3000-3015
PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE
SECTION 3000-3015
3000. Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions hereinafter set forth shall govern the construction of this division. 3001. "Department," in reference to the government of this state, means the Department of Conservation. 3002. "Division," in reference to the government of this state, means the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation; otherwise "division" means Division 3 (commencing with Section 3000) of the Public Resources Code. 3003. "Director" means the Director of Conservation. 3004. "Supervisor" means the State Oil and Gas Supervisor. 3005. "Person" includes any individual, firm, association, corporation, or any other group or combination acting as a unit. 3006. "Oil" includes petroleum, and "petroleum" includes oil. 3007. "Gas" means any natural hydrocarbon gas coming from the earth. 3008. (a) "Well" means any oil or gas well or well for the discovery of oil or gas; any well on lands producing or reasonably presumed to contain oil or gas; any well drilled for the purpose of injecting fluids or gas for stimulating oil or gas recovery, repressuring or pressure maintenance of oil or gas reservoirs, or disposing of waste fluids from an oil or gas field; any well used to inject or withdraw gas from an underground storage facility; or any well drilled within or adjacent to an oil or gas pool for the purpose of obtaining water to be used in production stimulation or repressuring operations. (b) "Prospect well" or "exploratory well" means any well drilled to extend a field or explore a new, potentially productive reservoir. (c) "Active observation well" means a well being used for the sole purpose of gathering reservoir data, such as pressure or temperature in a reservoir being currently produced or injected by the operator, and the data is gathered at least once every three years. (d) "Idle well" means any well that has not produced oil or natural gas or has not been used for injection for six consecutive months of continuous operation during the last five or more years. An idle well does not include an active observation well. (e) "Long-term idle well" means any well that has not produced oil or natural gas or has not been used for injection for six consecutive months of continuous operation during the last 10 or more years. A long-term idle well does not include an active observation well. 3009. "Operator" means a person who, by virtue of ownership, or under the authority of a lease or any other agreement, has the right to drill, operate, maintain, or control a well or production facility. 3010. "Production facility" means any equipment attendant to oil and gas production or injection operations including, but not limited to, tanks, flowlines, headers, gathering lines, wellheads, heater treaters, pumps, valves, compressors, injection equipment, and pipelines that are not under the jurisdiction of the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 51010 of the Government Code. 3012. The provisions of this division apply to any land or well situated within the boundaries of an incorporated city in which the drilling of oil wells is now or may hereafter be prohibited, until all wells therein have been abandoned as provided in this chapter. 3013. This division shall be liberally construed to meet its purposes, and the director and the supervisor, acting with the approval of the director, shall have all powers, including the authority to adopt rules and regulations, which may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this division. 3014. "District" means an oil and gas district as provided for in Section 3100. 3015. For the purpose of implementing Section 503 of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978, the supervisor may make the determinations entrusted to state agencies having regulatory jurisdiction with respect to the production of natural gas. Such determinations shall be made pursuant to procedures prescribed in guidelines adopted by the supervisor.