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 RULISON FIELD, GARFIELD COUNTY, COLORADO

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CAUSE NO. 139

 

ORDER NO. 139-2

 

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION

 

This cause came on for hearing before the Commission on February 21, 1961, at 10:00 a.m., in Room 227, State Services Building, Denver, Colorado, after publication of Notice of Hearing as required by law, on the Commission’s own motion to consider the extension of the Rulison Field, as it pertains to the Mesaverde formation, and to consider the establishment of drilling and spacing units for the production of gas from the Wasatch formation underlying the Rulison Field.

 

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 operators in the Rulison Field did not comply with the request of the Commission, as stated in the Notice of Hearing dated February 7, 1961, in which the Commission requested the operators in the field to present evidence upon which an order could be based to establish drilling and spacing units for the production of gas from the Wasatch formation, and extend the limits of the field.

 

4.      That, under the laws of the State of Colorado, the Commission is required, among other things, to protect the correlative rights of interested parties, and to prevent the drilling of unnecessary wells.

 

5.      That in the Rulison Field there are several separate zones within the Wasatch, formation that are possibly capable of producing gas in commercial quantities.

 

6.      That, in view of the failure of the parties to present evidence to the Commission as directed, the Commission deems it necessary to provide for as wide a spacing pattern as possible at this time so that unnecessary wells are not drilled in the Rulison Field; therefore, drilling and spacing units consisting of 640 acres, according to the governmental survey thereof, for each zone of the Wasatch formation should be established.

 

7.      That upon the presentation of engineering and geological evidence and information pertaining to the Wasatch formation, the Commission should reconsider the size of drilling and spacing units for said formation.

 

8.      That the completion of additional gas wells outside the present field limits of the Rulison Field indicates that said limits should be extended to include, in addition to the area defined by Order No. 139-1, the following lands in Garfield County, Colorado, for the production of gas from the Wasatch and Mesaverde formations:

 

Township 6 South, Range 93 West, 6th P.M.

 

 

Sections

5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18

 

 

Township 6 South, Range 94 West, 6th P.M.

 

 

Sections

1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 30, 31

 

 

Township 7 South, Range 94 West, 6th P.M.

 

 

Sections

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18

 

ORDER

 

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, that the following rules and regulations shall apply hereafter to a well drilled, completed, or recompleted in the Mesaverde and Wasatch formations of the Rulison Field, herein defined, in addition to other applicable rules and regulations and orders of the Commission, if any, heretofore adopted and not in conflict herewith:

 

Rule 1.    Six Hundred Forty (640) acre drilling and spacing units shall be and the same are hereby established for the production of gas from each productive zone of the Wasatch formation, and from the Mesaverde formation, common source of supply underlying the following described lands in Garfield County, Colorado, to-wit:

 

Township 6 South, Range 93 West, 6th P.M.

 

 

Sections

5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 30, 31 and 32

 

 

Township 6 South, Range 94 West, 6th P.M.

 

 

Sections

1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36

 

 

Township 7 South, Range 94 West, 6th P.M.

 

 

Sections

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, and 18

 

Rule 2.    No well shall be completed in the Mesaverde formation within the limits of the Rulison Field, and no notice of intention to drill shall be approved by the Commission unless:

 

a.      Such well be located on a designated drilling unit of not less than 640 acres of land, more or less, according to legal subdivisions of the United States Land Surveys, in which unit all of the interests of owners are consolidated by a pooling agreement or otherwise, and on which no other well is completed or approved for completion in the same pool;

 

b.      Such drilling unit be in the shape of a square, except for normal variations in legal subdivisions of the United States Land Surveys;

 

c.      Such well to be drilled no closer than 990 feet to the boundaries of the quarter section upon which it is located; and

 

d.      Such well be located in either the NW¼ or the SE¼ of the section.

 

Rule 3.    No well shall be completed in the Wasatch formation within the limits of the Rulison Field, and no notice of intention to drill shall be approved by the Commission unless:

 

a.      Such well be located on a designated drilling unit of not less than 640 acres of land, more or less, according to legal subdivisions of the United States Land Surveys.

