82-11-111. (Temporary) Powers and duties of board. (1) The board shall make investigations that it considers proper to determine whether waste exists or is imminent or whether other facts exist that justify any action by the board under the authority granted by this chapter.

Terms Used In Montana Code 82-11-111

  • Board: means the board of oil and gas conservation provided for in 2-15-3303. See Montana Code 82-11-101
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Department: means the department of natural resources and conservation provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 33. See Montana Code 82-11-101
  • Field: means the general area underlaid by one or more pools. See Montana Code 82-11-101
  • Gas: means all natural gases and all other fluid hydrocarbons, including methane gas or any other natural gas found in any coal formation, as produced at the wellhead and not defined as oil in subsection (3). See Montana Code 82-1-111
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Oil: means crude petroleum oil and other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, that are produced at the wellhead in liquid form by ordinary production methods and that are not the result of condensation of gas before or after it leaves the reservoir. See Montana Code 82-1-111
  • Person: means any natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, or other representative of any kind and includes any agency or instrumentality of the state or any governmental subdivision of the state. See Montana Code 82-11-101
  • Pool: means an underground reservoir containing a common accumulation of oil or gas or both; each zone of a structure which is completely separated from any other zone in the same structure is a pool, as that term is used in this chapter. See Montana Code 82-11-101
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
  • Waste: means :

    (i)physical waste, as that term is generally understood in the oil and gas industry;

    (ii)the inefficient, excessive, or improper use of or the unnecessary dissipation of reservoir energy;

    (iii)the location, spacing, drilling, equipping, operating, or producing of any oil or gas well or wells in a manner which causes or tends to cause reduction in the quantity of oil or gas ultimately recoverable from a pool under prudent and proper operations or which causes or tends to cause unnecessary or excessive surface loss or destruction of oil or gas; and

    (iv)the inefficient storing of oil or gas. See Montana Code 82-11-101

(2)Subject to the administrative control of the department under 2-15-121, the board shall:

(a)require measures to be taken to prevent contamination of or damage to surrounding land or underground strata caused by drilling operations and production, including but not limited to regulating the disposal or injection of water and disposal of oil field wastes;

(b)classify wells as oil or gas wells or class II injection wells for purposes material to the interpretation or enforcement of this chapter;

(c)adopt and enforce rules and orders to implement this chapter; and

(d)adopt and enforce rules and orders to implement the provisions of 85-2-510, including the establishment of a fee for petitioners seeking a hearing.

(3)The board shall determine and prescribe which producing wells are defined as “stripper wells” and which wells are defined as “wildcat wells” and make orders that in its judgment are required to protect those wells and provide that stripper wells may be produced to capacity if that is considered necessary in the interest of conservation.

(4)With respect to any pool from which gas was being produced by a gas well on or prior to April 1, 1953, this chapter does not authorize the board to limit or restrain the rate, daily or otherwise, of production of gas from that pool by any existing well or a well drilled after that date and producing from that pool to less than the rate at which the well can be produced without adversely affecting the quantity of gas ultimately recoverable by the well.

(5)The board has exclusive jurisdiction over all class II injection wells and all pits and ponds in relation to those injection wells. The board may:

(a)issue, suspend, revoke, modify, or deny permits to operate class II injection wells consistent with rules made by it;

(b)examine plans and other information needed to determine whether a permit should be issued or require changes in plans as a condition to the issuance of a permit;

(c)clearly specify in a permit any limitations imposed as to the volume and characteristics of the fluids to be injected and the operation of the well;

(d)authorize its staff to enter upon any public or private property at reasonable times to:

(i)investigate conditions relating to violations of permit conditions;

(ii)have access to and copy records required under this chapter;

(iii)inspect monitoring equipment or methods; and

(iv)sample fluids that the operator is required to sample; and

(e)adopt standards for the design, construction, testing, and operation of class II injection wells.

(6)The board shall determine, for the purposes of using the oil and gas production damage mitigation account established in 82-11-161:

(a)when the person responsible for an abandoned well, sump, or hole cannot be identified or located or, if the person is identified or located, when the person does not have sufficient financial resources to properly plug the well, sump, or hole; or

(b)when a previously abandoned well, sump, or hole is the cause of potential environmental problems and no responsible party can be identified or located or, if a responsible party can be identified and located, when the person does not have sufficient financial resources to correct the problems.

(7)The board may take measures to demonstrate to the general public the importance of the state‘s oil and gas exploration and production industry, to encourage and promote the wise and efficient use of energy, to promote environmentally sound exploration and production methods and technologies, to develop the state’s oil and gas resources, and to support research and educational activities concerning the oil and natural gas exploration and production industry. The board may:

(a)make grants or loans and provide other forms of financial assistance as necessary or appropriate from available funds to qualified persons for research, development, marketing, educational projects, and processes or activities directly related to the state’s oil and gas exploration and production industry;

(b)enter into contracts or agreements to carry out the purposes of this subsection (7), including the authority to contract for the administration of an oil and gas research, development, marketing, and educational program;

(c)cooperate with any private, local, state, or national commission, organization, agent, or group and enter into contracts and agreements for programs benefiting the oil and gas exploration and production industry;

(d)coordinate with the Montana university system, including Montana technological university or any of its affiliated research programs;

(e)accept donations, grants, contributions, and gifts from any public or private source for deposit in the oil and gas education and research account established in 82-11-110;

(f)distribute funds from the oil and gas education and research account to carry out the provisions of this subsection (7); and

(g)make orders and rules to implement the provisions of this subsection (7).

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