20 AAC 25.990 - Definitions
In this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise,
(1) "abandon" means to plug
a well in accordance with
20 AAC 25.112 and without the
commission's approval of well suspension under
20 AAC 25.110;
(2) "abnormally geo-pressured strata" means
subsurface zones where the pore pressure exceeds a gradient of 0.50
psi/ft;
(3) "API" means the
American Petroleum Institute;
(4)
"API 5K" means an API-defined BOP configuration with a rated working pressure
of 5,000 psi and as described in API RP 53, adopted by reference at
20 AAC
25.527(c);
(5) "API number" means the number assigned by
the commission under
20 AAC 25.040(b)
for a well or well branch consistent with the API well numbering
convention;
(6) "API RP" means API
recommended practices;
(7) "barrel"
means 42 U.S. gallons;
(8) "BHA"
means bottom-hole assembly;
(9)
"BOP" means blowout preventer, which is a casinghead assembly equipped with
special gates or rams or other pack-offs that can be closed around the drill
pipe, tubing, casing, or tools, and that completely close the top of the casing
to control well pressure;
(10)
"BOPE" means blowout prevention equipment;
(11) "bottom-hole location" means the
subsurface point at the greatest measured penetration of a well or a well
branch;
(12) "casing stub" means
the remnant of a casing string when the upper portion of the casing has been
cut and recovered;
(13)
"commission" means the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission;
(14) "complete" means to equip and condition
a well as an oil, gas, or service well so that it is capable of producing or
injecting fluids; in the case of a well branch in a previously completed well,
"complete" means to equip and condition a well branch so that it is capable of
contributing to the well's production or injection of fluids;
(15) "completion operation" means work
performed in a well after the casing and cementing of the wellbore; "completion
operation" includes plugging, perforating, stimulating, testing, and equipping
the well to produce or inject fluids;
(16) "conductor casing" means a casing string
set before surface casing; depending on well configuration, "conductor casing"
can be either the first or second string of casing set in a well and usually
supports a diverter system;
(17)
"day" means a calendar day;
(18)
"development well" means a well drilled to a known productive pool;
(19) "displacement method" means pumping a
cement slurry or other material into a well through a drillpipe or other
tubular string and recovering displaced fluids on the surface;
(20) "diverter system" means an assembly of
nipples, valves, and piping attached to a well's structural or conductor casing
for venting a gas kick away from the drill rig;
(21) "downsqueeze method" means pumping a
cement slurry or other material into a well through a drillpipe or other
tubular string and forcing displaced fluids into a downhole
formation;
(22) "drilling fluid"
means any fluid used for the purpose of drilling a well;
(23) "drilling operations" means the
penetration of ground below the setting depth of structural or conductor
casing, using a drilling rig capable of performing the permitted well work, and
for purposes other than setting structural or conductor casing; "drilling
operations" includes the running of casing, cementing, and other downhole work
performed ancillary to formation evaluation, and operations necessary to
complete and equip the well so that formation fluids can be safely brought to
the surface;
(24) "drilling unit"
means an area of a pool
(A) established by
the commission under
AS
31.05.100, either by order or by
regulation;
(B) to which no more
than one oil or gas well may be drilled; and
(C) from which no more than one oil or gas
well may produce;
(25)
"exploratory well" means a well drilled to discover or to delineate a
pool;
(26) "fluid" means any
material or substance that flows or moves, whether in a semi-solid, liquid,
sludge, gaseous, or other form or state;
(27) "freshwater" means water that
(A) has a total dissolved solids
concentration of less than 10,000 mg/l, and occurs in a stratum not exempted
under 20 AAC 25.440; or
(B) occurs in a stratum that serves as a
source of drinking water for human consumption;
(28) "function pressure-test" means to
actuate a component and demonstrate its ability to effect a pressure
seal;
(29) "function-test" means to
actuate a component to demonstrate its proper functioning without subjecting it
to pressure;
(30) "gas well" means
a well that produces predominantly gas at a gas-oil ratio over 100,000 scf/stb,
unless on a pool-by-pool basis the commission establishes another
ratio;
(31) "gas-oil ratio" means
the cubic feet of gas, determined at 60º F and 14.65 psia, that are
produced per stock tank barrel of oil produced;
(32) "injection" means the subsurface
emplacement of fluid for enhanced recovery of oil or gas, disposal of oil field
wastes, or underground storage of hydrocarbons;
(33) "intermediate casing" means a casing
string run between the surface casing and the production casing or production
liner and cemented in place to isolate abnormally geo-pressured strata, lost
circulation zones, salt sections, or unstable shale sections;
(34) "junk" means debris lost in a hole;
"junk" includes a lost bit, pieces of a bit, milled pieces of pipe, wrenches,
or a relatively small object that impedes drilling;
(35) "landowner" has the meaning given in
AS
31.05.170;
(36) "LEL" means lower explosive
limit;
(37) "liner" means a string
of casing that does not extend to surface but is
(A) hung inside the previous casing string,
or
(B) set and cemented in place
within the previous casing string;
(38) "meter curve" means a graph of the meter
factor plotted against the flow rate, or of the pulse-per-unit-volume factor
plotted against the flow rate, over the operating range of a meter;
(39) "meter factor" means the number obtained
by dividing the gross standard volume of liquid passed through a meter, as
measured by a prover during proving, by the corresponding meter-indicated
