North Dakota Administrative Code › Title 43 - Industrial Commission › Article 43-02 - Mineral Exploration and Development › Chapter 43-02-03 - Oil and Gas Conservation › Section 43-02-03-16 - Application for permit to drill and recomplete

Current through Supplement No. 393, July, 2024
Before any person shall begin any well-site preparation for
				  the drilling of any well other than surveying and staking, such person shall
				  obtain approval from the director. An application for permit to drill must be
				  filed with the director, together with a permit fee of one hundred dollars.
				  Site construction, or appurtenance or road access thereto, may not commence
				  until such application is approved and a permit to drill is issued by the
				  director. Verbal approval may be given for site preparation by the director in
				  extenuating circumstances to include contractual obligations, an expiring
				  lease, or an expiring right-of-way. The application must be accompanied by the
				  bond pursuant to section 43-02-03-15 or the applicant must have previously
				  filed such bond with the director, otherwise the application is incomplete. An
				  incomplete application received by the director has no standing and will not be
				  deemed filed until it is completed.
The application for permit to drill shall be accompanied by
				  an accurate plat certified by a registered surveyor showing the location of the
				  proposed well with reference to true north and the nearest lines of a
				  governmental section, the latitude and longitude of the proposed well location
				  to the nearest tenth of a second, the ground elevation, and the proposed road
				  access to the nearest existing public road. Information to be included in such
				  application shall be the proposed depth to which the well will be drilled,
				  estimated depth to the top of important markers, estimated depth to the top of
				  objective horizons, the proposed mud program, the proposed casing program,
				  including size and weight thereof, the depth at which each casing string is to
				  be set, the proposed pad layout, including cut and fill diagrams, and the
				  proposed amount of cement to be used, including the estimated top of
				  cement.
For wells permitted on new pads built after July 31, 2013,
				  permit conditions imposed by the director may include, upon request of the
				  owner of a permanently occupied dwelling within one thousand feet of the
				  proposed well, requiring the location of all flares, tanks, and treaters
				  utilized in connection with the permitted well be located at a greater distance
				  from the occupied dwelling than the well head, if the location can be
				  reasonably accommodated within the proposed pad location. If the facilities are
				  proposed to be located farther from the dwelling than the well bore, the
				  director can issue the permit without comment from the dwelling owner. The
				  applicant shall give any such owners written notice of the proposed facilities
				  personally or by certified mail, return receipt requested, and addressed to
				  their last-known address listed with the county property tax department. The
				  director must receive written comments from such owner within five business
				  days of the owner receiving said notice. An application for permit must include
				  an affidavit from the applicant identifying each owner's name and address, and
				  the date written notice was given to each owner. The owner's notice must
				  include:
1. A copy of North Dakota
				Century Code section 38-08-05.
2.
				The name, telephone number, and if available the electronic mail address of the
				applicant's local representative.
3. A sketch of the area indicating the
				location of the owner's dwelling, the proposed well, and location of the
				proposed flare, tanks, and treaters.
4. A statement indicating that any such owner
				objecting to the location of the flare, tanks, or treaters, must notify the
				director within five business days of receiving the notice.
Prior to the commencement of recompletion operations or
				  drilling horizontally in the existing pool, an application for permit must be
				  approved by the director. Such application shall be filed to reenter a well by
				  drilling horizontally, deepening, or plugging back to any source of supply
				  other than the producing horizon in an existing well. Such notice shall include
				  the name and file number and exact location of the well, the approximate date
				  operations will begin, the proposed procedure, the estimated completed total
				  depth, the anticipated hydrogen sulfide content in produced gas from the
				  proposed source of supply, the weight and grade of all casing currently
				  installed in the well unless waived by the director, the casing program to be
				  followed, and the original total depth with a permit fee of fifty dollars. The
				  director may deny any application if it is determined, in accordance with the
				  latest version of ANSI/NACE MR0175/ISO 15156, that the casing currently
				  installed in the well would be subject to sulfide stress cracking.
The applicant shall provide all information, in addition to
				  that specifically required by this section, if requested by the director. The
				  director may impose such terms and conditions on the permits issued under this
				  section as the director deems necessary.
The director shall deny an application for a permit under
				  this section if the proposal would cause, or tend to cause, waste or violate
				  correlative rights. The director of oil and gas shall state in writing to the
				  applicant the reason for the denial of the permit. The applicant may appeal the
				  decision of the director to the commission.
A permit to drill automatically expires one year after the
				  date it was issued, unless the well is drilling or has been drilled below
				  surface casing. A permit to recomplete or to drill horizontally automatically
				  expires one year after the date it was issued, unless such project has
				  commenced. The director may extend a permit to drill and a permit to recomplete
				  or drill horizontally for up to one year upon request.
General Authority:
NDCC 38-08-05
Law Implemented:
NDCC
					 38-08-05