Virginia Code 45.2-1611: Objections by coal owner
A. In deciding on objections by a coal owner to a proposed permit modification or drilling unit modification, only the following questions shall be considered:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 45.2-1611
- Board: means the Virginia Gas and Oil Board. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- Coal owner: means any person who owns, leases, mines and produces, or has the right to mine and produce a coal seam. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- Coalbed methane gas: means occluded natural gas produced from coalbeds and rock strata associated with it. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- Coalbed methane gas well: means a well capable of producing coalbed methane gas. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- Drilling unit: means the acreage on which one gas or oil well may be drilled. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Mine: includes all of the land or property of the mining plant, including both the surface and subsurface, that is used in or contributes directly or indirectly to the mining, concentration, or handling of the mineral resources, including all roads. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- Oil: means natural crude oil or petroleum and other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, that are produced at the well in liquid form by ordinary production methods and are not the result of condensation of gas after it leaves the underground reservoir. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- Stimulation: means any action taken by a gas or oil operator to increase the inherent productivity of a gas or oil well, including fracturing, shooting, or acidizing, but excluding (i) cleaning out, bailing, or workover operations and (ii) the use of surface-tension reducing agents, emulsion breakers, paraffin solvents, or other agents that affect the gas or oil being produced, as distinguished from the producing formation. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- Well: means any shaft or hole sunk, drilled, bored, or dug into the earth or into underground strata for the extraction, injection, or placement of any gaseous or liquid substance or any shaft or hole sunk or used in conjunction with such extraction, injection, or placement. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
1. Whether the work can be done safely with respect to persons engaged in coal mining at or near the well site; and
2. Whether the well work is an unreasonable or arbitrary exercise of the well operator’s right to explore for, market, and produce gas or oil.
B. In deciding on objections by a coal owner to the establishment of a drilling unit, the issuance of a permit for a new well, or the stimulation of a coalbed methane gas well, the following safety aspects shall first be considered, and no order or permit shall be issued where the evidence indicates that the proposed activity will be unsafe:
1. Whether the drilling unit or drilling location is above or in close proximity to any mine opening or shaft, entry, travel way, airway, haulageway, drainageway, or passageway, or to any proposed extension thereof, in any operated or abandoned or operating coal mine or in any coal mine already surveyed and platted but not yet being operated;
2. Whether the proposed drilling can reasonably be done through an existing or planned pillar of coal, or in close proximity to an existing well or such pillar of coal, taking into consideration the surface topography;
3. Whether the proposed well can be drilled safely or the proposed coalbed methane gas well can be stimulated safely, taking into consideration the dangers from creeps, squeezes, or other disturbances due to the extraction of coal; and
4. The extent to which the proposed drilling unit or drilling location or stimulation of the coalbed methane gas well unreasonably interferes with the safe recovery of coal, gas, or oil.
C. The following questions with respect to the drilling unit or drilling location of a new well or stimulation of a new coalbed methane gas well shall also be considered:
1. The extent to which the proposed drilling unit or drilling location or coalbed methane gas well stimulation will unreasonably interfere with present or future coal mining operations;
2. The feasibility of moving the proposed drilling unit or drilling location to a mined-out area, an area below the coal outcrop, or some other area;
3. The feasibility of a drilling moratorium for not more than two years in order to permit the completion of coal mining operations;
4. The methods proposed for the recovery of coal and gas;
5. The practicality of locating the unit or the well on a uniform pattern with other units or wells;
6. The surface topography and use; and
7. Whether the decision will substantially affect the right of the gas operator to explore for and produce the gas.
D. The factors in subsection C are not intended to and shall not be construed to authorize the Director, or the Board under § 45.2-1638, to supersede, impair, abridge, or affect any contractual rights or obligations existing between the respective owners of coal and gas or any interest therein.
1982, c. 347, § 45.1-318; 1990, c. 92, § 45.1-361.11; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.