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April 14, 2008

MON 14 APR

James Van Blaricum and more articles By James Van Blaricum

Once a natural gas or oil well is drilled, and it has been verified that commercially viable quantities of natural gas are present for extraction, the well must be 'completed' to allow for the flow of petroleum or natural gas out of the formation and up to the surface. This process includes strengthening the well hole with casing, evaluating the pressure and temperature of the formation, and then installing the proper equipment to ensure an efficient flow of natural gas out of the well.

 

There are three main types of conventional natural gas wells. Since oil is commonly associated with natural gas deposits, a certain amount of natural gas may be obtained from wells that were drilled primarily for oil production. These are known as oil wells. In some cases, this "associated" natural gas is used to help in the production of oil, by providing pressure in the formation for the oils extraction. The associated natural gas may also exist in large enough quantities to allow its extraction along with the oil. Natural gas wells are wells drilled specifically for natural gas, and contain little or no oil. James Van Blaricum

 

Condensate wells are wells that contain natural gas, as well as a liquid condensate. This condensate is a liquid hydrocarbon mixture that is often separated from the natural gas either at the wellhead, or during the processing of the natural gas. Depending on the type of well that is being drilled, completion may differ slightly. It is important to remember that natural gas, being lighter than air, will naturally rise to the surface of a well. Because of this, in many natural gas and condensate wells, lifting equipment and well treatment are not necessary.

 

 

 

 

The Railroad Commission of Texas amended §3.80, Commission Oil and Gas Forms, Applications, and Filing Requirements, to add a new form and amend or delete other forms. Listed below are the forms affected. The bill requires the Commission to issue certification if the CO2 used in the EOR project is to be sequestered in a reservoir productive of oil or natural gas; the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issue the certification if  the CO2 used in the EOR project is to sequestered in a formation other than a reservoir productive of oil or natural gas; and both agencies to issue certifications if the CO2 is sequestered in both a formation not productive of oil or natural gas and a reservoir productive of oil or natural gas. Signal OIL and Gas The proposed project must qualify for the tax rate reduction in Tax Code, §202.054, before it can be considered for the additional tax rate reduction in Tax Code, §202.0545. New Form H-12A requests information necessary for Commission staff to determine whether the proposed project meets the statutory requirements for the additional tax rate reduction. Signal Oil and Gas  Adoption of Amended Form H-14, Enhanced Oil Recovery Reduced Tax Annual Report. The

amended form allows an operator to report the annual injection volume of anthropogenic carbon dioxide.

Adoption of Amended Form P-5LC, Irrevocable Documentary Blanket Letter of Credit. The revision from #500 to #600 was effective on July 1,2007. New Letters of Credit filed with the Commission should be filed on the revised form; however, the Commission is NOT requiring that operators (and their banks) refile existing letters of credit. Currently filed letters of credit executed on prior versions of Form P-5LC may remain on file and be renewed as needed without resubmission on the revised form. 

Signal Oil and Gas Adoption of Amended Form P-17, Application for Exception to Statewide Rules 26 and/or 27 (Commingling) and Deletion of Form P-17A, Interim Commingling/Measurement Application Supplement. The Commission has consolidated production reporting for oil and gas in order to streamline the reporting process and facilitate internal processing. Changes to the Form P-17 include clearer instructions and broader reporting options that allow a Commission identifier to be used when identifying commingled leases that are pending a lease number assignment. The revised Form P-17 also includes an attachment page for ease of filing multiple leases on one commingling permit application.

Deleted Form W-1X, Application for Future Re-Entry of Inactive Wellbore and 14(b)(2) Extension Permit. This form is no longer necessary.Signal Oil and Gas

Effective October 1, 2006 all plats filed in hardcopy with Form W-1 Drilling

Permit Applications must be in black line on white background; blue line plats and colored plats will no longer be accepted. For drilling permit applications that  are electronically filed, the plat that is attached to the application must be scanned in black and white and saved as a TIFF file. A scanning resolution of 200 x 200 dpi is recommended. All information on the original plat should be legible on the scanned image. When naming your scanned plat files DO NOT USE special characters as this could prevent your file from being successfully uploaded. Signal and Oil The Railroad Commission is currently scanning all Drilling Permit Applications,

plats and other attachments that are filed in paper and these scanned images are processed electronically along with the applications that are filed online by operators. The scanned images and electronic data are also made available for public query over the Internet.

 

Restricting plats to black and white format is necessary in order to ensure that all information on paper-filed plats can be captured when scanned, and to reduce electronic file storage size. Signal and Oil

Signal and Oil  - Please refer to Statewide Rule 5 for detailed information about drilling permit and plat requirements, you are reminded of these basic plat requirements:

F) The lease should be outlined on the plat using either a heavy line or crosshatching.

G) The plat should include the following:

A) surface location of the proposed drilling site;

B) perpendicular lines providing the distance in feet from two nearest nonparallel

survey/section lines to the surface location;

C) perpendicular lines providing the distance in feet from two nearest nonparallel lease lines to the surface location;

D) a line providing the distance in feet from the surface location to the nearest

point on the lease line, pooled unit line, or unitized tract line. If there is an

unleased interest in a tract of the pooled unit that is nearer than the pooled

unit line, the nearest point on that unleased tract boundary should be used;

E) a line providing the distance in feet from the surface location to the nearest

oil, gas, or oil and gas well identified by number either applied for,

permitted, or completed in the same lease, pooled unit, or unitized tract and

in the same field and reservoir;

F) the geographic location information;

G) a labeled scale bar; and

H) northerly direction.

For faster processing of Drilling Permit Applications, plats and attachments, you

are encouraged to electronically file over the Internet using the RRC Online System.