, exploratory, service, or
			 storage well and permitted as a drilling pit.
(I) "Workover pit" means a pit used to
			 contain fluids during the performance of remedial operations on a previously
			 completed well.
(53)
			 "Pool" means a single and separate natural reservoir of oil or gas
			 characterized by a single pressure system.
(54) "Producer" means any person who owns, in
			 whole or in part, a well capable of producing oil or gas, or both.
(55) "Production" means produced oil, gas,
			 condensate, or casinghead gas.
(56) "Productivity of a well" means the daily
			 capacity of a well to produce oil or gas.
(57) "Productivity of a pool" means the sum
			 of the productivities of the wells completed in the pool.
(58) "Proration" means the regulation of the
			 amount of allowed production to prevent waste or to prevent any of the
			 following in a manner that would favor any one pool as compared to any other
			 pool in this state:
(A) Undue drainage
			 between developed leases;
(B)
			 unratable taking; or
(C)
			 unreasonable discrimination between or among operators, producers, and royalty
			 owners who are within a common source of supply.
(59) "Purchaser" means any person who
			 purchases production from a well, lease, or common source of supply.
(60) "Rathole" means the service hole drilled
			 at a slight angle and normally about 40 feet deep on those wells drilled by
			 rotary tools.
(61) "Reasonable
			 market demand" means the amount of crude petroleum or natural gas that must be
			 produced to satisfy current rates of consumption.
(62) "Recompletion" means that a well is
			 reworked for the purpose of developing new zones after its initial well
			 completion.
(63) "Refuse" means
			 any exempt exploration and production waste, as defined in
			 40 C.F.R.
			 261.4 (b)(5), published July 1, 2000, and
			 hereby adopted by reference, generated from oil and gas activities, including
			 produced or nonproduced accumulated water in a pit or dike.
(64) "Seismic shot hole" means the borehole
			 in which an explosive is detonated for the purpose of generating a seismic
			 signal.
(65) "Sensitive
			 groundwater area" means a geographic area designated by the commission as
			 having hydrogeologic, climatic, soil, and other characteristics that make the
			 area's fresh and usable groundwater vulnerable to pollution from oil and gas
			 activities.
(66) "Shortage" means
			 the amount by which the oil or gas legally produced and either sold or removed
			 from the premises is less than the allowable.
(67) "Solid" means a material or substance
			 that does not flow freely at standard temperature and pressure.
(68) "Special order" means an order directed
			 to specifically named persons or to a group that does not constitute a general
			 class and that is dispositive of a particular matter as applied to a specific
			 set of facts.
(69) "Spill" means
			 any escape of saltwater, oil, or refuse by overflow, seepage, or other means
			 from the vicinity of oil, gas, injection, service, or gas storage wells, or
			 from tanks, pipelines, dikes, or pits, if the wells, tanks, pipelines, dikes,
			 or pits are involved in or related to any of the following:
(A) The exploration or drilling for oil or
			 gas;
(B) the lease storage,
			 treatment, or gathering of oil or gas; or
(C) the drilling, operating, abandonment, or
			 postabandonment of wells. For purposes of this regulation, "vicinity" means the
			 area within six feet of the wellhead.
(70) "Spud date" means the date of first
			 actual penetration of the earth with a drilling bit.
(71) "Storage oil" means produced oil
			 confined in tanks, reservoirs, or containers.
(72) "Storage oil (lease)" means produced oil
			 in tanks, reservoirs, or containers on the lease where it was produced.
(73) "Stratigraphic hole" means a
			 hole, normally of small diameter, that is drilled through subsurface strata for
			 exploratory purposes, with no intent to produce hydrocarbons through the hole
			 being drilled, and does not utilize a detonated explosive for generating a
			 seismic signal.
(74) "Surface
			 casing" is the first casing put in a well that is cemented into place. It
			 serves to shut out shallow water formations. It also acts as a foundation or
			 anchor for all subsequent drilling activity. For purposes of compliance with
			 K.A.R. 82-3-106, additional strings of casing that are set and cemented in a
			 well bore below the lowest fresh and usable water strata shall be deemed to be
			 surface casing.
(75) "Tertiary
			 recovery process" means the process or processes described in
			 K.S.A.
