Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB2255 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R6852 SMH-F
2	2	By: Hancock H.B. No. 2255
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to restrictions on the release into the air of natural gas
8	8	and associated vapors from a gas well.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 86.185, Natural Resources Code, is
11	11	amended to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 86.185. RESTRICTIONS ON RELEASE OF [PROHIBITION
13	13	AGAINST] GAS IN AIR: GAS WELLS IN GENERAL. (a) This section does
14	14	not apply to a gas well to which Section 86.186 applies.
15	15	(b) No gas from a gas well may be permitted to escape into
16	16	the air after the expiration of 10 days from the time the gas is
17	17	encountered in the gas well, or from the time of perforating the
18	18	casing opposite a gas-bearing zone if casing is set through the
19	19	zone, whichever is later, but the commission may permit the escape
20	20	of gas into the air for an additional time if the operator of a well
21	21	or other facility presents information to show the necessity for
22	22	the escape; provided that the amount of gas which is flared under
23	23	that authority is charged to the operator's allowable production.
24	24	A necessity includes but is not limited to the following
25	25	situations:
26	26	(1) cleaning a well of sand or acid or both following
27	27	stimulation treatment of a well; and
28	28	(2) repairing or modifying a gas-gathering system.
29	29	SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 86, Natural Resources
30	30	Code, is amended by adding Section 86.186 to read as follows:
31	31	Sec. 86.186. RESTRICTIONS ON RELEASE OF GAS IN AIR: GAS
32	32	WELLS IN THE NEWARK, EAST (BARNETT SHALE) FIELD. (a) This section
33	33	applies only to a gas well that is anticipated to be or has been
34	34	completed or recompleted in the Newark, East (Barnett Shale) Field.
35	35	(b) Gas from a gas well may not be permitted to escape into
36	36	the air after the second day after the date gas is encountered in
37	37	the well, except that the commission may permit the escape of gas
38	38	into the air for an additional period if the operator of the well or
39	39	other facility presents information to show the necessity for the
40	40	escape. The amount of gas flared under the commission's authority
41	41	shall be charged to the operator's allowable production. A
42	42	necessity includes the following situations:
43	43	(1) to avoid endangering the safety of persons
44	44	performing work on the well or of the public;
45	45	(2) to drill the initial exploratory well in a field
46	46	before a sales pipeline to which gas produced from the field may be
47	47	delivered has been constructed;
48	48	(3) to comply with an oil or gas lease entered into
49	49	before September 1, 2009; and
50	50	(4) to repair or modify a gas-gathering system.
51	51	(c) An operator of a gas well shall use techniques or
52	52	methods that minimize the release into the air of gas and associated
53	53	vapors when gas from the well is permitted to flow during the
54	54	completion or recompletion of the well. After a gas well is
55	55	fractured or refractured, the operator as soon as practicable shall
56	56	employ appropriate equipment and processes to minimize the release
57	57	into the air of gas and associated vapors and:
58	58	(1) take necessary actions to deliver salable gas to
59	59	the sales pipeline; or
60	60	(2) shut the well in and conserve the gas.
61	61	SECTION 3. Section 86.012(a), Natural Resources Code, is
62	62	amended to read as follows:
63	63	(a) The term "waste" includes:
64	64	(1) the operation of an oil well or wells with an
65	65	inefficient gas-oil ratio;
66	66	(2) the drowning with water of a stratum or part of a
67	67	stratum capable of producing gas in paying quantities;
68	68	(3) permitting a gas well to burn wastefully;
69	69	(4) the creation of unnecessary fire hazards;
70	70	(5) physical waste or loss incident to or resulting
71	71	from so drilling, equipping, or operating a well or wells as to
72	72	reduce or tend to reduce the ultimate recovery of gas from any pool;
73	73	(6) the escape of gas from a well producing both oil
74	74	and gas into the open air in excess of the amount that is necessary
75	75	in the efficient drilling or operation of the well;
76	76	(7) the production of gas in excess of transportation
77	77	or market facilities or reasonable market demand for the type of gas
78	78	produced;
79	79	(8) the use of gas for the manufacture of carbon black
80	80	without first having extracted the natural gasoline content from
81	81	the gas, except it shall not be necessary to first extract the
82	82	natural gasoline content from the gas where it is utilized in a
83	83	plant producing an average recovery of not less than five pounds of
84	84	carbon black to each 1,000 cubic feet of gas;
85	85	(9) the use of sweet gas produced from a gas well for
86	86	the manufacture of carbon black unless it is used in a plant
87	87	producing an average recovery of not less than five pounds of carbon
88	88	black to each 1,000 cubic feet and unless the sweet gas is produced
89	89	from a well located in a common reservoir producing both sweet and
90	90	sour gas;
91	91	(10) permitting gas produced from a gas well to escape
92	92	into the air before or after the gas has been processed for its
93	93	gasoline content, unless authorized as provided in Section 86.185
94	94	or 86.186 [of this code];
95	95	(11) the production of natural gas from a well
96	96	producing oil from a stratum other than that in which the oil is
97	97	found unless the gas is produced in a separate string of casing from
98	98	that in which the oil is produced;
99	99	(12) the production of more than 100,000 cubic feet of
100	100	gas to each barrel of crude petroleum oil unless the gas is put to
101	101	one or more of the uses authorized for the type of gas so produced
102	102	under allocations made by the commission or unless authorized as
103	103	provided in Section 86.185 or 86.186 [of this code]; and
104	104	(13) underground waste or loss however caused and
105	105	whether or not defined in other subdivisions of this section.
106	106	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
107	107	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
108	108	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
109	109	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
110	110	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.