Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 3 - OIL AND GAS DIVISION › Section 3.15 - Surface Equipment Removal Requirements and Inactive Wells

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Definitions.
				The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the
				following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) Active operation--Regular and continuing
				activities related to the production of oil and gas for which the operator has
				all necessary permits. In the case of a well that has been inactive for 12
				consecutive months or longer and that is not permitted as a disposal or
				injection well, the well remains inactive for purposes of this section,
				regardless of any minimal activity, until the well has reported production of
				at least five barrels of oil for oil wells or 50 Mcf of gas for gas wells each
				month for at least three consecutive months, or until the well has reported
				production of at least one barrel of oil for oil wells or at least one Mcf of
				gas for gas wells each month for 12 consecutive months.
(2) Cost calculation for plugging an inactive
				well--The cost, calculated by the Commission or its delegate, for each foot of
				well depth plugged based on average actual plugging costs for wells plugged by
				the Commission for the preceding state fiscal year for the Commission Oil and
				Gas Division district in which the inactive well is located.
(3) Delinquent inactive well--An inactive
				well for which, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, the Commission or
				its delegate has not extended the plugging deadline.
(4) Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project--A
				project that does not include a water disposal project and is:
(A) a Commission-approved EOR project that
				uses any process for the displacement of oil or other hydrocarbons from a
				reservoir other than primary recovery and includes the use of an immiscible,
				miscible, chemical, thermal, or biological process;
(B) a certified project described by Texas
				Tax Code, §
											RSA
				202.054; or
(C) any other project approved by the
				Commission or its delegate for EOR.
(5) Good faith claim--A factually supported
				claim based on a recognized legal theory to a continuing possessory right in a
				mineral estate, such as evidence of a currently valid oil and gas lease or a
				recorded deed conveying a fee interest in the mineral estate.
(6) Inactive well--An unplugged well that has
				been spudded or has been equipped with cemented casing and that has had no
				reported production, disposal, injection, or other permitted activity for a
				period of greater than 12 months.
(7) Operator designation form--A certificate
				of compliance and transportation authority or an application to drill,
				recomplete, and reenter that has been approved by the Commission or its
				delegate.
(8) Physical termination
				of electric service to the well's production site--Disconnection of the
				electric service to an inactive well site at a point on the electric service
				lines most distant from the production site toward the main supply line in a
				manner that will not interfere with electrical supply to adjacent operations,
				including cathodic protection units.