Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 3 - OIL AND GAS DIVISION › Section 3.11 - Inclination and Directional Surveys Required

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) General. All wells shall be drilled as
				nearly vertical as possible by normal, prudent, practical drilling operations.
				Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the drilling of any well
				in such a manner that the wellbore crosses lease and/or property lines (or unit
				lines in cases of pooling) without special permission.
(b) Inclination surveys.
(1) Requirements.
(A) An inclination survey made by persons or
				concerns approved by the commission shall be filed on a form prescribed by the
				commission for each well drilled or deepened with rotary tools, except as
				hereinafter provided, or when, as a result of any operation, the course of the
				well is changed. The first shot point of such inclination survey shall be made
				at a depth not greater than 500 feet below the surface of the ground, and
				succeeding shot points shall be made either at 500-foot intervals or at the
				nearest drill bit change thereto, but not to exceed 1,000 feet apart.
(B) Inclination surveys conforming to these
				requirements may be made either during the normal course of drilling or after
				the well has reached total depth. Acceptable directional surveys may be filed
				in lieu of inclination surveys.
(C)
				Copies of all directional or inclination surveys, regardless of the reason for
				which they are run, shall be filed as a part of or in addition to the
				inclination surveys otherwise required by this section. If computations are
				made from dipmeter surveys to determine the course of the wellbore in any
				portion of the surveyed interval, a report of such computations shall be
				required.
(D) Inclination surveys
				shall not be required in any well drilled to a total depth of 2,000 feet or
				less on a regular location at least 150 feet from the nearest lease line,
				provided the well is not intentionally deviated from the vertical in any manner
				whatsoever.
(E) Inclination surveys
				shall not be required on wells deepened with rotary tools if the well is
				deepened no more than 300 feet or the distance from the surface location to the
				nearest lease or boundary line, whichever is the lesser, and provided that the
				well was not intentionally deviated from the vertical at any time before or
				after the beginning of deepening operations.
(F) Inclination surveys will not be required
				on wells that are drilled and completed as dry holes and are permanently
				plugged and abandoned. If such wells are reentered at a later date and
				completed as producers or injection or disposal wells, inclination reports will
				be required and must be filed with the appropriate completion form for the
				well.
(G) Inclination survey
				filings will not be required on wells that are reentries within casing of
				previously producing wells if inclination data are already on file with the
				Railroad Commission of Texas (commission). If such data are not on file with
				the commission, the results of an inclination survey must be reported on the
				appropriate form and filed with the completion form, except as provided by
				subparagraph (D) of this paragraph.