26-34

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 "J" SAND OF THE ADENA FIELD, MORGAN COUNTY, COLORADO

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CAUSE NO. 26

ORDER NO. 26-34

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION

This cause came on for hearing before the Commission on February 19, 1957, at 10 a.m., in the Game Room of the Albany Hotel, Denver, Colorado, after publication of Notice of Hearing as required by statute and mailing of copies of application pursuant to the regulations of this Commission, on the application of The Pure Oil Company, as Unit Operator of the Adena "J" Sand Unit, requesting an order permitting injection of water for pressure maintenance purposes in the "J" sand, common source of supply in the Adena Field in Morgan County, Colorado.

The main issues to be considered by the Commission were to ascertain whether such method of operation will result in recovery of greater quantities of oil from such pool without waste, including protection of the correlative rights of all persons affected.

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. That no protests have been entered to the granting of the application, and that all prerequisites to the granting hereof have been performed.

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 applicant is the operator of the Adena "J" Sand Unit, and as such is acting on behalf of all parties to the Unit Agreement, "J" Sand, Adena Field, Morgan County, Colorado, dated July 18, 1955. That the agreement under which the proposed program of water injection is to be carried out is the Unit Agreement above described, which Unit Agreement and plan of operations described therein were approved by this Commission by Order No. 26-27.

4. That the common source of supply of oil and gas hereby affected is the "J" sand formation underlying the Adena Field., as heretofore defined by orders No. 26-27 and 26-31 of the Commission, in which pool there have been completed a total of 181 oil and gas wells and approximately 24 dry and abandoned wells, all as reflected by exhibits and testimony in this cause. That the "J" sand underlies said field at depths ranging from 5630 to 5680 feet.

5. That the expert testimony presented reflects that this formation is of such reservoir characteristics as to be capable of producing substantial quantities of oil; which would otherwise never be recovered, by instituting a bottom hole pressure maintenance program of injecting water into said reservoir. That said pool is estimated to finally produce a total of 41,000,000 barrels of oil under the methods of operation now used in the pool, and that under the pressure maintenance method herein proposed it is reasonably estimated that such total recovery will be increased to 71,000, 000 barrels of oil. That such additional recovery can be obtained without waste.

6. That the plan submitted by applicant proposes the injection of water by drilling injection wells and recompleting existing wells in the area of contact between the oil and gas zones in said "J" sand pool, which wells shall be located at points in such area as will effect [sic] the maximum recovery of oil. That applicant originally proposes to drill or recomplete a series of approximately 22 wells in said contact area, as reflected by applicant's exhibits in this cause. That logs of all wells proposed to be converted to injection wells have been properly submitted herein. That all injection wells so completed shall be properly cased by setting and cementing safe and adequate 8 5/8 inch casing from the surface down to approximately 120 feet, and from such depth down through the "J" sand formation by setting and cementing 5 1/2 inch casing, which casing will be perforated opposite the "J" sand section. That said casing will be pressure tested, so as to prevent leakage and migration of water from the "J" sand to any other formation, underlying the Adena Field and to protect all other oil, gas and fresh water-bearing formations and resources.

7. That, due to the probability that further migration of the gas cap may occur or other factors may be encountered or further reservoir information obtained during the drilling of the injection wells which may require relocation of certain of said wells or the drilling of additional injection wells in the gas-oil contact area, flexibility should be allowed to applicant with reference to the number of injection wells and the location thereof, in order to better prevent waste. That in the locating of said wells, no injection well should be drilled or recompleted within one mile of any lands located outside the Adena "J" Sand Unit, unless the owner of record of the oil and gas drilling rights in such outside tract is a party to the Adena "J" Sand Unit represented herein by applicant, or was given statutory notice of the hearing held in this matter on February 19, 1957; or shall consent in writing to the drilling of such well and such consent be filed with this Commission; or unless the drilling of such well shall be hereafter approved by this Commission after further notice and hearing.

8. That under applicant's proposed method water should be treated, if necessary, and injected into the "J" Sand reservoir in sufficient quantities to maintain a bottom hole pressure of approximately 1,205 pounds per square inch. That testimony presented showed that applicant has secured an adequate immediate source of underground water outside of the Adena Field for such purposes.

9. That avoidable waste of oil and gas will be prevented by the operations proposed by applicant, and the correlative rights of all parties in the "J" sand reservoir in the Adena Field will not be adversely affected and will be reasonably protected under such plan of operation. That in the interest of securing the greatest ultimate recovery of oil from the pool, the prevention of waste and protection of correlative rights, this application should be granted.

ORDER

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED as follows:

1. That applicant herein, as operator of the Adena "J" Sand Unit, is hereby permitted and authorized to conduct pressure maintenance operations by the injection of water in the "J" sand, common source of supply of oil and gas in the Adena Field, Morgan County, Colorado, as such field is defined by Orders No. 26-27 and 26-31 of this Commission.

2. That such operations shall be conducted by drilling new wells and re-completing old wells for water injection purposes into the "J" sand formation in a consecutive pattern running approximately North and South through said field in and along the area of contact between the gas zone and oil zone in such formation. That it is provided, however, that no injection well shall be drilled or recompleted and used for water injection purposes within one mile of any tract located outside the Adena "J" Sand Unit, unless the owner of record of the oil and gas drilling rights in such outside tract is a party to the Adena "J" Sand Unit, or was given statutory notice of the hearing held in the matter on February 19, 1957; or shall consent in writing to the use of such well for water injection purposes and such consent be filed with this Commission; or unless the drilling of such well shall be hereafter approved by this Commission after further notice and hearing.

3. That applicant is authorized to inject water into said formation through such wells in such quantities as shall be reasonably determined by applicant to best achieve the maximum recovery of oil under the pressure maintenance program herein proposed without waste of oil and gas. That such water shall be treated, if necessary, prior to injection.

4. That all such water injection wells shall be properly cased with safe and adequate casing, cemented and pressure tested so that damage will not be caused to any oil, gas or fresh water resources, and that the proposed casing and cementing procedure set forth in the findings above is hereby approved.

5. That immediately upon the commencement of water injection operations, applicant shall notify the Commission of the injection, and within ten (10) days after the discontinuance of injection operations applicant shall notify the Commission of the date of such discontinuance and the reasons therefor [sic]. That before any injection well shall be plugged, notice shall be served on the Commission by applicant, and the same procedure shall be followed in the plugging of injection wells as provided by the regulations of this Commission pertaining to the plugging of oil and gas wells.

6. That the plan of pressure maintenance by water injection herein proposed is approved, in that it will increase the ultimate recovery of oil and protect correlative rights,

7. That the provisions contained herein shall be in addition to other applicable rules and regulations and orders of the Commission, if any, heretofore adopted and not in conflict herewith.

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 provisions.

ORDERED this 19th day of February, 1957.

OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

By Annabel Hogsett, Secretary