Drilling practices and abandonment

(1) Every contractor shall ensure that his well design and conduct of drilling operations, including his casing, cementing, well spacing, plugging operations, etc. are in accordance with generally accepted practices in the international petroleum industry. (2) Every well shall be identified by a geographic name, number and geographic co-ordinates which shall be shown on maps, plans and similar records which a contractor is required to keep and the Minister shall at once be notified in writing of any change of the name of a well. 21 Petroleum (3) Before commencing any work on or drilling any well, or recommencing work on any well on which work has been discontinued for more than six months, a contractor shall give the Minister seven days’ notice in writing of his intention and such notice shall include– (a) the official name and number of the well; (b) a description of its precise location by reference to geographical co-ordinates; (c) a detailed report on the drilling technique to be employed, an estimate of the time to be taken and depth objective, the material to be used, and the safety measures to be employed, in the drilling of the well; and (d) a summary of the geological and geophysical data, and any interpretations thereof, upon which the contractor made his decision to drill the well in the particular location. (4) Where any work or drilling relating to any well is discontinued for a period exceeding thirty days, a contractor shall notify the Minister in writing to that effect. (5) Before recommencing any work on or drilling, with respect to any well on which work has been discontinued for more than thirty days but for less than six months, a contractor shall give forty-eight hours’ notice in writing of his intention to do so. (6) Except with the approval of the Minister, no contractor shall drill a well from any surface area within the contract area which is less than five hundred meters from a boundary of such contract area. (7) No well shall be drilled from within a contract area through any vertical boundary of such contract area. 22 Petroleum (8) A directional well drilled under a contract area from a surface location on nearby land not within such contract area shall be deemed to have the same effect for all purposes of the Act as a well drilled from a surface location within such contract area and, in such circumstances, the production of petroleum from the contract area through a directional well surfaced on nearby land, or drilling or reworking of any such directional well shall be considered production, drilling or reworking operations, as the case may be, in the contract area. (9) Nothing contained in subregulation (8) above shall be construed to grant to a contractor any leasehold interest, license, easement, right-of-way or other right which such contractor is required to acquire under the Act or any other written law. (10) Before abandoning any well, the contractor shall give in the case of a producing well, not less than thirty days, and, in the case of any other well, not less than twenty-four hours’ written notice to the Minister of his intention to abandon and such notice shall be accompanied by a satisfactory programme for the abandonment and plugging of the well identified in the (11) Subject to the terms and conditions of a contract, a contractor may, upon the expiration of the relevant period of notice or upon receipt by the contractor of the written approval of the Minister of the programme submitted pursuant to the preceding subregulation, whichever is earlier, commence the abandonment operations in relation to such well, provided that in all cases– (i) the contractor shall undertake to securely plug such well to prevent pollution and possible damage to the deposit, and shall, except as the Minister may otherwise direct or his contract may otherwise provide, remove all 23 Petroleum equipment materials and relating thereto; (ii) cemented strings or other forms of casing shall not be withdrawn without the prior written approval of the Minister; and (iii) the contractor shall permit a representative of the Government to observe such operations.