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Volume 60, No. 10

146/2017

The British Columbia Gazette,

Part II

June 6, 2017

B.C. Reg. 146/2017 , deposited June 1, 2017, under the OIL AND GAS ACTIVITIES ACT [sections 106, 111 and 112]. Regulation of the board of the Oil and Gas Commission,

dated May 31, 2017.

The board of the Oil and Gas Commission orders that,

(

a) the Drilling and Production Regulation, B.C. Reg. 282/2010, is amended as

set out in the attached Appendix 1, and

(

b) effective June 15, 2018, the Drilling and Production Regulation is amended

as set out in the attached Appendix 2.

— D. NIKOLEJSIN, Chair, Board of Directors .

Appendix 1

Section 1 of the Drilling and Production Regulation, B.C. Reg. 282/2010, is amended

(

a) in the definition of “Enform” by striking out “ which ” and substituting “ that ”,

(

b) in the definition of “workover” in paragraph (

b) by adding “ and ” at the end of the paragraph, in paragraph (

c) by striking out “ operations, and ” and substituting “ operations. ” and by repealing paragraph (d), and

(

c) by adding the following

definitions:

“deep groundwater” has the same meaning as in

section 51 of the Water Sustainability Regulation;

“groundwater” has the same meaning as in the Water Sustainability Act ;

“integrity management program” , in relation to a facility, means a documented program that specifies the practices used to ensure the safe, environmentally responsible and reliable operation of the facility;

“safety equipment” means equipment that is required for the safe operation and shutdown of a producing

well or facility;

“usable groundwater” means groundwater that is not deep groundwater; .

Section 4 (1) is amended

(

a) in paragraph (

d) by adding “ , (2) and (3) ” after “

section 16 (1) (b) ”,

(

b) in paragraph (

g) by adding “ (1) ” after “

section 26 ”,

(

c) in paragraph (

o) by adding “ and (6) ” after “

section 51 (3) ”,

(

d) in paragraph (z.1) by adding “ (1) ” after “

section 79 ”, and

(

e) by adding the following paragraph:

(z.01)

section 78 (2), (3) and (4); .

Section 6 is amended

(

a) in subsection (5) by adding the following paragraph:

(b.1) the completed portion of a well producing from an unconventional zone listed

in

Schedule 2; , and

(

b) by adding the following subsection:

(6) A well permit holder may not produce from a well in an unconventional zone

listed in

Schedule 2 if a completed portion of the wellbore is located closer than

the distance listed in

Schedule 2 for that zone to land with respect to which the

well permit holder

(

a) is not the owner of the petroleum and natural gas rights or the holder of

the location, or

(

b) does not have an agreement with the owner or holder respecting the production.

Section 10 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(0.1) This

section does not apply with respect to a well drilled to access usable

groundwater.

Section 13 is amended

(

a) in subsection (2) by adding “ , other than a well that is drilled to access usable groundwater, ” after “ drilling operations ”,

(

b) in subsection (2) (

b) by adding “ or an equivalent certification acceptable to an official ” after “ Enform ”,

(

c) in subsection (3) by adding “ , other than a well that is used to access usable groundwater, ” after “ where a well ”,

(

d) in subsection (3) (

b) by adding “ or an equivalent certification acceptable to an official ” after “ Enform ”, and

(

e) in subsection (4) by striking out “ well servicing operation ” and substituting “ servicing operation on a well other than a well that is drilled to access usable groundwater ” and by adding “ or an equivalent certification acceptable to an official ” after “ Enform ”.

Section 15 (1) (

b) is amended by striking out “ emergency ” and substituting “ current emergency ”.

