Unless altered, modified, or changed for particular common
sources of supply, upon notice and hearing before the department, the following
rules shall apply to all wells drilled.
(1)
Sealing off strata.
During the drilling of any well for production of or exploration for oil, gas,
or metallic minerals, all oil, gas, and water strata above and below the
producing horizon shall be sealed or separated where necessary in order to
prevent their contents from passing into other strata.
All fresh waters and waters of present or probable value for
domestic, public, commercial or livestock purposes shall be confined to their
respective strata and shall be adequately protected by methods approved by the
department. Special precautions shall be taken in drilling and abandoning wells
to guard against any loss of artesian water from the strata in which it occurs,
and the contamination of artesian water by objectionable water, oil, or
gas.
All water shall be shut off and excluded from the various oil
and gas bearing strata which are penetrated. Water shutoffs shall ordinarily be
made by cementing casing with or without the use of mud-laden fluid.
(2)
Casing and tubing
requirements. All wells drilled for oil, gas or production of metallic
minerals shall be completed with strings of casing which shall be properly
cemented at sufficient depths to protect all water, oil, or gas bearing strata.
Sufficient cement shall be used on surface to fill the annular
space back of the casing to the bottom of the cellar or to the surface of the
ground. All strings of casing shall stand cemented under pressure for at least
12 hours before drilling plug or initiating tests. The term "under pressure" as
used herein will be complied with if one float valve is used or if pressure is
otherwise held. Cementing shall be by the pump and plug method, or other method
approved by the director.
All flowing wells shall be tubed. The tubing shall be set as
near the bottom as practicable, but tubing perforations shall not be above the
top of pay unless authorized by the department.
(3)
Defective casing or
cementing. In any well that appears to have defective, faultily
cemented, or corroded casing which will permit or may create underground waste,
the operator shall proceed with diligence to use the appropriate method and
means to eliminate such hazard of underground waste. If such hazard of waste
cannot be eliminated, the well shall be properly plugged and
abandoned.
(4)
Blowout
prevention. In all drilling operations, proper and necessary
precautions shall be taken for keeping the well under control, including the
use of a blowout preventer and high-pressure fittings attached to properly
cemented casing strings, where indicated by geologic conditions.
(5)
Pulling outside string of
casing. In pulling outside strings of casing from any oil or gas well,
the space outside the casing left in the hole shall be kept and left full of
mud-laden fluid or cement of adequate specific gravity to seal off all fresh
and salt water strata and any strata bearing oil or gas not producing. No
casing shall be removed without the prior approval of the department.
(6)
Safety rules. All oil
wells shall be cleaned into a pit or tank, not less than 40 feet from the
derrick floor and 150 feet from any fire hazard. All flowing oil wells must be
produced through an approved oil and gas separator or emulsion treater of ample
capacity and in good working order. No boiler or portable electric lighting
generator shall be placed or remain nearer than 150 feet from any producing
well or oil tank. Any rubbish or debris that might constitute a fire hazard
shall be removed to a distance of at least 150 feet from the vicinity of wells
and tanks. All waste shall be disposed of in such manner as to avoid creating a
fire hazard and to comply with the rules of the environmental protection
commission. The drilling fluid level shall be maintained continuously at a
height sufficient to control subsurface pressures. During the course of
drilling, blowout preventers shall be tested at least once each 24-hour period,
and results of the test shall be noted in the driller's record.
(7)
Preservation of cores and
samples. Sample cuttings shall be taken at 5-foot intervals and at
each change of formation, if less than 5 feet thick, in all wells drilled for
oil, gas, or metallic mineral exploration or production, for the storage of dry
natural gas, or
casinghead gas, and for the
development of reservoirs for the
storage of liquid petroleum gas in the state of Iowa, unless a geophysical log
is to be taken for the entire depth of the well. Where a geophysical log is to
be taken for the entire depth of the well, sample cuttings shall be taken at
10-foot intervals and at each formation change if less than 10 feet thick. The
director may grant a variance from the 10-foot sample interval under special
conditions.
Each sample shall be carefully identified as to well name and
depth of sample, and all samples shall be shipped at the operator's expense to
the department.
The operator of any well drilled as provided in the foregoing
paragraph shall, during the drilling of, or immediately following the
completion of, any given well, advise the director of all intervals that are to
be cored, or have been cored, and such cores as are taken shall be preserved
and forwarded to the department at the operator's expense.
