Idaho Admin. Code r. 37.03.04.025 - DRILLING
01.
General. All wells shall be
drilled to protect or minimize damage to the environment, waters usable for all
beneficial purposes, geothermal resources, life, health, or property.
(3-30-23)
02.
Permits and
Notices. (3-30-23)
a. Permit to Drill
for Geothermal Resources. Any person, owner , or operator who proposes to
construct or alter a well to produce or explore for geothermal resources or to
construct or alter an injection well shall first apply to the Director for
permit. If the owner or operator plans to deepen, redrill, plug, or perform any
operation that will in any manner alter the well, an application shall be filed
with the Director and written approval must be received prior to beginning
work. Application for permit shall be on a form approved by the Department .
(3-30-23)
b. Application for Permit
to Convert to Injection. If the owner plans to convert an existing geothermal
well into an injection well with no change of mechanical condition, an
application for permit shall be filed with the Director and written approval
must be received prior to beginning injection. Application for permit shall be
made on a form approved by the Department . (3-30-23)
c. Amendment of Permit . No well may be owned
or operated by any person whose name does not appear on the permit or permit
application and no changes in departure from the procedures, location, data, or
persons specified on the face of a permit shall be allowed until an amendment
to such permit is approved by the Director . Application for amendment shall be
made on a form approved by the Department . (3-30-23)
d. Notice to Other Agencies. Notice of
applications, permits, orders, or other actions received or issued by the
Director may be given to any other agency or entity which may have information,
comments, or jurisdiction over the activity involved. The Director may execute
a memorandum of understanding with other agencies to eliminate duplication of
applications or other efforts. (3-30-23)
e. No application shall be accepted by the
Director until the filing fee required by §
42-4003(5), Idaho
Code has been deposited with the Director . (3-30-23)
03.
Bonds. (3-30-23)
a. The Director shall require every operator
or owner who engages in the construction, alteration, testing, operation, or
abandonment of the well to provide to the Director evidence of good and
sufficient security in the form and amounts required by Idaho Code §
42-4005(f).
(3-30-23)
b. Bonds remain in force
for the life of the well or wells and may not be released until the well or
wells are properly abandoned, or another valid bond is substituted therefor.
Any person who acquires the ownership or operation of any well or wells shall
within thirty (30) days after acquisition provide to the Director evidence of
good and sufficient security in the form and amounts required by Idaho Code
§
42-4005(f).
(3-30-23)
04.
Well
Spacing. (3-30-23)
a. Any well drilled
for the discovery and production of geothermal resources or as an injection
well shall be located more than one hundred (100) feet from and within the
outer boundary of the parcel of land on which the well is situated, or more
than one hundred (100) feet from a public road, street, or highway dedicated
prior to the commencement of drilling. This requirement may be modified or
waived by the Director upon written request. (3-30-23)
b. For several contiguous parcels of land in
one or different ownerships that are operated as a single geothermal field , the
term outer boundary line means the outer boundary line of the land included in
the field. In determining the contiguity of any such parcels of land, no
street, road, or alley lying within the lease or field shall be determined to
interrupt such contiguity. (3-30-23)
c. The Director shall approve the proposed
well spacing programs or prescribe such modifications to the programs as he
deems necessary for proper development giving consideration to such factors as,
but not limited to, topographic characteristics of the area, hydrologic,
geologic, and reservoir characteristics of the area, the number of wells that
can be economically drilled to provide the necessary volume of geothermal
resources for the intended use, minimizing well interference, unreasonable
interference with multiple use of lands, and protection of the environment.
(3-30-23)
d. Directional Drilling.
Where the surface of the parcel of land containing one acre or more is
unavailable for drilling, the surface well location may be located upon
property which may or may not be contiguous. Such surface well locations shall
not be less than twenty-five (25) feet from the outer boundary of the parcel on
which it is located, nor less than twenty-five (25) feet from an existing
street or road. The production or injection interval of the well shall not be
less than one hundred (100) feet from the outer boundary of the parcel into
which it is drilled. Directional surveys must be filed with the Director for
all wells directionally drilled. (3-30-23)
05.