volume at standard conditions;
(40)
"mg/l" means milligrams per liter;
(41) "mscf" means thousand standard cubic
feet;
(42) "mudline datum" means
(A) for a beach location, the plane of mean
low water depth extended beneath the well site;
(B) for a location on a shifting natural
island, the depth at which a horizontal plane through the toe of the island
intersects the wellbore;
(C) for a
location on an artificial island, the depth of the mudline as it existed before
construction of the island; or
(D)
for other offshore locations, the mudline;
(43) "multiple completion" means the
completion of a well so as to permit production from more than one pool, with
the production from each pool completely segregated;
(44) "offshore" means, in addition to its
ordinary meaning, beach, artificial island, and shifting natural island
locations;
(45) "oil well" means a
well that produces predominantly oil at a gas-oil ratio of 100,000 scf/stb or
lower, unless on a pool-by-pool basis the commission establishes another
ratio;
(46) "operator" means an
owner or a person authorized by an owner who is responsible for drilling,
development, production, injection, disposal, storage, abandonment, and
location clearance;
(47) "owner"
has the meaning given in
AS
31.05.170;
(48) "pilot gas" means gas routed to a safety
flare system to maintain an ignition source;
(49) "ppm" means parts per million;
(50) "pressure-test" means to demonstrate the
pressure integrity of a system without actuating its components;
(51) "production casing" means the casing
installed from the wellhead to the top of or through the completion interval
and cemented in place to seal off production or injection zones and
water-bearing formations;
(52)
"property" means a legally described tract of land, submerged or otherwise, to
which a person has the right to drill, extract, remove, clean, process, and
dispose of oil, gas, and associated substances;
(53) "psi" means pounds per square
inch;
(54) "psia" means pounds per
square inch absolute;
(55) "psi/ft"
means pounds per square inch per foot, as a measure of pressure change with
depth;
(56) "psig" means pounds per
square inch gauge;
(57) "public
water system" has the meaning given in
18 AAC 80.1990, as amended as of
October 1, 1999, and as amended from time to time;
18 AAC 80.1990 is adopted by
reference;
(58) "purge gas" means
gas used to maintain forward flow and positive pressure in a safety flare
system;
(59) "reservoir" means the
same as "pool" in
AS
31.05.170;
(60) "scf" means standard cubic
feet;
(61) "service well" means a
well used for injecting water, gas, or other fluids into a reservoir or
producing formation in pressure maintenance, enhanced recovery, or storage
operations, for disposing of oil field wastes, or for conducting other
operations in support of oil or gas production;
(62) "shut in" means to close a well's
surface, wellhead, or subsurface valves to halt flow from or into the well,
with the completion interval remaining open to the tubing below the closed
valves;
(63) "sidetrack operation"
means a drilling operation conducted for the purpose of straightening the
original hole, bypassing junk, or correcting mechanical difficulties in the
original hole;
(64) "stabilizing
pressure" means the pressure decline during the test shall trend toward a zero
pressure differential;
(65)
"standard cubic foot" has the meaning given to "cubic foot" in
AS
31.05.170;
(66) "stb" means stock tank barrel;
(67) "stock tank barrel" means 42 U.S.
gallons, measured at 60º F and 14.65 psia;
(68) "stratigraphic test well" means a hole
drilled for the sole purpose of gaining structural or stratigraphic information
to aid in exploring for oil and gas;
(69) "structural casing" means a short string
of large diameter pipe that is set by driving, jetting, or drilling to support
unconsolidated shallow sediments, provide hole stability for initial drilling
operations, and provide anchorage for a diverter system;
(70) "surface casing" means a string of
casing set and cemented in a well to prevent lost circulation while drilling
deeper and to protect strata known or reasonably expected to serve as a source
of drinking water for human consumption; usually "surface casing" is the first
string of casing upon which BOPE is set;
(71) "suspend" means to plug a well in
accordance with
20 AAC 25.110 and to reserve the
option later to re-enter and
(A) redrill the
well; or
(B) complete the well as
an oil, gas, or service well;
(72) "tour" means a work shift in the
drilling of a well;
(73)
"underbalanced drilling" means drilling under conditions where the hydrostatic
head of the drilling fluid column is intentionally designed to be lower than
the pressure of the formation being drilled;
(74) "well"
(A) means a hole penetrating the earth,
usually cased with steel pipe, and
(i) from
which oil or gas, or both, or geothermal resources, is obtained or obtainable;
or
(ii) that is made for the
purpose of finding or obtaining oil, gas, or geothermal resources, or of
supporting oil, gas, or geothermal resources production; and
(B) includes a well with multiple
well branches drilled to different bottom-hole locations;
(75) "well branch" means that portion of a
well drilled below the structural or conductor casing to access a given
objective in a well with more than one bottom-hole location or whose
bottom-hole location is being or has been changed by plugging back and
redrilling; a well with multiple branches must feed into a designated primary
wellbore;
(76) "working day" means
a calendar day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a state holiday.
(77) "primary wellbore" means the active
wellbore that is drilled from surface to the reservoir target, in which
additional permitted branches are drilled; in the case of a sidetracked well,
the new wellbore becomes the primary wellbore.
(78) "surface owner" means a person who holds
record title to the surface of the land as an owner.
Notes
Authority:AS 31.05.030
AS 41.06.005
AS 41.06.035
AS 41.06.040
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