American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2016 - 35

and issuing guidance for implementing
the Texas Environmental, Health & Safety
Audit Privilege Act.
According to TIPRO, the definition
of an active oil well in SWR 15 will be
changed from 10 barrels of oil a month
for three consecutive months to five
barrels a month for three consecutive
months or any reported production in
each month for 12 consecutive months.
The definition of an active gas well in
SWR 15 will be changed from 100 Mcf
a month to 40 Mcf a month or any
reported production in each month for
12 consecutive months.
TIPRO adds that the Environmental,
Health & Safety Audit Privilege Act permits operators of new properties to remedy
violations resulting prior to their ownership
without penalty so as to ensure compliance
without punishing an operator who did
not cause the violation.
In addition, TIPRO cites RRC Executive Director Kimberly Corley stating she
hopes to implement a variety of other
recommendations in the Oil Field Relief
Initiative by Jan. 1. These are:
* The RRC will identify reports and
filings that can be reduced or eliminated
without impacting public or environmental
safety. These include modifying gas well
deliverability reporting under SWR 28

and reducing the need to file G-10 gas
well status reports, except for surface
commingled production.
* The RRC will allow a calculated
well shut-in pressure be provided on
Form G-10 filings.
* The commission will revise its inspection priorities to focus on drilling
rig inspections and hydraulic fracture
treatments in sensitive areas such as cities
or wetlands.
* The agency will review the washout
factors used in its online program to calculate depth of cement tops to determine
whether different washout factors should
be used in certain areas in order to expedite
the process of verifying compliance.

* The Groundwater Advisory Unit
will identify counties or portions of counties
in which the usable quality water protection
depth is constant. Those areas will be eligible for areawide recommendations for
meeting surface casing requirements.
* RRC will conduct a review of all
application and reporting forms to identify
data that are no longer necessary, and
eliminate forms no longer useful to the
commission's regulatory functions.
* The commission will accept a sworn
statement of no changes to the original
application when an operator applies for
a duplicate permit to drill. The operator
then would pay the fee to have the permit
reissued.
r

EnLink Subsidiary Plans Midland Pipeline Project
DALLAS-A subsidiary of EnLink
Midstream Partners LP and EnLink Midstream LLC will construct a crude oil
gathering system-the Greater Chickadee
project-in the Texas counties of Upton
and Midland, EnLink says.
The partnership will invest as much
as $80 million on the Greater Chickadee,
which the companies say will include
more than 150 miles of high- and lowpressure pipelines that will transport crude
oil volumes to several major market

outlets and other key hub centers in the
Midland area. The project also includes
constructing multiple central tank batteries
and pump, truck injection and storage
stations.
Greater Chickadee is supported by
long-term, fee-based arrangements with
several Permian Basin producers. The
companies say the project includes 35,000
dedicated acres in Upton County. Production from this acreage is more than
10,000 barrels a day, EnLink says.
❒

SEPTEMBER 2016 35
American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2016
