As used in this article: (a) "Casing" means a string or strings of pipe commonly placed in wells drilled for natural gas or petroleum or both; (b) "Cement" means hydraulic cement properly mixed with water; (c) "Chair" means the chair of the West Virginia shallow gas well review board as provided for in section four, […]
(a) All persons described in subsections (a) and (b), section nine of this article may file comments with the director as to the location or construction of the applicant's proposed well work within fifteen days after the application is filed with the director. (b) Prior to the issuance of any permit for well work, the […]
The director shall review each application for a well work permit and shall determine whether or not a permit shall be issued. No permit shall be issued less than fifteen days after the filing date of the application for any well work except plugging or replugging; and no permit for plugging or replugging shall be […]
(a) Before drilling for oil or gas, or before fracturing or stimulating a well on any tract of land, the well operator shall have a plat prepared by a licensed land surveyor or registered engineer showing the district and county in which the tract of land is located, the name and acreage of the same, […]
Before fracturing any well the well operator shall, by registered or certified mail, forward a notice of intention to fracture such well to the director and to each and every coal operator operating coal seams beneath said tract of land, who has mapped the same and filed such maps with the office of miners' health, […]
(a) Before drilling a well for the introduction of liquids for the purposes provided for in section twenty-five of this article or for the introduction of liquids for the disposal of pollutants or the effluent therefrom on any tract of land, or before converting an existing well for such purposes, the well operator shall have […]
(a) When a proposed deep well drilling site or oil well drilling site or any site is above a seam or seams of coal, then the coal operator operating said coal seams beneath the tract of land, or the coal seam owner or lessee, if any, if said owner or lessee is not yet operating […]
(a) When a well is proposed to be drilled or converted for the purposes provided for in section fourteen of this article, and is above a seam or seams of coal, then the coal operator operating said coal seams beneath the tract of land, or the coal seam owner or lessee, if any, if said […]
When a proposed shallow well drilling site is above a seam or seams of coal, then the owner of any such coal seam may, within fifteen days from the receipt by the director of the plat and notice required by section twelve of this article, file objections in writing (forms for which will be furnished […]
(a) When a well penetrates one or more workable coal beds, the well operator shall run and cement a string of casing in the hole through the workable coal bed or beds in such a manner as will exclude all oil, gas or gas pressure from the coal bed or beds, except such oil, gas […]
In the event that a well becomes productive of natural gas or petroleum, or is drilled for or converted for the introduction of pressure, whether liquid or gas, or for the introduction of liquid for the purposes provided for in section twenty-five of this article or for the disposal of pollutants or the effluent therefrom, […]
(a) The secretary shall have as his or her duty the supervision of the execution and enforcement of matters related to oil and gas set out in this article and in articles six-a, eight, nine, ten and twenty-one of this chapter. (b) The secretary is authorized to propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with […]
When a well is drilled through the horizon of a coalbed from which the coal has been removed, the hole shall be drilled at least thirty feet below the coalbed, of a size sufficient to permit the placing of a liner which shall start not less than twenty feet beneath the horizon of the coalbed […]
When a permit has been issued for the drilling of an oil or gas well or both, each well operator shall run and permanently cement a string of casing in the hole through the fresh water bearing strata in such a manner and to the extent provided for in rules promulgated by the director in […]
(a) Within a reasonable time after the completion of the drilling of a shallow well or deep well, the well operator shall file with the secretary and with the state Geological and Economic Survey a completion report containing the following: (1) The character, depth, and thickness of geological formations encountered, including fresh water, coal seams, […]
All dry or abandoned wells or wells presumed to be abandoned under the provisions of section nineteen of this article shall be plugged and reclaimed in accordance with this section and the other provisions of this article and in accordance with the rules promulgated by the secretary. Prior to the commencement of plugging operations and […]
Upon the abandonment or cessation of the operation of any well drilled for natural gas or petroleum, or drilled or converted for the introduction of pressure, whether liquid or gas, or for the introduction of liquid for the purposes provided for in section twenty-five of this article or for the disposal of pollutants or the […]
The owner or operator of any well or wells which produce oil or gas may allow such well or wells to remain open for the purpose of introducing water or other liquid pressure into and upon the producing strata for the purpose of recovering the oil contained therein, and may drill additional wells for like […]
(a) No permit shall be issued pursuant to this article unless a bond as described in subsection (d) of this section which is required for a particular activity by this article is or has been furnished as provided in this section. (b) A separate bond as described in subsection (d) of this section may be […]
Any person suffering personal injury or property damage due to any explosion caused by any permittee, shall have a cause of action against such permittee for three years after the explosion regardless of when the explosion occurred.
