Title 30

SECTION 250.1617

250.1617 Application for permit to drill.

§ 250.1617 Application for permit to drill.

(a) Before drilling a well under a BOEM-approved Exploration Plan, Development and Production Plan, or Development Operations Coordination Document, you must file Form BSEE-0123, APD, with the District Manager for approval. The submission of your APD must be accompanied by payment of the service fee listed in § 250.125. Before starting operations, you must receive written approval from the District Manager unless you received oral approval under § 250.140.

(b) An APD shall include rated capacities of the proposed drilling unit and of major drilling equipment. After a drilling unit has been approved for use in a BSEE district, the information need not be resubmitted unless required by the District Manager or there are changes in the equipment that affect the rated capacity of the unit.

(1) A plat, drawn to a scale of 2,000 feet to the inch, showing the surface and subsurface location of the well to be drilled and of all the wells previously drilled in the vicinity from which information is available. For development wells on a lease, the wells previously drilled in the vicinity need not be shown on the plat. Locations shall be indicated in feet from the nearest block line;

(2) The design criteria considered for the well and for well control, including the following:

(i) Pore pressure;

(ii) Formation fracture gradients;

(iii) Potential lost circulation zones;

(iv) Mud weights;

(v) Casing setting depths;

(vi) Anticipated surface pressures (which for purposes of this section are defined as the pressure that can reasonably be expected to be exerted upon a casing string and its related wellhead equipment). In the calculation of anticipated surface pressure, the lessee shall take into account the drilling, completion, and producing conditions. The lessee shall consider mud densities to be used below various casing strings, fracture gradients of the exposed formations, casing setting depths, and cementing intervals, total well depth, formation fluid type, and other pertinent conditions. Considerations for calculating anticipated surface pressure may vary for each segment of the well. The lessee shall include as a part of the statement of anticipated surface pressure the calculations used to determine this pressure during the drilling phase and the completion phase, including the anticipated surface pressure used for production string design; and

(vii) If a shallow hazards site survey is conducted, the lessee shall submit with or prior to the submittal of the APD, two copies of a summary report describing the geological and manmade conditions present. The lessee shall also submit two copies of the site maps and data records identified in the survey strategy.

(3) A BOP equipment program including the following:

(i) The pressure rating of BOP equipment,

(ii) A schematic drawing of the diverter system to be used (plan and elevation views) showing spool outlet internal diameter(s); diverter line lengths and diameters, burst strengths, and radius of curvature at each turn; valve type, size, working-pressure rating, and location; the control instrumentation logic; and the operating procedure to be used by personnel, and

(iii) A schematic drawing of the BOP stack showing the inside diameter of the BOP stack and the number of annular, pipe ram, variable-bore pipe ram, blind ram, and blind-shear ram preventers.

(4) A casing program including the following:

(i) Casing size, weight, grade, type of connection and setting depth, and

(ii) Casing design safety factors for tension, collapse, and burst with the assumptions made to arrive at these values.

(5) The drilling prognosis including the following:

(i) Estimated coring intervals,

(ii) Estimated depths to the top of significant marker formations, and

(iii) Estimated depths at which encounters with fresh water, sulphur, oil, gas, or abnormally pressured water are expected.

(6) A cementing program including type and amount of cement in cubic feet to be used for each casing string;

(7) A mud program including the minimum quantities of mud and mud materials, including weight materials, to be kept at the site;

(8) A directional survey program for directionally drilled wells;

(9) An H2S Contingency Plan, if applicable, and if not previously submitted; and

(10) Such other information as may be required by the District Manager.

(d) Public information copies of the APD shall be submitted in accordance with § 250.186 of this part.