 

b.      Such drilling unit be in the shape of a square, except for normal variations in legal subdivisions of the United States Land Surveys;

 

c.      Such well to be drilled no closer than 600 feet to the boundaries of the section upon which it is located, unless otherwise authorized by the Director.

 

Rule 4.    The Commission may, by order entered after due notice and hearing, and to prevent waste or confiscation of property, or to prevent inclusion of unproductive land in a drilling unit, grant exceptions to the provisions of Rule 2 above; and the Commission may, without additional notice and hearing, grant exceptions to Rule 2c above when, because of topographical reasons, it is necessary to locate such well closer than 990 feet to the boundaries of the quarter section in which the well is to be drilled.

 

Rule 5.    The casing program of all wells hereafter drilled in the Rulison Field Mesaverde gas pool shall include at least two strings of casing which shall be set in accordance with the following standards:

 

a.      The surface casing shall be set to a minimum depth of 200 feet, and where shallow potable water-bearing beds are present, the surface pipe shall be set through such shallow potable water-bearing beds and a sufficient amount of cement shall be used to circulate the cement behind the pipe to the bottom of the cellar.  This surface casing shall stand cemented for at least 12 hours before drilling plug or initiating tests.  The surface casing shall be tested after drilling plug by bailing the hole dry.  The hole shall remain dry for one hour to constitute satisfactory proof of a water shut-off.  In lieu of the foregoing test, the cement job may be tested by building up a pressure of 500 psi, closing the valves and allowing to stand thirty minutes.  If the pressure does not drop more than 100 pounds during that period, the test shall be considered satisfactory.  This test shall be made both before and after drilling the plug. In this regard, all fresh waters and waters of present or probable future value for domestic, commercial or stock purposes shall be confined to their respective strata and shall be adequately protected by methods approved by the Commission.  Special precaution shall be taken in drilling and abandoning wells to guard against any loss of artesian potable water from the strata in which it occurs, and the contamination of artesian potable water by objectionable water, oil or gas.

 

b.      The production string shall be set using a minimum of 100 sacks of cement and shall stand cemented not less than 24 hours before testing of the casing.  This test shall be made by building up a pressure of 1000 psi, closing the valves and allowing to stand thirty minutes.  If the pressure does not drop more than 100 pounds during that period, the test shall be considered satisfactory.

 

c.      All cementing shall be done by the pump and plug method.  Bailing tests may be used on all casing and cement tests, and drill stem tests may be used on cement tests in lieu of pressure tests.  In making bailing tests, the well shall be bailed dry and remain approximately dry for thirty minutes.  If any string of casing fails while being tested by pressure or by bailing tests herein required, it shall be re-cemented and re-tested, or an additional string of casing shall be run and cemented.  If an additional string is used, the same test shall be made as outlined for the original string.

 

d.      Any completed well which produces any oil shall be tubed.  This tubing shall be set as near the bottom of the hole as practicable, but in no case shall tubing perforations be more than 250 feet from the bottom.  The bottom of the tubing shall be restricted to an opening of less than 1 inch, or bullplugged in order to prevent loss of pressure bombs or other measuring devices . [sic]

 

e.      Wellhead equipment for all wells shall be installed and maintained in first-class condition, so that static bottom hole pressures and surface pressures may be obtained at any time by a duly authorized agent of the Commission.  Valves shall be installed so that pressures may be readily obtained on the casing and also on the tubing, wherever tubing is installed.  All connections subject to well pressure and all wellhead fitting shall be of first class material, rated at 4000 psi working pressure and maintained in gas-tight condition. Bradenheads rated at 2000 psi shall be installed on all production strings and Bradenhead connections maintained in gas-tight condition.  There shall be at least one valve on each Bradenhead.  Operators shall be responsible for maintaining all equipment in first-class condition, and shall repair or replace equipment where gas leakage occurs.

 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that all wells drilled, and all locations approved by the Commission prior to February 21, 1961, for the production of gas from the Mesaverde formation shall be the permitted wells or locations for the respective drilling units.

 

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 Rulison Field, 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, regulations and orders.

 

ORDERED this 21st day of March 1960.

 

OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

 

 

By 

D.V. Rogers, Secretary