Section 16 is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) (

b) by striking out “ well, except production of gas containing less than 5 mole percent of hydrogen

sulphide or injection of fresh water, is through tubing. ” and substituting “ well is through tubing, except during a well operation, the production of fluids

containing less than 5 mole percent of hydrogen sulphide or the injection of fresh

water. ”,

(

b) in subsection (2) by striking out “ Before injecting a fluid other than fresh water into a subsurface formation through

tubing in a well, ” and substituting “ Except during a well operation, before injecting a fluid other than fresh water

or fluids containing less than 5 mole percent of hydrogen sulphide into an injection

or disposal well, ”, and

(

c) in subsection (3) by striking out “ A well ” and substituting “ If a production packer is set in accordance with subsection (2), a well ”.

Section 17 is amended by adding “ and maintained ” after “ is designed ”.

Section 18 is amended

(

a) by repealing subsection (2) and substituting the following:

(2) A well permit holder must use non-toxic drilling fluids during the drilling

of a well until, in the opinion of a qualified professional, all usable groundwater

has been isolated from the drilling fluid. ,

(

b) in subsection (4) by striking out “ the base of all porous strata that contain usable groundwater or to a minimum depth

of 600 m ” and substituting “ usable groundwater ”,

(

c) in subsection (7) by striking out “ ensure that a survey is made to ” and by striking out “ integrity and that ” and substituting “ integrity and ensure that ”, and

(

d) in subsection (9) (

a) by striking out “ and intermediate ”.

Section 21.1 is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) by adding “ , injection ” after “ During fracturing ”,

(

b) in subsection (2) by adding “ , injection ” after “ suspend fracturing ”, and

(

c) in subsection (3) by adding “ , injection ” after “ Fracturing ”.

Section 24 is amended by adding the following paragraph:

(

f) perform maintenance operations on a wellbore.

Section 25 (1) is amended in the definition of “active” by repealing paragraph (

b) and substituting the following:

(

b) drilling or completion operations, and .

Section 26 is amended

(

a) by renumbering the

section as

section 26 (1) , and

(

b) by adding the following subsection:

(2) For wells drilled to access usable groundwater, an official may exempt, on

conditions the official considers advisable, the permit holder from a requirement

under subsection (1).

Section 29 is amended by striking out “ wooden ” wherever it appears.

Section 31 (3) is amended by striking out “ may remove ” and substituting “ may examine and remove ”.

Section 36 (2) is amended by striking out “ routine ”.

Section 39 (6) (a) (vi) is amended by striking out “ maintain ” and substituting “ submit within 30 days of completion ”.

Section 40 is amended by striking out “ noise. ” and substituting “ noise or excessive emanation of light. ”.

Section 41 (2) is amended by repealing paragraphs (

a) to (

c) and substituting

the following:

(

a) immediately after initial completion or any recompletion of the well,

(

b) at the time of rig release,

(

c) as routine maintenance throughout the life of the well,

(

d) before suspension of the well,

(

e) before abandoning the well, and

(

f) before applying for a transfer of the well permit.

Section 49 is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) by striking out “ an alarm, monitoring device, pressure relieving valve or emergency shutdown device ” and substituting “ safety equipment ”, and

(

b) in subsection (2) by striking out “ a pressure relieving valve or device, or an emergency shutdown device, ” and substituting “ safety equipment ”.

Section 51 (3) (

e) and (

f) is amended by striking out “ is ”.

Section 53 (

a) is amended

(

a) in subparagraph (

i) by striking out “ and ”,

(

b) in subparagraph (ii) by striking out “ facility; ” and substituting “ facility, and ”, and

(

c) by adding the following subparagraph:

(iii) any fluid injection or pressure measurement required by this Part; .

Section 54 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(1.1) This

section does not apply to production from wells in unconventional zones

listed in

Schedule

Section 55 is amended

(

a) by renumbering the

section as

section 55 (1),

(

b) in subsection (1) by adding “ and subsection (2) of this

section ” after “

section 49.1 (1) (

c) of the Act ”, and

(

c) by adding the following subsection:

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to wells completed in unconventional zones listed

in

Schedule 2.

Section 56 (2) is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a well subject to

(

a) a designation under

section 75 of the Act, or

(

b) a well completed in an unconventional zone listed in

Schedule 2.