Casing. (3-30-23)
a. General. All wells shall be cased in such
a manner as to protect or minimize damage to the environment, usable ground
waters, geothermal resources, life, health, and property. The permanent well
head completion equipment shall be attached to the production casing or to the
intermediate casing if production casing does not reach the surface. No
permanent well head equipment may be attached to any conductor or surface
casing alone. The specification for casing strength shall be determined by the
Director on a well-to-well basis. All casing reaching the surface shall provide
adequate anchorage for blow out prevention equipment, hole pressure control,
and protection for natural resources. Sufficient casing shall be run to reach a
depth below all known or reasonably estimated groundwater levels to prevent
blow outs or uncontrolled flows. The following casing requirements are general
but should be used as guidelines in submitting applications for permit to
drill. The casing schedule may consist of multiple casing strings (i.e.,
surface casing, intermediate casing, production casing) provided drilling depth
does not exceed ten times the depth of last cemented casing.
(3-30-23)
b. Conductor Pipe . A
minimum of forty (40) feet of conductor pipe shall be installed. The annular
space is to be cemented solid to the surface. A twenty-four (24) hour cure
period for the grout must be allowed prior to drilling out the shoe unless
additives sufficient, as determined by the Director, are used to obtain early
strength. An annular blow out preventer shall be installed on all exploratory
wells and on development wells when deemed necessary by the Department.
(3-30-23)
c. Surface Casing . The
surface casing hole shall be logged with an induction electrical log or
equivalent or gamma-neutron log before running casing. This requirement may be
waived by the Director . Permission to waive this requirement must be granted by
the Director in writing prior to running surface casing. This casing shall
provide for control of formation fluids, protection of usable groundwater, and
for adequate anchorage for blow out prevention equipment. All surface casing
shall be cemented solid to the surface. A twenty-four (24) hour cure period
shall be allowed prior to drilling out the shoe of the surface casing unless
additives sufficient, as determined by the Director , are used to obtain early
strength. (3-30-23)
i. In areas of known high
formation pressure, surface casing shall be set at the depth determined by the
Director after a study of geologic conditions in the area. (3-30-23)
ii. In areas where subsurface geological
conditions are variable or unknown, surface casing shall be in accordance with
specifications as outlined in a. above. The casing must be seated through a
sufficient series of low permeability, competent lithologic units such as
claystone, siltstone, basalt, etc., to ensure a solid anchor for blow out
prevention equipment and to protect usable groundwater from contamination.
Additional casing may be required if the first string has not been cemented
through a sufficient series of such beds, or a rapidly increasing thermal
gradient or formation pressures are encountered. (3-30-23)
iii. The temperature of the return drilling
mud shall be monitored continuously during the drilling of the surface casing
hole. Either a continuous temperature-monitoring device shall be installed and
maintained in a working condition or the temperature shall be read manually. In
either case, the return temperature shall be entered into the logbook on thirty
(30) foot increments. (3-30-23)
iv.
BOPE capable of shutting in the well during any operation shall be installed on
the surface casing and maintained ready for use at all times. BOPE pressure
tests shall be performed by the operator for Department personnel on all
exploratory wells prior to drilling out the shoe of the surface casing. The
decision to perform BOPE pressure tests on other types of wells shall be made
on a well-to-well basis by the Director. The Director must be notified five (5)
days in advance of a scheduled pressure test. Permission to proceed with the
test sooner may be given verbally by the Director upon request by the operator.
(3-30-23)
d. Intermediate
Casing. Intermediate casing shall be required for protection against anomalous
pressure zones, cave-ins, washouts, abnormal temperature zones, uncontrollable
lost circulation zones or other drilling hazards. Intermediate casing strings
when installed shall be cemented solidly to the surface or to the top of the
casing. (3-30-23)
e. Production
Casing. Production casing may be set above or through the producing or
injection zone and cemented either below or just above the objective zones.
Sufficient cement shall be used to exclude overlying formation fluids from the
geothermal zone, to segregate zones, and to prevent movement of fluids behind
the casing into possible fresh groundwater zones. Production casing shall
either be cemented solid to the surface or lapped into the intermediate casing
if run. If the production casing is lapped into an intermediate casing , the
casing overlap shall be at least fifty (50) feet, the lap shall be cemented
solid, and the lap shall be pressure tested to ensure its integrity.
(3-30-23)
06.
Electric Logging. All wells except observation wells shall be logged
with an induction electrical log or equivalent or gamma-neutron log from the
bottom of the hole to the bottom of the conductor pipe . This requirement may be
modified or waived by the Director upon written request. (3-30-23)
Notes
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No prior version found.