BEFORE THE OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION

OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

 

IN THE MATTER OF THE PROMULGATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF FIELD RULES TO GOVERN OPERATIONS IN THE BAR-X FIELD, MESA COUNTY, COLORADO

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CAUSE NO. 102

 

ORDER NO. 102-1

 

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION

 

This cause came on for hearing before the Commission on March 19, 1957, at 10:00 a.m., in the Game Room of the Albany Hotel, Denver, Colorado, after publication of Notice of Hearing as required by law, on the application of The American Metal Company, Limited, a New York Corporation [sic], and The Frontier Refining Company, a Wyoming corporation, for an order from the Commission establishing forty-acre drilling and spacing units for the production of oil, and Six Hundred Forty-acre drilling and spacing units for the production of gas from any one common source of supply underlying the Bar-X Field in Mesa County, Colorado.

 

FINDINGS

 

The Commission finds as follows:

 

1.      That due notice of the time, place and purpose of the hearing has been given in all respects as required by law.

 

2.      That the Commission has jurisdiction over the subject matter embraced in said Notice, and of the parties interested therein, and jurisdiction to promulgate the hereinafter prescribed order.

 

3.      That the Salt Wash member of the Morrison formation, the Dakota-Upper Morrison Group, and the Entrada formation constitute common sources of supply of gas underlying the following described lands in Mesa County, Colorado, to-wit:

 

BAR-X ANTICLINE UNIT

 

Township 8 South, Range 104 West, 6th P.M.

 

 

Section 29:

SW/4, S/2 NW/4

Section 30:

S/2, S/2 N/2

Section 31:

N/2, N/2 S/2

Section 32:

NW/4

 

 

Township 8 South, Range 105 West, 6th P.M.

 

 

Section 25:

SE/4, S/2 NE/4, Lots 2, 3, 4

Section 36:

NE/4, N/2 SE/4, Lots 1, 2, 3

 

 

 

AREA TO BE SPACED ADJACENT TO UNIT

 

 

Township 8 South, Range 104 West, 6th P.M.

 

 

Section 19:  All

Section 30:  N/2 N/2

Section 20:  All

Section 31:  S/2 S/2

Section 21:  All

Section 32:  S/2, NE/4

Section 28:  W/2

Section 33:  W/2

Section 29:  N/2 NW/4, E/2

 

 

Township 8 South, Range 105 West, 6th P.M.

 

 

Section 24:

Lots 1, 2, 3 and 4, E/2

Section 25:

Lot 1, N/2 NE/4

Section 36:

Lot 4, S/2 SE/4

 

 

Township 9 South, Range 104 West 6th P.M.

 

 

Section 5:

Lots 5 - 16, inclusive

Section 6:

Lots 8 - 19, inclusive

 

all of which is referred to as the Bar-X Field.

 

4.      That in order to prevent waste of oil and gas, as defined in the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, and to prevent the drilling of unnecessary wells, it appears to the Commission from the geological and engineering data presently available, that an order should be made establishing drilling and spacing units of approximately Six Hundred Forty (640) acres for the production of gas from the Salt Wash member of the Morrison formation, the Dakota-Upper Morrison Group, and the Entrada formation, common sources of supply underlying said area adjacent to said Bar-X Anticline Unit, as defined herein; that as near as is practicable, said units should be drilling and spacing units of approximately Six Hundred Forty (640) acres, according to the recommendations of Applicant, which recommendations were concurred in by all interested parties present at the above hearing, and approved by the United States Geological Survey, and are shown in Exhibit "A" attached hereto and made a part hereof, setting forth the units which are numbered One (1) through Eight (8); and the permitted well for each such drilling unit should be located not closer than Nineteen Hundred Eighty (1980) feet from any boundary line of each such drilling unit.

 

5.      That all available geological and engineering data presently available to the Commission concerning the said Salt Wash member of the Morrison formation, the Dakota-Upper Morrison Group, and the Entrada formation in said Bar-X Field seems to indicate that one well will be able to efficiently and economically drain an area of approximately Six Hundred Forty (640) acres as to gas; and that drilling units of the size and shape as set forth in Exhibit "A" attached hereto and made a part hereof are not smaller than the maximum area that can be efficiently drained by one gas well producing from said common sources of supply.  This Finding is based on the present geological and engineering data available, and it is recognized that as the field becomes more developed, more complete data will be available to the Commission which could alter this Finding.