26 The following

section is added:

Report required

56.1 A permit holder must submit to the commission, within 60 days of completion, a detailed

report of

(

a) any oil well flow test for which temporary flow testing equipment is used

to measure pressures and rates of each fluid, and

(

b) any cleanup flow that results in oil coming to the surface.

Section 59 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to production from unconventional zones

listed in

Schedule

Section 60 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to production from wells in unconventional

zones listed in

Schedule

Section 61 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(4) Subsections (1) to (3) do not apply to production from wells in unconventional

zones listed in

Schedule

Section 62 is amended

(

a) by repealing subsection (2), and

(

b) in subsection (3) by adding “ and physical properties ” after “ component analyses ”.

Section 63 (2) (

a) is amended by adding “ for which temporary flow testing equipment is used to measure pressures and rates

of each fluid ” after “ test ”.

Section 67 is amended

(

a) in subsection (2) by striking out “ of the natural gas and liquids ” and substituting “ and physical properties of the natural gas and hydrocarbon liquids ”, and

(

b) in subsection (3) by striking out “ of the natural gas and liquids ” and substituting “ and physical properties of the natural gas and hydrocarbon liquids ”.

Section 71 is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) by striking out “ representative ” in both places, and

(

b) by adding the following subsection:

(3) Within 60 days of performing any other well water analysis, the well permit

holder must submit to the commission a report of the analysis.

Section 72 (1) is repealed.

Section 73 is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) by striking out everything after “ permit holder’s ” and substituting “ oil, gas, disposal or injection wells, and for any water source well accessing

deep groundwater, is measured before initial oil, gas or water production, disposal

or injection. ”,

(

b) in subsection (2) by striking out everything after “ producing ” and substituting “ pools, observation wells and water source wells accessing deep groundwater is measured

once every calendar year. ”,

(

c) by repealing subsection (3) and substituting the following:

(3) A well permit holder must report the following measurements to the commission

within 60 days of the date the measurements were taken:

(

a) all static bottom hole pressures and temperatures and the duration of the

resulting shut-in period;

(

b) all other pressures measured using downhole recorders. ,

(

d) in subsection (4) by striking out “ hole pressures ” and substituting “ hole pressures and temperatures ”,

(

e) in subsection (5) by striking out “ a well completed ” and substituting “ a gas well completed ”, and

(

f) in subsection (6) by striking out “ a well completed ” and substituting “ a gas well completed ”.

Section 77 (1) (

b) is amended by striking out “ emergency ” and substituting “ current emergency ”.

Section 78 (4) and (5) is amended by striking out “ as-built ” and substituting “ record ”.

Schedule 2 is repealed and the following substituted:

Schedule 2

[Sections 7, 29 and 34]

Unconventional Zones

Item

Field

Zone Name

Distance

(

m) gas

Distance

(

m) oil

Horn River

Muskwa-Otter Park

Horn River

Evie

Helmet

Muskwa-Otter Park

Helmet

Evie

Liard Basin

Besa River

Northern Montney

Montney

Northern Montney

Doig Phosphate-Montney

Heritage

Montney

Deep Basin

Cadomin

Deep Basin

Nikanassin

Appendix 2

1 The Drilling and Production Regulation, B.C. Reg. 282/2010, is amended by adding

the following section:

Integrity management program

78.1 A facility permit holder must prepare and maintain an integrity management program

and carry out operations in accordance with the integrity management program throughout

the life cycle of the facility.

Section 79 is amended

(

a) by renumbering the

section as

section 79 (1), and

(

b) by adding the following subsections:

(2) If a facility permit holder suspends operations at the facility, the facility permit holder must

(

a) ensure that the suspension is carried out safely, and

(

b) immediately notify the commission if the suspension continues for more than 12 consecutive months.

(3) A facility permit holder who has suspended operations at the facility must notify the commission at least 5 days before reactivating the facility.

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