WorldWide Drilling Resource

38 AUGUST 2013 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Oil & Gas Well Construction Amendments in Texas Adapted from Information by the Texas Railroad Commission The Railroad Commission adopted amendments to the Commission’s well construction requirements (Rule 13) to clarify current oil and gas well construc- tion requirements related to casing, cementing, drilling, well control, and com- pletions. Barry Smitherman, Commission chairman said, “I want to congratulate Commission staff on their hard work and on involving all the stake- holders to update our well construction rules. This latest rulemaking effort by theCommission also illustrates the im- portance of al lowing state regulators, not the federal gov- ernment, to regulate our booming oil and gas industry.” Some of the new amendments to Rule 13 include: 7 For wells undergoing hydraulic fracturing treatments, operators are re- quired to pressure test well casings to the maximum pressure expected during the fracture treatment, and notify the Commission of a failed test. Also during hydraulic fracturing, operators are re- quired to monitor the annular space be- tween the well’s casings for pressure changes (which could indicate a leak in casing) and suspend hydraulic fracturing operations if monitoring indicates a poten- tial down hole casing leak. 7 Operators are required to verify the mechanical integrity of surface cas- ing and intermediate casing for wells in which the drilling time for the next casing string (either the intermediate casing string or the production casing string) exceed 360 hours. This will ensure drilling inside the surface casing has not damaged the surface casing integrity or other interme- diate casing strings. 7 Operators are required to isolate (place cement behind casing) across and above all formations that have a permit for an injection or disposal well within ¼ mile of a proposed well. 7 Commission approval is required before setting surface casing to a depth greater than 3500 feet. 7 Additional testing and monitoring is required for “minimum separation wells” where the vertical distance between the base of usable quality water and the top of a formation to undergo hydraulic frac- turing treatment is less than 1000 vertical feet. This provision involves a limited num- ber of vertical wells that are hydraulically fractured in a handful of shallow fields, which are found in the Abilene, Midland, San Antonio, and Wichita Falls areas and does not involve horizontally completed and hydraulically fractured wells in the major plays in the Barnett Shale, Eagle Ford Shale, and Permian Basin. 7 Operators are required to use air, freshwater, or freshwater-based drillingmud until surface casing is set and cemented in a well to protect usable quality groundwater. 7 Operators are required to pump sufficient cement to isolate and control annular gas migration and isolate poten- tial flow zones and zones with corrosive formation fluids. Commissioner Christi Craddick said, “These new rule amendments will provide our oil and gas operators with consistent and clear regulations. They also enhance the Railroad Commission’s ongoing effec- tiveness in overseeing the responsible development or our domestic energy resources, which has resulted in one of this nation’s greatest economic success stories.” The new amendments take effect, and apply to any wells drilled on or after January 1, 2014. In Memoriam Arthur Henry “Mike” Forbes, Jr. (1937~2013) Arthur Henry “Mike” Forbes, Jr., 75, passed away May 19, 2013., in Butler, Pennsylvania. He was a University of Pittsburgh graduate and a geologist with more than 50 years of practical experience in the oil and gas industry. Mike was the founder and chairman of Turm Oil, Inc., drilling oil and gas wells in more than 26 states and Canada. He was a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Certified Petroleum Geologist 989, The American Institute of Professional Geologists, Certified Geological Society, and was a Pennsylvania Registered Professional Geologist. He served three terms as chairman of the board of the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association and one term as regional vice president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America. Mike is survived by his wife Marcia; sons Daniel, Douglas (Laurie), and Deke (Marcy); grandchildren Camryn and Allyson; stepdaughter Kimberly; and step grandson Neil. The management and staff of WWDR offer their sympathies to Mike’s fam- ily and friends. Wyoming Considers Groundwater Testing Adapted from Information by the Office of Governor Matt Mead Wyoming Governor Matt Mead and other members of the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission heard details on a baseline water testing pro- posal, which addresses water testing before, during, and after oil and gas proj- ects. Baseline water testing is a key ini- tiative in the recently released Wyoming Energy Strategy. “Collecting baseline water data is a necessary step both supporting important energy development and protecting a vital resource - our water,” Governor Mead said. “Wyoming will be among the first states in the country to require baseline water testing and we want to do it well. I look forward to hearing from landowners and energy companies about this draft. I hope this draft will move as expeditiously as possible through a period of informal comments and through the rulemaking process.” The draft, subject to the informal comment period, would require opera- tors to sample existing water sources around a proposed oil or natural gas well. Landowners would have to give consent for operators to sample the water sources including domestic, stock, industrial, irri- gation, municipal, or other sources of water. The first sampling would occur before any wells are drilled, and periodi- cally over the life of the well.