Utah Admin. Code R649-3-31 - Designated Oil Shale Areas

1. Designated oil shale areas are subject to the general drilling, plugging and other performance standards described in this section, except where the board has adopted, by order, specific standards for individual oil shale areas. As of June 8, 2001, the board has adopted specific standards for individual oil shale areas by board orders in Cause Nos. 190-5(b), 190-3, and 190-13. The board may adopt specific standards in other areas, or modify the above orders, in the future.

2. Lands may be designated as an oil shale area by the board, either upon its own motion, or upon the petition of an interested person following notice and hearing.

3. As used in this rule, oil shale section means the sequence of strata containing oil shale beds, including any interbedded strata not containing oil shale, consisting of the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation of Tertiary Age, defined as the stratigraphic equivalent of the interval between 1,428 feet and 2,755 feet below the Kelly Bushing on the induction-electrical log of the Ute Trail No. 10 API No. 43-047-15382 well drilled by Dekalb Agricultural Association, Inc. and located in the NE 1/4 of Section 34, Township 9 South, Range 21 East, S.L.M., Uintah County, Utah. The Mahogany Zone is defined as the stratigraphic equivalent of the interval between 2,230 feet and 2,360 feet below the Kelly Bushing on the induction-electrical log of the well cited above.

4. For purposes of identifying the oil shale intervals, an appropriate electrical log shall be run through the oil shale section. One field copy of the log through the oil shale section shall be made available to the division pursuant to R649-3-23 or upon written request by the division.

5. On any well that is intentionally deviated from the vertical within the oil shale section, pursuant to the provisions of R649-3-10 and R649-3-11, a directional survey shall be run from a point at least 20 feet below the oil shale section to the surface and shall thereafter be filed with the division within 20 days after reaching total depth.

6. Any oil shale lessee or operator whose oil shale mine workings reach a distance of 2,640 feet from a producing well or any oil and gas lessee or operator whose producing well is approached by oil shale mine workings within a distance of 2,640 feet shall request agency action with the board. The board may promulgate an order after notice and hearing with respect to the running of a directional survey through the oil shale section, the cost and potential resource loss liability and responsibility as to the oil and gas operator and the oil shale lessee or operator and any other issues regarding multiple mineral development.

7. The directional survey shall be the confidential property of the parties paying for the survey and shall be kept confidential until released by said parties or the division.

8. In addition to the requirements pertaining to the cementing of casing contained in the R649-3-8, any casing set into or through the oil shale section shall be cemented over the entire oil shale section.

9. If a well is dry, junked or abandoned, a cement plug shall be placed across that portion of the oil shale section extending 200 feet above and 200 feet below the longitudinal center of the Mahogany Zone. The cement plug shall not be required inside a casing cemented in accordance with R649-3-31-8. When the casing is cemented, cement plugs 200 feet in length shall be centered across the top and across the base of the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation.

10. In the event the casing is not cemented in accordance with R649-3-31-8, the division shall approve the method and procedure to prevent the migration of oil, gas, and other substances through the wellbore from one formation to another.

11. The division shall approve the adequacy and location of the cement plugs after examining the appropriate logs and drilling and testing records for the well, to ensure that the oil shale section is adequately protected.

12. Upon written request of the owner or operator under R649-8-6, the division shall keep any well logs confidential. The division may inspect the drilling operations at any time, including any mining operations that may affect drilling or producing well bores.

13. Before commencing drilling operations for oil or gas on any land within a designated oil shale area, the operator shall furnish a copy of the APD, together with a plat or map as directed under R649-3-4, to any oil shale owner or their lessees whose interests are within a radius of 2,640 feet of the proposed well. The operator shall furnish a notice of intention to plug and abandon any well in the oil shale area, as required under R649-3-24-1, to the owners or their lessees prior to commencement of plugging operations.

14. The operator shall use generally accepted techniques for vertical or directional drilling as defined under R649-3-10 and R649-3-11 to maintain the well bore within an intact core of a mine pillar. Within 20 days of reaching the total depth or before completion of the well, whichever is the earlier, a directional survey shall be run as prescribed by this rule.

Notes

Utah Admin. Code R649-3-31

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2020-15, effective 7/27/2020