81R6852 SMH-F
 
  By: Davis, Wendy S.B. No. 902
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to restrictions on the release into the air of natural gas
  and associated vapors from a gas well.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 86.185, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 86.185.  RESTRICTIONS ON RELEASE OF [PROHIBITION
  AGAINST] GAS IN AIR:  GAS WELLS IN GENERAL. (a)  This section does
  not apply to a gas well to which Section 86.186 applies.
         (b)  No gas from a gas well may be permitted to escape into
  the air after the expiration of 10 days from the time the gas is
  encountered in the gas well, or from the time of perforating the
  casing opposite a gas-bearing zone if casing is set through the
  zone, whichever is later, but the commission may permit the escape
  of gas into the air for an additional time if the operator of a well
  or other facility presents information to show the necessity for
  the escape; provided that the amount of gas which is flared under
  that authority is charged to the operator's allowable production.
  A necessity includes but is not limited to the following
  situations:
               (1)  cleaning a well of sand or acid or both following
  stimulation treatment of a well; and
               (2)  repairing or modifying a gas-gathering system.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter F, Chapter 86, Natural Resources
  Code, is amended by adding Section 86.186 to read as follows:
         Sec. 86.186.  RESTRICTIONS ON RELEASE OF GAS IN AIR:  GAS
  WELLS IN THE NEWARK, EAST (BARNETT SHALE) FIELD. (a)  This section
  applies only to a gas well that is anticipated to be or has been
  completed or recompleted in the Newark, East (Barnett Shale) Field.
         (b)  Gas from a gas well may not be permitted to escape into
  the air after the second day after the date gas is encountered in
  the well, except that the commission may permit the escape of gas
  into the air for an additional period if the operator of the well or
  other facility presents information to show the necessity for the
  escape. The amount of gas flared under the commission's authority
  shall be charged to the operator's allowable production. A
  necessity includes the following situations:
               (1)  to avoid endangering the safety of persons
  performing work on the well or of the public;
               (2)  to drill the initial exploratory well in a field
  before a sales pipeline to which gas produced from the field may be
  delivered has been constructed;
               (3)  to comply with an oil or gas lease entered into
  before September 1, 2009; and
               (4)  to repair or modify a gas-gathering system.
         (c)  An operator of a gas well shall use techniques or
  methods that minimize the release into the air of gas and associated
  vapors when gas from the well is permitted to flow during the
  completion or recompletion of the well. After a gas well is
  fractured or refractured, the operator as soon as practicable shall
  employ appropriate equipment and processes to minimize the release
  into the air of gas and associated vapors and:
               (1)  take necessary actions to deliver salable gas to
  the sales pipeline; or
               (2)  shut the well in and conserve the gas.
         SECTION 3.  Section 86.012(a), Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The term "waste" includes:
               (1)  the operation of an oil well or wells with an
  inefficient gas-oil ratio;
               (2)  the drowning with water of a stratum or part of a
  stratum capable of producing gas in paying quantities;
               (3)  permitting a gas well to burn wastefully;
               (4)  the creation of unnecessary fire hazards;
               (5)  physical waste or loss incident to or resulting
  from so drilling, equipping, or operating a well or wells as to
  reduce or tend to reduce the ultimate recovery of gas from any pool;
               (6)  the escape of gas from a well producing both oil
  and gas into the open air in excess of the amount that is necessary
  in the efficient drilling or operation of the well;
               (7)  the production of gas in excess of transportation
  or market facilities or reasonable market demand for the type of gas
  produced;
               (8)  the use of gas for the manufacture of carbon black
  without first having extracted the natural gasoline content from
  the gas, except it shall not be necessary to first extract the
  natural gasoline content from the gas where it is utilized in a
  plant producing an average recovery of not less than five pounds of
  carbon black to each 1,000 cubic feet of gas;
               (9)  the use of sweet gas produced from a gas well for
  the manufacture of carbon black unless it is used in a plant
  producing an average recovery of not less than five pounds of carbon
  black to each 1,000 cubic feet and unless the sweet gas is produced
  from a well located in a common reservoir producing both sweet and
  sour gas;
               (10)  permitting gas produced from a gas well to escape
  into the air before or after the gas has been processed for its
  gasoline content, unless authorized as provided in Section 86.185
  or 86.186 [of this code];
               (11)  the production of natural gas from a well
  producing oil from a stratum other than that in which the oil is
  found unless the gas is produced in a separate string of casing from
  that in which the oil is produced;
               (12)  the production of more than 100,000 cubic feet of
  gas to each barrel of crude petroleum oil unless the gas is put to
  one or more of the uses authorized for the type of gas so produced
  under allocations made by the commission or unless authorized as
  provided in Section 86.185 or 86.186 [of this code]; and
               (13)  underground waste or loss however caused and
  whether or not defined in other subdivisions of this section.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2009.