Watching Government: Texas' oil-field relief plan
Texas oil and gas producers are contending with continued depressed prices like their counterparts in other states. Many liked what they heard when Texas Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick announced details of her Texas Oilfield Relief Initiative during the commission's Aug. 9 open conference.
"These initial ideas will save extensive time for our staff and tens of millions of dollars for oil and gas operators. This initiative serves as Phase 1 of a long-term effort to streamline our operations that our executive director and staff will continue to carry out," she said.
"It's an extension of our commitment to best serve Texas with innovative regulatory practices, yet calls for a more thorough review in a time of industry slow-down when we should find ways to save time and money," Craddick said.
The initiative calls on the agency to identify reports and filings that can be reduced or eliminated without affecting public or environmental safety.
It would reduce production requirements for marginal or stripper wells. It would implement a revised internal inspection priority system so inspectors can prioritize rig inspections and hydraulic fracturing treatments in sensitive areas without affecting other inspections.
It calls for a review of washout factors the commission has used for decades in its completion program to determine whether different ones should be used in some parts of the state to calculate cement tops.
This will expedite the compliance verification process for both operators and the agency without compromising well integrity, the commission said.
TRC's Groundwater Advisory Unit will identify counties or portions of counties in which the usable quality water protection depth is constant. Those areas will be eligible for area-wide recommendations for meeting surface casing requirements, it indicated.
Application, report forms
The initiative also calls on TRC to extensively review all of its application and reporting forms, and determine whether the information they generate is necessary or can be eliminated. It would simplify the complete duplication of a drilling permit application with an operator's sworn statement of no changes from the original. The operator would then pay the fee for reissuing the permit, speeding up the process for both the commission and producer
Officials from five Texas oil and gas associations applauded the initiative.
"These reforms will provide much-needed relief to operators across the state as we continue to confront depressed commodity price," said Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Pres. Ed Longanecker.
The commission already has moved forward with several of the initiative's recommendations and expects to take up more in future open meetings.
Executive Director Kimberly Corley said she hopes to finalize and implement all of the recommendations by Jan. 1, 2017.
