BEFORE THE OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION

OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

 

IN THE MATTER OF THE PROMULGATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF FIELD RULES TO GOVERN OPERATIONS IN THE IGNACIO-BLANCO FIELD, LA PLATA COUNTY, COLORADO

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CAUSE NO. 112

 

ORDER NO. 112-4

 

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION

 

This cause came on for hearing before the Commission on November 18, 1958, at 10:00 a.m., in the Game Room of the Albany Hotel, Denver, Colorado, after publication of Notice of Hearing and appropriate service thereof, all as required by law, on the applications of the Pacific Northwest Pipeline Corporation for an order requiring the pooling of tracts of land lying within the W/2 [sic] of Section 11, and the N/2 [sic] of Section 10, Township 32 North., Range 10 West, N.M.P.M., La Plata County, Colorado, for the development of the Mesaverde formation lying beneath said lands and within the Ignacio-Blanco Field.

 

FINDINGS

 

The Commission finds as follows:

 

1.      That due notice of the time, place and purpose of the hearing has been given in all respects as required by law.

 

2.      That the Commission has jurisdiction over the subject matter embraced in said Notice, and of the parties interested therein, and jurisdiction to promulgate the hereinafter prescribed order.

 

3.      That the Mesaverde formation in the Ignacio-Blanco Field constitutes a common source of supply of gas underlying lands described in Order No. 45-4, issued by the Commission under date of July 17, 1956, which order has subsequently been amended to include additional areas and consolidated into Cause No. 112.

 

4.      That in order to insure proper and efficient development; to eliminate the drilling of unnecessary wells; to promote conservation of the gas resources of the State, and to conform with the previously issued order of the Commission establishing 320-acre drilling and spacing units for the production of gas from the Mesaverde formation underlying said lands, an order should be made pooling all interests in the N½ of Section 10, and the W½ of Section 11, Township 32 North, Range 10 West, N.M.P.M., La Plata County, Colorado, which half-sections were included in the area covered by Order No. 45-5.

 

5.      That the Pacific Northwest Pipeline Corporation and Murchison Trusts, as the working interest owners of the N½ of Section 10, Township 32 North, Range 10 West, have communitized their interests in said 320-acre tract; and that the Pacific Northwest Pipeline Corporation and the El Paso Natural Gas Company, as the working interest owners of the W½ of Section 11, Township 32 North, Range 10 West, have agreed to communitize their interests in said 320-acre tract.

 

6.      That all owners of royalty interests in said lands have voluntarily agreed to the pooling of their interests in said drilling units, except for Wayne Moore, owner of interests in portions of the lands within said drilling units, described as a royalty interest of one-half of the one-eighth royalty interest in the N½ NE¼, and the NE¼ NW¼ of Section 10; and the NW¼ NW¼ of Section 11, all in Township 32 North, Range 10 West; and except for the Ute Indians, owners of interests in portions of the lands within said drilling units, described as a normal royalty interest in the S½ NW¼, SE¼ NW¼, SW¼ NE¼ of Section 10; and the E½ W½, W½ SW¼ of Section 11, all in Township 32 North, Range 10 West; and that as a matter of practice and procedure, the Indians do not pool their interests until all other interests in a particular tract have been pooled; and that reasonable effort has been made to obtain the voluntary pooling of such interests in the said drilling units for the development and operation thereof.

 

7.      That an order of the Commission pooling all interests in said drilling units is necessary, just and reasonable in order to afford each owner of interest within said drilling units the opportunity to recover and receive his just and equitable share of the gas from the common source of supply underlying said drilling units.

 

8.      That production obtained from said drilling units should be allocated to each tract therein on the basis of the proportion that the number of acres in such tract bears to the total number of acres within said drilling units.

 

ORDER

 

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, that pursuant to the provisions of 100-6-4 of the Oil and Gas Conservation Act of the State of Colorado, all interests in the drilling units described below are hereby pooled for the development and operation, of said drilling units in the Mesaverde formation underlying the Ignacio-Blanco Field, La Plata County, Colorado, except that the pooling of the interests of the Ute Indians with the other interests in said tracts shall be subject to the approval of the United States Department of the Interior:

 

North Half (N½) of Section Ten (10) and West Half (W½) of Section Eleven (11) Township Thirty-two (32) North, Range Ten (10) West, N.M.P.M., La Plata County, Colorado.

 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the production obtained from each said drilling unit shall be allocated to each tract therein on the basis of the proportion that the number of acres in such tract bears in the total number of acres within each said drilling unit; and each owner of interest in said tracts in each said drilling unit shall be entitled to receive his share of the production of the well located on each said drilling unit applicable to his interest in each said drilling unit.

 

ORDERED this 18th day of November, 1958.

 

OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

 

 

By  Annabel Hogsett, Secretary