This rule shall not be construed as prohibiting the operator
from taking samples of the core for identification and tests pertaining to oil
and gas or metallic minerals. In the event that it is necessary for the
operator to utilize all or any portion of the core to the extent that
representative samples, sufficiently large to analyze, are not available for
the state, the operator shall furnish the director with the results of
identification or testing procedures.
(8)
Well completion or recompletion
report and well log. Within ten days after completion of a well
drilled for oil or gas or production of metallic minerals or for the storage of
dry natural gas, or
casinghead gas, or for the
development of reservoirs for
the storage of liquid petroleum gas, the
operator or the
operator's agent shall
file with the
director a complete log or record of the well, duly signed, on
forms prescribed by the
department. This record shall be filed even though
samples of the drill cuttings have been taken and preserved for subsequent
delivery to the
department. The logs on the wells shall be forwarded to the
department and shall be confidential for a period of six months when so
requested by the
operator in writing.
A proper log on any well shall include all normally recorded
information on the following:
a. Depth
to and thickness of water-bearing beds, including, where measured, the static
water level and volume of such water.
b. Lithology of formations penetrated,
including color, hardness, and character of the rock, and particularly showing
the position and thickness of coal beds and deposits of mineral materials of
economic value.
c. Any caverns,
large voids, losses of circulation, and sudden appreciable changes in water
level.
d. A record of all oil, gas,
and highly mineralized water encountered, including fill-up, volumes, and
pressures.
e. A record of all
casing and liner used, including the size, weight, amount, and depth set, the
amount of cement used on each casing string, and the amount of casing stripped
from the hole on completion or abandonment of the well.
f. Data on drill stem tests.
g. Generalized description of any core taken
during drilling.
h. Data on
perforating, acidizing, fracturing, shooting, and testing.
i. Data on bridge plugs set, make and type of
plug, depth set, whether left in place or removed, and details of plug back
operation below the bridge.
j.
Electrical or other geophysical logging.
(9)
Stratigraphic test
wells. All stratigraphic test wells shall be plugged in accordance
with the provisions of rule
561-17.15 (458A).
Any mechanical logs taken must be filed with the director
within the time limits set forth below. Lithologic samples must be collected
during the drilling of all stratigraphic test wells in accordance with the
provisions of subrule 17.6(7).
All records, samples, and logs required under this rule must be
filed with the director six months after completion of the program set forth in
the original application. If the company so requests in writing, these records,
samples, and logs shall be kept confidential for an additional period of one
year after filing.
(10)
Wells for storage of liquid petroleum gas. Only one fee shall
be required for the drilling of wells for the
development of each reservoir for
the storage of liquid petroleum gas, but an application for a permit to drill
shall be filed with the
department and a permit issued prior to the drilling of
each well. The application for a permit to drill a single well or the first in
a series of wells for this purpose shall be accompanied by a complete set of
plans for the
development of the reservoir and by a plat of the reservoir area
with all contemplated wells and the reservoir limits indicated thereon.
A blanket bond of $3 0,000 must be filed with the department on
a form prescribed by the department conditioned on compliance with the laws of
the state of Iowa and the rules and orders of the department. Each bond shall
be executed by an acceptable corporate surety authorized to do business in the
state of Iowa. Compliance with the blanket bond requirement of rule
561-17.5 (458A) shall satisfy the blanket bond requirement herein.
All records, samples and logs required under this rule must be
filed with the director in accordance with the provisions of subrule
17.6(8).
When any well is no longer used for the purpose for which it
was drilled, the well shall be plugged in accordance with the provisions of
rule 561-17.15 (458A).
(11)
Wells for storage of dry natural gas. No application, fee,
organization report, bond or permit shall be required for the drilling of wells
for the storage of dry natural gas in underground basins or watercourses for
which a permit is required and has been obtained under the provisions of Iowa
Code chapter 455B. In lieu of a formal application and permit for wells
otherwise required under the provisions of Iowa Code chapter 45 8A, and these
rules adopted pursuant thereto, the owner or operator thereof shall give notice
to the director of intent to drill at least five days prior to initiation of
drilling of each well. The owner or operator of the wells shall submit monthly
to the director a report of activities during the preceding 30 days as well as
contemplated action during the following 30-day period, providing thereby at
least five days' prior notice of any contemplated action. Wells may not be
drilled at points more than one-quarter mile from the points indicated in the
forecasts without at least five days' prior notice to the director its specific
approval thereof. The owner or operator shall drill, operate, maintain, abandon
and plug the wells and shall file reports, records, samples, cores, and logs,
in accordance with these rules and the orders and requirements of the
department.