			 79-4217, and amendments thereto.
(76) "Underage" and "under production" mean
			 the difference between the assigned oil or gas allowable volume and the actual
			 oil or gas production volume if the actual oil or gas production volume is less
			 than the assigned oil or gas allowable volume.
(77) "Undue drainage" means the uncompensated
			 migration of either oil or gas between or among developed leases within the
			 same common source of supply caused by the unratable production of any well or
			 wells located on one or more of the leases.
(78) "Usable water" means water containing
			 not more than 10,000 milligrams of total dissolved solids per liter. This upper
			 limit is approximately equivalent to 10,000 parts of salt per million or 5,000
			 parts of chlorides per million.
(79) "Waste oil" means any tank bottom; basic
			 sediment; cut oil; reclaimed oil from pits, ponds, or streams; dead oil;
			 emulsions; or other types of oil not defined as pipeline oil.
(80) "Waterflood" means the process of
			 injecting fluids into one or more wells to enhance the recovery of oil.
(81) "Well" means any hole or
			 penetration of the surface of the earth for geological, geophysical, or any oil
			 and gas activity.
(A) "Combination well"
			 means a well that produces both oil and gas, excluding casinghead gas, from the
			 same common source of supply.
(B)
			 "Discovery well" means the first well completed in a common source of supply
			 that is not in communication with any other common source of supply.
(C) "Disposal well" means a well into which
			 those fluids brought to the surface in connection with oil and natural gas
			 production are injected, for purposes other than enhanced recovery.
(D) "Enhanced recovery injection well" means
			 a well into which fluids are injected to increase the recovery of hydrocarbons.
(E) "Gas well" means a well that
			 meets either of the following criteria:
(i)
			 Produces gas not associated with oil at the time of production from the
			 reservoir; or
(ii) produces more
			 than 15,000 standard cubic feet of gas to each stock tank barrel of oil from
			 the same common source of supply, as measured by the gas-oil ratio test
			 prescribed by and reported on the form furnished by the commission.
(F) "Hardship well" means a well
			 authorized by commission order to produce at a specified rate because
			 reasonable cause exists to expect that production below the specified rate
			 would damage the well and cause waste.
(G) "Injection well" means a well that is
			 used for any of the following:
(i) To inject
			 brine or other fluids that are brought to the surface in connection with
			 natural gas storage operations or oil or natural gas production and that may be
			 commingled with waste waters from gas plants that are an integral part of
			 production operations, unless those waste waters are classified as a hazardous
			 waste at the time of injection;
(ii) to conduct enhanced recovery operations
			 for oil or natural gas;
(iii) to
			 store hydrocarbons that are liquid at standard temperature and pressure;
(iv) to conduct simultaneous
			 injection operations; or
(v) to
			 inject permitted fluids.
(H) "Minimum well" means any oil well that
			 has a productivity of 25 barrels or less per day.
(I) "Oil well" means a well that has produced
			 one stock tank barrel or more of crude oil to each 15,000 standard cubic feet
			 of gas, as measured by the gas-oil ratio test prescribed by and reported on the
			 form furnished by the commission. One stock tank barrel is equivalent to 42
			 U.S. gallons measured at 607 F.
(J) "Service well" means a well drilled for
			 any of the following:
(i) The injection of
			 fluids in enhanced recovery projects;
(ii) the supply of fluids for enhanced
			 recovery projects; or
(iii) the
			 disposal of saltwater.
(K) "Storage well" means a well used to
			 inject or extract natural gas for storage purposes.
(82) "Wellhead working pressure" means the
			 static pressure in the annulus while flowing through the tubing, or static
			 pressure in the tubing while flowing through the annulus, except in cases in
			 which the casinghead is not in open communication with the producing formation
			 because of the presence of a packer or other obstruction in the annular space
			 between the casing and tubing. In these cases, the wellhead working pressure
			 shall be determined by adjusting the observed tubing pressure for the effect of
			 friction caused by flow through the tubing, or by using a bottom-hole pressure
			 bomb and correcting back to wellhead conditions.
(83) "Well history" means the chronological
			 record of the development and completion of a well.
(84) "Well log" means the written record
			 progressively describing the well's down-hole development.