§ 113-392. Protecting pool owners; drilling units in pools; location of wells; shares in pools.
§ 113‑392. Protecting pool owners; drilling units in pools; location of wells; shares inpools.
(a) Whether or not the total production from a pool be limitedor prorated, no rule or order of the Department shall be such in terms oreffect
(1) That it shall be necessary at any time for the producerfrom, or the owner of, a tract of land in the pool, in order that he may obtainsuch tract's just and equitable share of the production of such pool, as suchshare is set forth in this section, to drill and operate any well or wells onsuch tract in addition to such well or wells as can produce without waste suchshare, or
(2) As to occasion net drainage from a tract unless there bedrilled and operated upon such tract a well or wells in addition to such wellor wells thereon as can produce without waste such tract's just and equitableshare, as set forth in this section, of the production of such pool.
(b) For the prevention of waste and to avoid the augmenting andaccumulation of risks arising from the drilling of an excessive number ofwells, the Department shall, after a hearing, establish a drilling unit orunits for each pool. The Department may establish drainage units of uniformsize for the entire pool or may, if the facts so justify, divide into zones anypool, establish a drainage unit for each zone, which unit may differ in sizefrom that established in any other zone; and the Department may from time totime, if the facts so justify, change the size of the unit established for theentire pool or for any zone or zones, or part thereof, establishing new zonesand units if the facts justify their establishment.
(c) Each well permitted to be drilled upon any drilling unitshall be drilled approximately in the center thereof, with such exception asmay reasonably be necessary where it is shown, after notice and upon hearing,and the Department finds that the unit is partly outside the pool or, for someother reason, a well approximately in the center of the unit would benonproductive or where topographical conditions are such as to make thedrilling approximately in the center of the unit unduly burdensome. Whenever anexception is granted, the Department shall take such action as will offset anyadvantage which the person securing the exception may have over producers byreason of the drilling of the well as an exception, and so that drainage fromdeveloped units to the tract with respect to which the exception is grantedwill be prevented or minimized and the producer of the well drilled as anexception will be allowed to produce no more than his just and equitable shareof the oil and gas in the pool, as such share is set forth in this section.
(d) Subject to the reasonable requirements for prevention ofwaste, a producer's just and equitable share of the oil and gas in the pool(also sometimes referred to as a tract's just and equitable share) is that partof the authorized production for the pool (whether it be the total which couldbe produced without any restriction on the amount of production, or whether itbe an amount less than that which the pool could produce if no restriction onthe amount were imposed) which is substantially in the proportion that thequantity of recoverable oil and gas in the developed area of his tract in thepool bears to the recoverable oil and gas in the total developed area of thepool, insofar as these amounts can be ascertained practically; and to that end,the rules, permits and orders of the Department shall be such as will preventor minimize reasonably avoidable net drainage from each developed unit (thatis, drainage which is not equalized by counter‑drainage), and will giveto each producer the opportunity to use his just and equitable share of thereservoir energy. (1945, c. 702, s.12; 1973, c. 1262, s. 86; 1987, c. 827, s. 112.)