Washington Administrative Code › Title 332 - Natural Resources, Board and Department of (See also Title 222) › Chapter 332-12 - Oil and gas leases › Section 332-12-210 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
The following definitions are, unless the context
				otherwise requires, applicable to
				chapter 79.14 RCW and these rules
				and regulations.
(1)
			 "Aquatic lands" means all state-owned tidelands, shorelands, harbor
			 areas, and the beds of navigable waters.
(2) "Associated substances" means
			 all gaseous or liquid substances produced in association with oil or
			 gas but shall not include coal, lignite, oilshale, similar solid
			 hydrocarbons, minerals, water, steam or any geothermal
			 resources.
(3) "Base
			 lease" means the first issued lease on a tract of land prior to any
			 assignments of the lease or renewals.
(4) "Commissioner" means the
			 commissioner of public lands.
(5) "Completion" means the well is
			 capable of producing oil or gas through wellhead equipment from the
			 producing zone after the production string has been run. A dry hole
			 shall be considered completed when the requirements for plugging and
			 abandonment provided for in chapter 344-12 WAC have been complied
			 with.
(6) "Continuous" as
			 in "production in continuous paying quantities" means extracting oil
			 and gas from the earth without cessation for a period of more than
			 ninety days.
(7)
			 "Department" means the department of natural resources.
(8) "Development" means work which
			 generally occurs after exploration and furthers bringing in
			 production including defining the extent of the oil and gas resource
			 and construction of support facilities.
(9) "Drilling" means the drilling
			 of a well and the activities associated therewith of permitting,
			 staking, site preparation, testing, deepening or redrilling of the
			 well.
(10) "Drill pads"
			 means the location and surrounding area necessary to position a drill
			 rig and support equipment.
(11) "Exploration" means the
			 investigation of oil and gas resources by any geological,
			 geophysical, geochemical or other suitable means.
(12) "Good standing" means in full
			 compliance with all terms and conditions of the lease
			 contract.
(13)
			 "Hydrocarbon" means a compound containing only the two elements
			 carbon and hydrogen.
(14)
			 "Improvements" means anything considered a fixture in law placed upon
			 or attached to the lease premises that has changed the value of the
			 land or any change in the previous conditions of the fixtures that
			 changes the value of the land.
(15) "Initial term" means the first
			 period of time authorized under a lease or the exploration period of
			 the lease.
(16) "In situ"
			 means a process of in-place conversion of an energy resource in the
			 ground by a thermal or liquifaction process in order to simplify
			 extraction of the resource.
(17) "Lands" or "land" means both
			 the surface and subsurface components of the lease or contract
			 premises.
(18) "Lease
			 premises" means public land including retained mineral rights held
			 under an oil and gas lease.
(19) "Lessee" means any person
			 holding an oil and gas lease.
(20) "Oil and gas" means all
			 hydrocarbons which are present in the earth in a gaseous or liquid
			 form and produced therefrom. It shall not include coal, lignite,
			 oilshale, or similar solid hydrocarbons.
(21) "Paying quantities" means
			 extraction of oil and/or gas in a sufficient amount to generate oil
			 and gas production royalties to the state.
(22) "Person" means any natural
			 person, corporation, association, organization, partnership,
			 receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, or
			 representative of any kind.
(23) "Plug and abandon" means to
			 place permanent seals in well casings or drill holes in the manner as
			 provided by chapter 344-12 WAC and applicable regulations and in a
			 way and at such intervals as are necessary to prevent future
			 contamination; to remove all equipment from the site and rehabilitate
			 the surface to its former state or usage as prescribed by the
			 department.
(24) "Posted
			 field price" means the announced price at which a crude oil or gas
			 purchaser will buy the oil or gas of specified quality from a
			 field.
(25) "Preliminary
			 investigation" means geological, geophysical or geochemical
			 investigation.
(26)
			 "Production" means extracting oil and/or gas in paying
			 quantities.
(27) "Public
			 auction" means competitive lease offers either by oral or sealed
			 bidding by qualified bidders or a combination of both.
(28) "Public lands" means lands and
			 areas belonging to or held in trust by the state including
			 state-owned aquatic lands and lands of every kind and nature
			 including mineral rights reserved to the state, the trust or the
			 department.
(29)
			 "Reclamation" means the reasonable protection and rehabilitation of
			 all land subject to disruption from exploration, development, and
			 production of an oil and gas resource.
(30) "Refining" means improving the
			 physical or chemical properties of oil or gas.
(31) "Shut-in" means to adequately
			 cap or seal a well to control the contained oil and/or gas for an
			 interim period.
(32)
			 "String of tools" means a cable or rotary drill rig.
(33) "Surface rights" means full
			 fee ownership of the surface of the property and the resources on and
			 attached thereto, not including the mineral estate.
(34) "Undivided interest" means a
			 total assignment of the lease to one person or an assignment which
			 causes the total lease rights to be held jointly by more than one
			 person including but not limited to joint or common tenancy and
			 community property.
(35)
			 "Waste" means the physical loss of a subsurface resource through
			 damage, escape or inefficient extraction and as defined in
			 chapter 78.52 RCW.
(36) "Well" means any bored,
			 drilled, or redrilled hole for the exploration or production of oil,
			 gas, and other hydrocarbon substances.
Statutory Authority:
				  RCW 79.14.120. 86-07-027
				  (Order 472), § 332-12-210, filed 3/13/86; 82-23-053 (Order 387),
				  § 332-12-210, filed
				  11/16/82.