Chapter 02-03. Oil and Gas Conservation

1. Within a reasonable time, but not more than one year, after a well is plugged, or if a permit expires, has been canceled or revoked, or a treating plant or saltwater handling facility is decommissioned, the site, access road, and other associated facilities constructed must be…

Any person desiring to convert a mineral well to a freshwater well, as provided by North Dakota Century Code section 61-01-27, shall file an application for approval with the commission. The application must include, but is not limited to, the following: 1. If the well is to be u…

The owner and operator of any well, core hole, or stratigraphic test hole, whether cased or uncased, shall be liable and responsible for the plugging and site reclamation thereof in accordance with the rules and regulations of the commission. History: Amended effective January 1,…

Repealed effective January 1, 1983.

Repealed effective January 1, 1983. 52

Unless waived by the director, operators shall have a well site geologist or mudlogger on location for at least the first well drilled on a multiwell pad to collect sample cuttings and to create a mudlog and geologic report. Sample cuttings of formations, taken at intervals presc…

In the event the commission has not set a limiting gas-oil ratio for a particular pool, the operator of any well in such pool whose gas-oil ratio exceeds two thousand shall demonstrate to the director that production from such well should not be restricted pending a hearing befor…

In the event the commission has not established spacing and special field rules for a particular oil pool, oil production from any well completed therein shall be a maximum of two thousand barrels per day until the commission issues a decision after hearing. The director shall ha…

Each operator shall take a gas-oil ratio test within thirty days following the completion or recompletion of an oil well. Each test shall be conducted using standard industry practices unless otherwise specified by the director. The initial gas-oil ratio must be reported on the w…

The operator shall make a subsurface pressure test on the discovery well of any new pool hereafter discovered and shall report the results thereof to the director within thirty days after the completion of such discovery well. Drill stem test pressures are acceptable. After the d…

Except as directed by the commission after hearing, each pool shall be produced as a single common reservoir without commingling in the well bore of fluids from different pools. After fluids from different pools have been brought to surface, such fluids may be commingled provided…

Repealed effective January 1, 1983. 54

1. Pending arrangements for disposition for some useful purpose, all vented casinghead gas must be burned. Each flare must be equipped with an automatic ignitor or a continuous burning pilot, unless waived by the director for good reason. 2. All casinghead gas produced must be re…

Repealed effective April 1, 2026.

Repealed effective January 1, 1983.

Monthly water production from each well must be determined through the use of properly calibrated meter measurements, tank measurements, or an alternate measurement method approved by the director. This includes allocating water production back to individual wells on a monthly ba…

Oil production may not be transported from a well premises, central production facility, treating plant, or saltwater handling facility until its volume has been determined through the use of properly calibrated meter measurements or tank measurements. All meter and tank measurem…

1. The director may approve requests to consolidate production equipment at a central location. The applicant shall provide all information requested by the director. The director may impose such terms and conditions as the director deems necessary. 2. Commingling of oil and gas …

1. Storage of oil in underground or partially buried tanks or containers is prohibited. Surface oil tanks and production equipment must be devoid of leaks and constructed of materials resistant to the effects of produced fluids or chemicals that may be contained therein. Unused t…

No tank bottom waste shall be removed from any tank used for the storage or sale of crude oil without prior approval by the director. Verbal approval may be given. Prior approval to remove tank bottom waste from tanks not used for the storage or sale of crude oil is not required.…

No treating plant may be constructed or site or access road construction commenced without obtaining a permit from the commission after notice and hearing. A written application for a treating plant permit shall state in detail the location, type, capacity of the plant contemplat…

1. The treating plant permit application must be submitted on form 1tp and shall include at least the following information: a. The name and address of the operator. b. An accurate plat certified by a registered surveyor showing the location of the proposed treating plant and the…

All treating plants shall be sited in such a fashion that they are not located in a geologically or hydrologically sensitive area. 60 History: Effective April 1, 2014. General Authority: NDCC 38-08-04 Law Implemented: NDCC 38-08-04…

1. Before construction of a treating plant, treating plant site, or access road begins, the operator shall file with the director a surety bond or cash bond conditioned upon compliance with all laws, rules and regulations, and orders of the commission. The bond amount must be spe…

Notice of intention to abandon. The operator or the operator's agent shall file a notice of intention (form 4) to abandon and obtain the approval of the director, prior to the commencement of reclamation operations pursuant to section 43-02-03-34.1. History: Effective April 1, 20…

The operator of each well completed in any pool shall, by five p.m. on the first day of the second month succeeding the month in which production occurs or could occur, file with the director the amount of production made by each such well on an oil report. Wells for which report…

