BEFORE
THE OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
OF
THE STATE OF
IN THE
MATTER OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF THE RULES ) CAUSE NO. 1V
AND
REGULATIONS OF THE
CONSERVATION
COMMISSION BY WILLIAMS PRODUCTION RMT ) DOCKET NO. 0407-OV-25
COMPANY,
NOTICE
OF ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER BY CONSENT
TO
ALL INTERESTED PARTIES AND TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
On February 22,
2004, Williams Production RMT Corporation (”Williams”) lost control of the PA
324-33 Well located in the SE¼ SW¼ of Section 33, Township 6 South, Range 95
West, 6th P.M. following production casing cementing operations. Natural gas was uncontrollably vented to the
atmosphere, endangering the employees and the general public. The natural gas ignited and burned for several
hours damaging the rig substructure. The
loss of control was in violation of Rule 317.a. which states that “The operator
shall take all necessary precautions for keeping a well under control while
being drilled or deepened” and Rule 327. which states that “The operator shall
take all reasonable precautions, in addition to fully complying with Rule 317.
to prevent any oil, gas or water well from blowing uncontrolled …”.
The
PA 324-33 Well is located within the area covered by Commission Order No. 139-38
(the “Order”). During the drilling process, Williams failed to perform a
surface casing shoe integrity test as required by the Order which states that
“The operator shall perform a surface casing shoe integrity test on all wells
drilled within applicable lands. Each
surface casing shoe integrity test shall be designed to test the drilled out
surface casing shoe to a pressure equivalent to the hydrostatic pressure
exerted by a full column of mud at the maximum mud weight anticipated during
the drilling of the well plus an additional one-half (1/2) pound per
gallon.”
The
PA 324-33 Well is located in the area covered by the “Notice to All Operators
Drilling Williams Fork Formation Wells in Garfield County, Surface Casing Depth
and Modifications of Leakoff Test Requirements” (the “Notice”) dated May 3,
2001. The Notice was attached to the Application for
Permit-to-Drill at the time of approval and requires that “All lost circulation
zones and gas kicks must be reported to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission (“COGCC”) Northwest Colorado Area Engineer …”. During
the drilling process, lost circulation and gas kicks occurred which were not
reported to the COGCC Northwest
On
May 11, 2004 staff issued a Notice of Alleged Violation (“NOAV”) to Williams
for failure to maintain control of the well, report kicks and lost circulation
zones, and perform a surface casing shoe integrity test citing Rules 317.a.,
327., Order No. 139-38 and the Notice attached to the Application for Permit-to-Drill
as described above in Finding Numbers 1 through 3. The NOAV had an abatement deadline of
On May 25, 2004,
COGCC staff issued an Administrative Order by Consent (“AOC”) to Williams
Production RMT Company for the violation of COGCC Rules 317.a., 327., Order No.
139-38 and the “Notice to All Operators
Drilling Williams Fork Formation Wells in Garfield County, Surface Casing Depth
and Modifications of Leakoff Test Requirements”, failure to keep the PA 324-33 Well under control at all times during
the drilling process, failure to comply with Order No. 139-38 and failure to
notify staff of the lost circulation zones and gas kicks. On
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the Oil and Gas
Conservation Commission of the State of
Date:
Time:
Place:
In accordance with the Americans
with Disabilities Act, if any party requires special accommodations for this
hearing as a result of a disability, please contact Audra Serlet at (303)
894-2100, extension 114, prior to the hearing and arrangements will be made.
Pursuant to said hearing in
the above-entitled matter at the time and place aforesaid, or at any adjourned
meeting, the Commission will enter such orders as it deems appropriate and
necessary to protect public health, safety and welfare and to prevent the waste
of oil and gas, either or both, in the operations of said field, and carry out
the purposes of the statute.
In accordance with Rule 509., any interested party
desiring to protest or to intervene should file with the Commission a written
protest or a notice to intervene no later than
IN THE NAME
OF THE STATE OF
OIL
AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
OF THE STATE OF
By_________________________________
Dated
at