Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 3 - OIL AND GAS DIVISION › Section 3.52 - Oil Well Allowable Production

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) The daily allowable production of any
				lease or property shall not include production based upon the daily potential
				production of the field or area in which such well is located unless such well
				is actually on production, and such lease or property shall share in the total
				allowable production of the field or area, only to the extent of such well's
				actual ability to produce from day to day regardless of the rated potential
				production thereof according to the commission schedules.
(b) Production of a well in any one day shall
				not exceed 110% of the top well allowable as fixed by applicable rules and
				orders. Production and runs from a lease during the monthly allowable period
				shall not exceed 105% of the monthly allowable for the well or wells on the
				lease. However, the volume of oil that is produced and removed from the
				producing property as tolerance production shall be treated as overproduction
				and overruns shall be made up during the next succeeding month.
(c) All oil allowable volumes shall be
				measured in a manner consistent with §
									RSA
				3.71 of this title (relating to Pipeline
				Tariffs) (Statewide Rule 71).
(d) A
				newly completed well coming into production during a proration period will be
				gauged either by a commission agent, or pipeline gauger if a commission agent
				is not available, if an offset lease owner witnesses the gauge taken by the
				pipeline gauger. The allowable production of such newly completed well shall be
				in addition to the existing total allowable production of the field as
				previously ascertained. The well whose allowable is thus fixed shall take its
				ratable share of production at the next succeeding schedule date according to
				rule.
(e) All oil produced from any
				well governed by any proration order of the commission shall be charged against
				the allowable daily production of such well regardless of the disposition which
				is made of the oil so produced.
(f)
				The operator of any lease or unitized area in the State of Texas may be
				permitted to produce the total allowable for any such lease or unitized area
				subject to the following provisions:
(1) The
				operator must submit an application to produce that total allowable on a lease
				or unit production basis to the commission with a plat showing the subject
				lease or unit as well as the adjacent properties thereto. Such plat shall
				identify properly all properties and wells. The applicant shall give written
				notice to all operators in the field when application is made for permission to
				produce on a lease basis in a field. If no protest is received by the
				commission within 15 days of the date of mailing, the application may be
				granted by administrative action. If protest is received, notice will be given
				and the matter set for hearing.
(2)
				The total daily allowable of the lease or unit shall be initially established
				as an allowable equal to the sum of the current allowables for all wells on the
				lease or unit. The allowable credited to any new or existing well may be
				increased to the top well allowable permitted by subsequently filing a new
				potential test on that well. The maximum total daily allowable of the lease or
				unit will be equal to the sum of the scheduled top allowables assignable to
				each well for its proration unit.
(3) The total daily allowable of the lease or
				unit may be produced in any quantity from any well or combination of wells with
				the exception that wells nearer than a regular location from a lease or unit
				line shall not be permitted to produce more than their normal allowables and
				wells at a distance of a regular location from a lease or unit line shall not
				be produced at a rate of more that two times the top allowable for such well
				unless waivers of objection to rates in excess of this limit have been obtained
				from the operators of wells offsetting the well.
(4) Annual well test or allocation:
(A) An annual well test, or an allocation
				pursuant to §
											RSA
				3.53<subdiv>(a)(2)</subdiv> of
				this title (relating to Annual Well Tests and Well Status Reports Required)
				shall be made and reported on the oil well status report form on each lease or
				unit property to which a lease production basis has been granted showing an
				individual well test or allocation on each oil well on the property made during
				the prescribed test period determined by the commission. Annual well tests may
				be witnessed by offset operators. An offset operator that desires to witness an
				annual well test shall give the testing operator written notice of its desire
				to witness the next scheduled annual well test of a specific well. A testing
				operator that has received prior written notice that an offset operator desires
				to witness an annual well test shall give that offset operator at least 24
				hours advance notice of the date of the next annual well test for that well.
				The Commission will use the test or allocation data in the preparation of the
				oil proration schedule. The total schedule daily lease allowable shall be the
				sum of the individual well allowables as determined under applicable rules and
				the lease production basis shall be designated on the oil proration schedule by
				an appropriate symbol. All wells on the lease for which an allowable is
				requested shall have their production volumes reported pursuant to
				§3.53(a).
(B) Any producing
				well with a gas-oil ratio in excess of that permitted by the applicable rules
				shall have its daily allowable calculated by dividing the producing gas-oil
				ratio into the daily gas limit of the well.
(5) The Commission shall continue to require
				special tests in cases of commingled production where individual lease
				apportionment is determined by this method. Other special tests may be required
				as the Commission deems necessary.
(6) In the event that the monthly gas
				production of the lease or unit exceeds the permissible monthly lease gas
				limit, the volume of gas in excess of the lease gas limit shall be considered
				overproduction and must be made up by underproduction of the lease gas limit.
				Whenever the overproduced amount equals the next month's lease gas limit the
				overproduced amount shall immediately be reduced to zero by shutting in the
				lease or by other means acceptable to the Commission.
(7) The East Texas Field is excluded from the
				provisions of this section.