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 AND ARCHULETA COUNTIES, COLORADO

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CAUSE NO. 112

 

ORDER NO. 112-62

 

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION

 

This cause came on for hearing before the Commission on November 21, 1988 at 8:30 a.m. in Room 101, Education Building, 201 East Colfax, Denver, Colorado, after giving Notice of Hearing as required by law, on the Commission's own motion to consider deleting the lands contained in the Federal Pargin Mountain Unit from those lands spaced by the Commission in Order Nos. 112-60 and 112--61,

 

FINDINGS

 

The Commission finds as follows:

 

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

 

2.      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.      On June 17, 1988 the Commission entered Order NO. [sic] 112-60 which established that the Fruitland coal seams were a separate source of supply and that drilling and spacing units of 320-acres shall be established for the production of methane gas from these coal seams.

 

4.      On August 15, 1988 the Commission issued order No. 112-61 which amended order No. 112-60 by adding various rules necessary for the production of coalbed methane from the Fruitland coal seams within the area spaced by order No. 112-60.

 

5.      On October 12, 1988, the United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management advised the Commission that the Pargin Mountain Unit Agreement had been approved on July 29, 1986 for the production of methane gas from the Fruitland coal seams and that such lands should be deleted from those lands spaced in order Nos. 112-60 and 112-61 because of the conflict which could develop in the below listed lands:

 

Township 34 North, Range 5 West, N.M.P.M.

South of the Ute Line

 

 

Section 6U:  All

Section 29:  All

Section 7U:  All

Section 30:  All

Section 17U:  All

Section 31:  All

Section 18U:  All

Section 32:  All

Section 19:  All

Section 33:  All

Section 20:  All

Section 34:  All

Section 28:  All

 

 

Township 34 North, Range 6 West, N.M.P.M.

South of the Ute Line

 

 

Section 1U:  All

Section 23:  All

Section 2U:  All

Section 24:  All

Section 11U:  All

Section 25:  All

Section 12U:  All

Section 26:  All

Section 13U:  All

Section 35:  All

Section 14U:  All

Section 36:  All

 

 

Township 34 North, Range 5 West, N.M.P.M.

North of the Ute Line

 

 

Section 7:  All

Section 18:  All

 

 

Township 34 North, Range 6 West, N.M.P.M.

 

 

Section 12:  All

Section 13:  All

 

6.      Testimony was given that should any of the lands listed herein above be vacated from the Pargin mountain Unit, the Commission should give Notice of Hearing to bring the vacated lands under the appropriate Commission order for the production of methane gas from the Fruitland coal seams in La Plata and Archuleta Counties, Colorado.

 

ORDER

 

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, that Order Nos. 112-60 and 112-61 be amended by the deletion of those lands listed in Finding 5 herein above, and that the following rules and regulations shall apply to wells heretofore and hereafter drilled and completed in the Fruitland coal seams of the Ignacio-Blanco Field, as herein defined, in addition to other applicable rules and regulations and Orders of the Commission, if any, heretofore adopted and not in conflict herewith:

 

Rule 1.    The Fruitland coal seams shall be defined to include all coal seams within the equivalent of the stratigraphic interval from the top of Fruitland sand to the lowermost coal as shown on the Lithodensity-Compensated Neutron Log dated June 2, 1986 run on the Cugnini Gas Unit "A" No. 1, located in the NW1/4 Section 26, Township 34 North, Range 9 West, N.M.P.M., La Plata County, Colorado and which log shows the top of the Fruitland sand at a depth of 2528 feet and the base of the lowermost coal at a depth of 2962 feet.

 

Rule 2.    Three Hundred Twenty (320) acre drilling and spacing units shall be and the same are hereby established for the production of gas from the Fruitland coal seams, common source of supply, underlying the following described lands in La Plata and Archuleta Counties, Colorado:

 

Township 32 North (South of Ute Line)

 

 

 

 

Range

1 West:

Sections 1-24

 

Range

1 1/2 West:

Sections 1, 12, 13, 24

 

Range

2 West:

Sections 1-24

 

Range

3 West:

Sections 1-24

 

Range

4 West:

Sections 1-24

 

Range

5 West:

Sections 1-24

 

Range

6 West:

Sections 1-24

 

Range

7 West:

Sections 1-24

 

Range

8 West:

Sections 1-24

 

Range

9 West:

Sections 1-24

 

Range

10 West:

Sections 1-24

 

Range

11 West:

Sections 1-24

 

 

 

 

 

Township 33 North (South of Ute Line)

 

 

 

 

 

Range

2 West:

All Sections

 

Range

3 West:

All Sections

 

Range

4 West:

All Sections

 

Range

5 West:

All Sections

 

Range

6 West:

All Sections

 

Range

7 West:

All Sections

 

Range

8 West:

All Sections

 

Range

9 West:

All Sections

 

Range

10 West:

All Sections

 

Range

11 West:

Sections 1, 2, 9-36

 

 

 

 

 

Township 34 North (South of Ute Line)

 

 

 

 

 

Range

4 West:

Sections 1U – 18U, 19-36

 

Range

5 West:

Sections 1U – 18U, 19-36

 

