N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 6 § 557.1

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 45, November 2, 2024

Section 557.1 - Application

(a) It shall be unlawful for the owner or operator of any lease or unit to initiate any secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations until a written application has been filed therefor with the department and written permission has been received for such operations.

(b) The application for permission to conduct secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations must be accompanied by or contain, but is not limited to, the following items:

(1) a statement outlining in brief resume what secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations are proposed, including the injection medium to be used, its source, and the estimated amounts to be injected daily plus a forecast of the anticipated rate of development of the area included within the project;

(2) a statement of the name, description and depth of the formation for which the operations are proposed;

(3) a copy of the log of any existing well to be used for input, or in the absence of any log, such information as is available relative to the geological sequence of formations adjacent to and including the pool for which the operations are proposed;

(4) a description of the casing program of the existing or proposed input well or wells and the proposed method for testing of the casing seat or seats;

(5) a neat, legible plat drawn to scale showing the lease, group of leases or unit containing the proposed project. The plat also must identify the offsetting leases, including the names of the offsetting operators. It also must show the location of all drilling wells, existing oil and gas wells, abandoned wells and dry holes together with their surface elevations plus an identification as to the zone of past and/or present completion of said wells if ever productive. The plat also must show the location of the proposed intake well or wells plus any major surface facilities pertinent to the proposed secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations;

(6) a tabulation showing recent gas-oil ratio and oil and water production tests for each of the producing oil and gas wells;

(7) a list of the names and addresses of the offsetting operators and a statement that each has been sent a copy of the application by registered mail, and the date of such mailing.

(c) Concurrently with the filing with the department of the application for permission to conduct any secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations, the applicant must send a copy of said application by registered mail to the operators of all leases or units offsetting the lease, group of leases or unit containing the proposed project.

(d) Upon receipt of the application for permission to conduct secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations, the department shall, except as hereafter provided for the unit operation of a pool or part thereof, hold same for 15 days. If within said 15-day period any offset operator reciting reasonable cause, shall file in writing with the department a protest to such secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations, or if the department is not in accord with the proposed secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations, the application shall be scheduled for public hearing. If no objection from either an offset operator or the department is interposed within the 15-day period, and all other things being in order, the application will be approved and written permission for the secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations shall be issued by the department.

(e) The compulsory 15-day waiting period discussed in subdivision (d) of this section shall not be required if the application for permission to conduct secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations is accompanied by the written consent of the operators of all leases or units offsetting the lease, group of leases or unit containing the proposed project and the department has no objection.

(f) In the event the proposed secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations will involve the unit operation of a pool or a part thereof which has been or is proposed to be the subject of an integration and unitization ruling by the department under section 79 of the Conservation Law, the application therefor must, in addition to those items specified in subdivision (b) of this section, be accompanied by or contain, but is not limited to, the following additional items:

(1) a statement or graph showing the rate of anticipated oil and gas (if any) production from the project;

(2) a statement showing the value of the estimated additional recovery of oil and gas will exceed the estimated additional cost incident to conducting such operations;

(3) evidence that 60 percent or more in interest of the owners and 60 percent or more of royalty interest have approved the proposed plan of secondary recovery or pressure maintenance.

(g) In the event the proposed secondary recovery or pressure maintenance operations will involve the unit operation of a pool or a part thereof which has been or is proposed to be the subject of an integration and unitization ruling by the department under section 79 of the Conservation Law, the department shall not follow the procedure outlined in subdivision (d) of this section, but instead shall promptly schedule a public hearing to facilitate a decision on the application.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 6 § 557.1