178.00.07 Ark. Code R. 008 - Rule B-5: Submission of Well Records and Issuance of Certificate of Compliance

RULE B-5 SUBMISSION OF WELL RECORDS AND ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

a. During the drilling, original completion, recompletion, or workover of every well, the owner, operator, contractor, driller or other person responsible for the conduct of drilling, original completion, recompletion or workover operations, shall keep adequate records of the well being drilled, all of which shall be accessible to the Commission and its agents at all reasonable times.

b. For purposes of this rule, original completion shall be defined as initial zone perforation, and configuration of wellhead for production, excluding pipeline connections. Any further completion work, after the initial configuration of the wellhead, shall be considered a recompletion or workover, and subject to the filing requirements of Section (d) or (f) below.

c. For purposes of this rule, recompletion is as defined in General Rule A-4.

d. For purposes of this rule, workover is as defined in General Rule A-4. Upon completion of workover operations, only well records specified in Section (f)(1)(3) are required to be submitted.

e. Wells drilled as dry holes, where production casing has not been set, shall be subject to the well record submission requirements specified in Section (f) (1)(2) and (3) within 30 days after the completion of drilling activities.

f. Upon original completion or recompletion of the well, the operator, contractor, driller, or other person responsible for the conduct of the drilling operation shall file with the Commission:

1. Properly filled out Well Completion Report.

2. All electric logs or other geophysical logs of the open well bore, which measure resistivity, porosity, temperature, and gamma ray emission and for planned directional and horizontal wells, borehole deviation and direction logs including a true vertical depth logs, to be submitted in a 1 inch, 2 inch and 5 inch to 100 foot scale format or other scale format acceptable to the Commission. All logs shall be submitted, at a minimum, as paper copies in standard continuous logging paper format. If digital copies of the logs can be provided from the logging service company, the operator is also required to submit copies of the digital logs in either LAS (ASCII Format) or Digital TIFF Image (200 DPI Black & White) Raster Format to the Commission on an approved electronic storage device. If digital copies of the logs cannot be provided by the logging service company, the operator shall file an affidavit with the Commission stating digital logs could not be provided by the logging service company.

3. All logging and well service company tickets applicable to the completion or recompletion operation? which indicate all logging and completion activities occurring in the well.

4. Properly filled out Request for Certificate of Compliance.

5. Application to Abandon other than for a dry hole

g. For directional or horizontal wells, or deviated wells not in compliance with General Rule B-30, the following shall also be submitted:

(1) A post drilling plat shall be filed with any Completion and Recompletion Report to demonstrate the actual location of all vertical, directional and horizontally drilled boreholes in the drilling unit. The plat should provide and present the following:

A. The locations of all wells which have been drilled within the drilling unit (except for those wells that have been plugged and abandoned}, by providing their surface and bottom hole location, and either midpoint perforations for deviated or directionally drilled wells or the closest point along any lateral section of the horizontal portion of the well bore (whichever is applicable) measured to the nearest mineral lease, drilling unit or division line within a governmental section, whichever applies to the established drilling unit in that field; and

B. The distance between common sources of supply for which an allowable determination is required; and

C. The actual location of the entire perforated length of the lateral section in a horizontal well showing the set back distances to offset wells.

(2) A directional survey in table form, accompanied by the following:

A. A two dimensional cross section diagram, viewed perpendicular to the axis of maximum lateral borehole displacement, which depicts the measured and true vertical depth and the displacement from vertical of the wellbore; and

B. An azimuth plot viewed in plan view providing displacement of the well path from the surface location.

h. The above reports shall be filed within 30 days of the original completion, recompletion or workover of the well and prior to commencement of production. Upon receipt of the required information specified in Section (f) (1), (2) and (4), and Section (o) (8) of General Rule B-43 if applicable, a Certificate of Compliance shall be issued granting authority to produce and transport oil and/or gas for a period of 30 days at which time the required information specified in Section (f) (3) must be on file in order for a final Permit to Produce and Transport to be issued. However, if completion activities are not completed within 90 days of the setting of the production casing or other production related casing, the required information specified in (f) (1), (2) and (3) are required to be submitted, pending submission of final reports at the conclusion of completion activities and a request for a Certificate of Compliance.

i. Failure to comply with the provisions of this rule shall be sufficient reason to cause the suspension of the issuance of any further drilling permits on a statewide basis to that operator until the required information is submitted to the Commission, within 10 days following written notice provided to the operator of the failure to provide the required information.

j. If an operator makes a request, in writing, that the logs described in Section (f) (2) be kept confidential, the request will be honored for a period not to exceed 90 days after the logging for completion or abandonment of the well, provided that the report or the data thereon, when pertinent, may be introduced in evidence in any public hearing before the Commission or any court, regardless of the request that such record be kept confidential.

Notes

178.00.07 Ark. Code R. 008

1/14/2008