Holiday Office Closure

In observance of the Christmas holidays, Railroad Commission of Texas offices will be closed December 23-27. The offices will re-open at 8 a.m. on Monday, December 30 for regular business. Expedited Drilling Permits will be processed within standard processing times. If assistance is needed, please email Drillingpermits-info@rrc.texas.gov.
RRC maintains a 24-hour emergency phone line to report any leaks or spills. That number is 844-773-0305

USA Flag

This website will be undergoing maintenance today, please be patient as some pages may be slower to load.

Testing Exclusions

Previous Test

Once a well is scheduled for a test, it can still be dropped from the test schedule if documentation is submitted showing that the well has already been tested during the current test cycle in accordance with the instructions on Form H-5.

Well converted to Production or Water Supply

  • If a producing well or a water supply well is permitted as a disposal/injection well, then in order to have the well excluded from the pressure-test schedule, the permit must be canceled.
  • The Commission will cancel the authority at the operator's request upon verification that the well is an active producer or water supply well. A completion report (Form W-2 or G-1) must be filed if the proration schedule does not list the well as an active producer or water supply well.
  • Once the permit is canceled, the operator will be required to file an application and obtain a new permit in accordance with current Commission rules before converting the well back to disposal/injection. The previous authority will not be reinstated.

Shut-in/Temporarily Abandoned Wells

  • If a shut-in or temporarily abandoned well is permitted as a disposal/injection well, then in order to have the well excluded from the pressure-test schedule, the permit must be canceled. Alternatively, the well must demonstrate the absence of casing leaks at a minimum to remain shut-in. The full mechanical integrity demonstration will be required before the well is reactivated.
  • A request for cancellation must be submitted to Technical Permitting in Austin. The submission must include:
    • Written request for cancellation of the disposal/injection permit along with a copy of the permit.
    • Results of fluid-level measurements in the tubing and the long-string casing, including a description of the method used to take the measurements.
    • Letter from Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission for a well within the project area stating the depth to which usable quality ground water occurs.
    • Form W-2/G-1, a wellbore diagram, or other information showing the current completion.
    • The results of pressure readings on the tubing and each annulus.
    • Proof that the well is covered by a 14(b)(2) extension if it has been inactive for a year or longer. If it has been inactive for less than a year, provide a statement indicating the date the well was last used.
  • If review of this information indicates that the well is not a potential pollution problem, then the Commission will cancel the permit and drop the well from the testing schedule.
  • If a well has a casing leak, then this procedure may not ordinarily be used to avoid the requirement to repair and successfully test the well because of the potential for groundwater contamination.
  • Once the permit is canceled, the operator will be required to file an application and obtain a new permit in accordance with current Commission rules before converting the well back to disposal/injection. The previous authority will not be reinstated.

Plugging

Plugged wells are automatically excluded from test schedule upon processing of the plugging report (Form W-3). 


Commissioners

Research

General

Audiences