Range

6 West:

Sections 3U – 10U, 15U – 18U, All Unsurveyed

 

 

Lands 19-22, 27-34

 

Range

7 West:

Sections 1U – 18U, 19-36

 

Range

8 West:

Sections 1U – 18U, 19-36

 

Range

9 West:

Sections 1U – 12U, 13-36

 

Range

10 West:

Sections 1U, 11U, 12U, 13-36

 

Range

11 West:

Sections 13, 24, 25, 35, 36

 

 

 

 

 

Township 34 North (South of Ute Line)

 

 

 

 

 

Range

5 West:

Sections 1-18

 

Range

6 West:

Sections 1-18

 

Range

7 West:

Sections 1-18

 

Range

8 West:

Sections 1-18

 

Range

9 West:

Sections 1-5, 8-12

 

 

 

 

 

Township 34 1/2 North (North of Ute Line)

 

 

 

 

 

Range

9 West:

Sections 33-36

 

 

 

 

 

Township 35 North (North of Ute Line)

 

 

 

 

 

Range

5 West:

Unsurveyed Sections 19, 29-32

 

Range

6 West:

Sections 13-36

 

Range

7 West:

Sections 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 26, 35, 36 and

 

 

 

All Unsurveyed lands

 

Range

8 West:

Sections 1, 2, 9-36

 

Range

9 West:

Sections 24-27, 34-36

 

 

The units shall consist of the N1/2 and S1/2 or the E1/2 and W1/2 of full section with the permitted well located, when north of the north line of Township 32 North, in the NW1/4 and SE1/4 of the section, and when south of the north line of Township 32 North, in the NE1/4 and SW1/4 of the section, and no closer than 990 feet to any outer boundary of the unit nor closer than 130 feet to any interior quarter section line.

 

Rule 3.    The Director may, without additional notice and hearing, grant exceptions to the above described well locations, because of topography or surface hazards archeological considerations and grant approval for an option well upon notice being given to contiguous and offset operators or mineral interest owners and no protests being received by the Commission within twenty days of notice being given.  For other reasons, exceptions may be granted by the Director, providing the owners of the contiguous and corner units toward which the proposed location would be moved, file a waiver or consent in writing, agreeing to said exceptions.

 

Rule 4.    Drilling units in the case of fractional sections as established in order No. 112-1 Rule 2b and subsequent orders in Township 32 North, Ranges 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 West of the New Mexico Principal Meridian lying immediately adjacent to the Colorado - New Mexico state boundary are also hereby established for Ranges 1, 1 1/2, 2, 3, 4 and 5 West and consist of three tracts 40 acres wide and extending the entire length of the fractional section in a north-south direction maintaining the same sequence as in Range 6 and shall be the units for reduction of methane gas from the Fruitland coal seams.

 

Rule 5.    Drilling and spacing units to the north of the Southern Ute line in Township 34 North shall consist of the individual fractional sections with an approximate size of 320-acres.  The fractional sections south of the Southern Ute line in Township 34 North for all ranges so affected shall be included with the 320-acre drilling and spacing units in the full section to the south, and the units shall be stand-up units if at all possible.

 

Rule 6.    All well locations approved prior to June 17, 1988 in the alternate quarter section from that ordered in Rule 2 herein above shall be considered to be the designated well for the respective drilling and spacing unit.  Those units having two wells for production of methane from the Fruitland coalbed seams approved prior to June 17, 1988 shall remain as two well units.  Those wells approved to be drilled in the alternate quarter section in accord with Rule 303 shall be considered to be the designated well for the drilling and spacing unit.

 

Rule 7.    All production casing strings shall be cemented from the casing shoe or total depth, whichever is shallower, to the surface by circulation methods.  Operators shall promptly notify the Commission if they are unable to successfully circulate cement, what steps are proposed to determine the cement top, and correct the problem, if necessary.

 

Rule 8.    Any production test of a Fruitland Coalbed Methane well shall consist of a minimum twenty-four (24) hour shut-in period and a three (3) hour flow test.  Information recorded shall include all shut-in and flow pressures, time periods and individual flow rates of gas, water and oil as determined by use of a separator, and the method of production.

 

Rule 9.    An initial completion report, Form 5, and basic logs shall be submitted within thirty (30) days of reaching total depth and the setting of production casing.  The Form 5 shall contain all information including geologic data except perforated interval, treatments, production test data, and any special experimental data.  This initial Form 5 shall be released upon processing by the Commission and shall not be granted "Confidential" status in accord with Rule 306.  A complete Form 5 containing the data omitted on the initial report shall be submitted within one year from the setting of production casing or within six months from date of first production, whichever comes first.  The complete Form 5 shall be released upon processing by the Commission.

 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the Rules and Regulations of the Commission shall govern all other matters pertaining to the production of methane gas from the Fruitland coal seams until the commission may issue further orders upon public hearing.

 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the provisions contained in the above order shall become effective forthwith.

 

FURTHER Ordered, that the Commission expressly reserves its rights, after giving notice and hearing, to alter, amend or repeal any and/or all of the above orders.

 

Entered this 29th day of 1988, as of November 21, 1988.

 

OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

 

 

By 

Dennis R. Bicknell, Secretary