Opinion ID: 2509156
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 34

Heading: The header

Text: 105. The header presents a more complex question. The witnesses appear to be in general agreement that the header is a separator. E.g., Findings of Fact, ถถ70-72c. This consensus is supported by such documentary evidence as the language of the patent on Barrett's stacked vertical header, Findings of Fact, ถ55, and Williams' admissions in its response to the preliminary audit findings. Findings of Fact, ถถ37b, 38d. It is further supported by the Audit Department memorials of conversations with Barrett personnel in the fact-finding stage of the audit. Those Barrett personnel identified only the glycol dehydrator, not the header, as a dehydrator. Findings of Fact, ถถ12-13, 22-23. 106. One objection to characterizing the header as a separator is that the statute defines dehydrator as a kind of device, and defines compressor as a kind of device, but does not define separator as a device. Instead, the statute defines separating. Separating is the isolation of the well stream into discrete gas, liquid hydrocarbons, liquid water and solid component. Wyo. Stat. Ann. ง 39-14-201(a)(xxii). Based on the evidence, we conclude that the header performs the function of separating, as that function is defined by statute. Nonetheless, the legislature could have defined another device, a separator, but instead chose to define a function. 107. The statutory distinction between dehydrator and separating is therefore not as clear as the statutory distinction between dehydrator and compressor. However, the Department has interpreted the statute to preclude the characterization of a device as both a separator and a dehydrator. Findings of Fact, ถ72b. We conclude that the Department's interpretation of the statute does not conflict with legislative intent. We therefore defer to the Department's conclusion that the header is a separator, and is not a dehydrator. Board of County Commissioners, Sublette County, v. State Board of Equalization, 33 P. 3d. 107, 113, 2001 WY 91, ถ16 (Wyo. 2001).