The operator of each well completed in any pool shall, by five p.m. on the fifth day of the second month succeeding the month in which production occurs or could occur, file with the director the amount of gas produced by each such well on a gas report. Wells for which reports of…

1. A saltwater handling facility may not be constructed without obtaining a permit from the director. Saltwater handling facilities in existence prior to October 1, 2016, which are not currently bonded as an appurtenance to a well or treating plant, have ninety days from the date…

1. A permit for construction of a saltwater handling facility, saltwater handling facility site, or access road must be approved by the director prior to construction. The saltwater handling facility permit application must be submitted on a facility sundry notice and include at …

All saltwater handling facilities must be sited in such a fashion that they are not located in a geologically or hydrologically sensitive area. History: Effective October 1, 2016. General Authority: NDCC 38-08-04 Law Implemented: NDCC 38-08-04

requirement. 1. Before construction of a saltwater handling facility, saltwater handling facility site, or access road begins, the operator shall file with the director a surety bond or cash bond conditioned upon compliance with all laws, rules and regulations, and orders of the …

Notice of intention to abandon. The operator or the operator's agent shall file a notice of intention (form 4) to abandon and obtain the approval of the director, prior to the commencement of reclamation operations pursuant to section 43-02-03-34.1. History: Effective October 1, …

Upon receipt of a written complaint from any surface owner or lessee, royalty owner, mineral owner, local, state, or federal official, alleging a violation of the oil and gas conservation statutes or any rule, regulation, or order of the commission, the director shall within a re…

saltwater handling facilities - Suspension of drilling. 1. The removal of production equipment or the failure to produce oil or gas for one year constitutes abandonment of the well. The removal of production equipment or the failure to produce water from a source well for one yea…

Repealed effective November 1, 1982.

After the completion or recompletion of a gas well, the operator shall conduct tests to determine the daily open flow potential of the well. The test results together with an analyses of the gas shall be reported to the director within thirty days after completion of the well. Op…

Repealed effective January 1, 1983.

Gas production may not be transported from gas well premises until its volume has been determined through the use of properly calibrated measurement equipment. All measurement equipment and volume determinations must conform to American gas association standards and corrected to …

Repealed effective January 1, 1983.

The value of gas flared from an oil well in violation of North Dakota Century Code section 38-08-06.4 shall be determined by the commission after notice and hearing. History: Effective October 1, 1990; amended effective May 1, 1992; May 1, 1994; May 1, 2004. General Authority: ND…

The connection of a well to a natural gas gathering line is "economically infeasible" under North Dakota Century Code section 38-08-06.4, if the direct costs of connecting the well to the line and the direct costs of operating the facilities connecting the well to the line during…

Any operator desiring to certify a well for purposes of eligibility for the gas tax incentive provided in North Dakota Century Code chapter 57-51 shall submit to the director an application for certification as an oil or gas well employing a system to avoid flaring. The operator …

With the exception of the requirement to meter and report monthly the amount of gas injected and the amount of gas withdrawn from storage, in the absence of waste, this chapter shall not apply to gas being injected into or removed from storage. History: Amended effective January …

Insofar as is applicable, the provisions of this chapter relating to gas, gas wells, and gas reservoirs shall also apply to carbon dioxide, coal bed methane, helium, nitrogen, carbon dioxide wells, coal bed methane wells, helium wells, nitrogen wells, carbon dioxide reservoirs, c…

To prevent waste and to protect correlative rights, when the commission finds that total production in an area significantly exceeds the reasonable market demand and undue marketing discrimination is occurring, the commission may prorate or distribute the allowable production amo…

In allocated oil and gas pools the owner or operator of any proration unit shall not produce from the unit during any proration period more oil or gas than the allowable production from such unit as shown by the proration schedule, provided that such owners or operators shall be …

When necessary the commission shall hold a hearing to set proration unit allowables for the state. The commission shall consider all evidence of market demand for oil and gas, including sworn statements of individual demand as submitted by each purchaser or buyer in the state, an…

No well shall be placed on the proration schedule until a completion report (form 6 or form provided by the commission) has been filed with the director. The discovery well of any pool hereafter discovered shall be allowed to produce at a maximum efficient rate until such time as…

At the beginning of each calendar month, the distribution or proration to the respective proration units shall be changed in order to take into account all new wells which have been completed and were not in the proration schedule during the previous calendar month. Where any wel…

In allocated pools containing a well or wells producing from a reservoir which contains both oil and gas, each proration unit shall be permitted to produce only that volume of gas equivalent to the applicable limiting gas-oil ratio multiplied by the proration unit oil allowable c…