 

6.      That an exception should be allowed for the No. 1 Government-Lavington well located in the Center of the Southwest Quarter of the Southeast Quarter (SW/4 SE/4) of Section Twenty-nine (29), Township Eight (8) South, Range One Hundred Four (104) West, 6th P.M., Mesa County, Colorado, and that said well should be the permitted gas well for the drilling and spacing unit in which it is located.

 

ORDER

 

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, that the following rules and regulations shall apply hereafter to a well drilled, completed or recompleted in the Salt Wash member of the Morrison formation, the Dakota-Upper Morrison Group, and the Entrada formation, common sources of supply underlying that portion of the Bar-X Field, described in the Findings as the "Area to be spaced adjacent to Unit", in addition to other applicable rules and regulations and orders of the Commission, if any, heretofore adopted and not in conflict herewith:

 

Rule 1.    Approximately Six Hundred Forty (640) acre drilling and spacing units shall be, and the same are hereby established for the production of gas from the Salt Wash member of the Morrison formation, the Dakota-Upper Morrison Group, and the Entrada formation, common sources of supply underlying the following described lands in Mesa County, Colorado, to-wit:

 

Sections Nineteen (19), Twenty (20), and Twenty-one (21), West Half (W/2) of Section Twenty-eight (28), North Half of the Northwest Quarter, and East Half (N/2 NW/4, E/2) of Section Twenty-nine (29), North Half of the North Half (N/2 N/2) of Section Thirty (30), South Half of South Half (S/2 S/2) of Section Thirty-one (31), South Half and Northeast Quarter (S/2, NE/4) of Section Thirty-two (32), and the West Half (W/2) of Section Thirty-three (33), Township Eight (8) South, Range One Hundred Four (104) West, 6th P.M.; Lots One (1), Two (2), Three (3) and Four (4), and the East Half (E/2) of Section Twenty-four (24), Lot One (1), and the North Half of the Northeast Quarter (N/2 NE/4) of Section Twenty-five (25), and Lot Four (4), and the South Half of the Southeast Quarter (S/2 SE/4) of Section Thirty-six (36), Township Eight (8) South, Range One Hundred Five (105) West, 6th P.M., and Lots Five to Sixteen ( 5-16) [sic] inclusive, Section Five (5), and Lots Eight to Nineteen ( 8-19 ) [sic] inclusive, Section Six (6), Township Nine (9) South, Range One Hundred Four (104) West, 6th P.M.,

 

and such area, in addition to the Bar-X Anticline Unit herein described in the Findings, shall henceforth be known as the Bar-X Field.

 

Rule 2.    Said units shall consist of approximately Six Hundred Forty (640) acres, as shown in Exhibit "A" attached hereto and made a part hereof, and setting forth the units numbered One (1) through Eight (8); and the permitted gas well shall be located no closer than Nineteen Hundred Eighty (1980) feet from any boundary line of each such drilling unit.

 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that an exception is hereby allowed for the No. 1 Government-Lavington well located in the Center of the Southwest Quarter of the Southeast Quarter (C SW/4 SE/4) of Section Twenty-nine (29), Township Eight (8) South, Range One Hundred Four (104) West, 6th P.M., Mesa County, Colorado, and that said well shall be the permitted gas well for the drilling and spacing unit upon which it is located.

 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the rules and regulations contained herein shall become effective forthwith, and henceforth the commencement of the drilling of any well or wells in the spaced area of the Bar-X Field to the Salt Wash member of the Morrison formation, the Dakota-Upper Morrison Group, and the Entrada formation, common sources of supply as defined herein, for the purpose of producing gas therefrom at a location other than authorized by this order, is hereby prohibited.

 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the Commission expressly reserves its right, after notice and hearing, to alter, amend or repeal any and/or all of the above rules and regulations.

 

ORDERED this 29th day of March, 1957.

 

OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

 

 

By  Annabel Hogsett, Secretary