Current through Register Vol. XLII, No. 1, January 3, 2025
1.1. Scope. (a) The procedures and rules of practice set forth herein shall govern and apply to all proceedings before the West Virginia Shallow Gas Well Review Board.(b) These rules shall be liberally construed to secure the just, prompt and inexpensive conduct of all proceedings consistent with adequate consideration of the issues involved.1.2. Authority. -- W. Va. Code ''22-7-6 and 29A-3.1.3. Filing Date. -- July 23, 1987.1.4. Effective Date. -- August 22, 1987.1.5. Definitions. As used in these rules:
(a) The terms "Board", "Chairman", "coal operator", "coal seam" or "workable coal bed", "Commissioner", "Department" or Department of Energy", "Director", "drilling unit", "gas", "gas operator", "owner", "person", "plant", "pool", "royalty owner", "shallow well", "tract comprising a drilling unit", "well", and "well operator" shall have the meanings set forth in Code '22-7-2.(b) The term "Code " shall mean the West Virginia Code of 1931, as amended.(c) The term "barrel" shall mean forty-two (42) U.S. gallons of two hundred thirty-one (231) cubic inches of liquids, including slurries, at a temperature of sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit.(d) The term "cubic foot of gas" shall mean the volume of gas contained in one (1) cubic foot of space at a standard pressure base and a standard temperature base. The standard pressure base shall be 14.73 pounds per square inch and the standard temperature base shall be sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit.(e) The term "day" shall mean a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive hours.(f) The term "designated agent" shall mean the resident of the State of West Virginia designated by a gas operator or well operator as the agent or attorney in fact of such operator upon whom process, notices, orders or other communications issued pursuant to Chapter 22 of the Code may be served.(g) The term "gas-oil ratio test" shall mean a test, by any means generally accepted in the industry, to determine the number of cubic feet of gas produced per barrel of oil produced.(h) The term "gas well" shall mean any well which produces or appears capable of producing a ratio of six thousand (6,000) cubic feet of gas or more to each barrel of oil on the basis of the initial gas-oil ratio test.(i) The term "initial gas-oil ratio test" shall mean the gas-oil ratio test performed for the purpose of completing Form WR-36, "Well Operator's Report of Initial Gas-Oil Ratio Test", to designate the type of well.(j) The term "log" or "well log" shall mean a systematic, detailed geological record of all formations, including coal, fresh water and salt water, encountered in the drilling of a well.(k) The term "oil well" shall mean any well which produces or appears capable of producing a ratio of less than six thousand (6,000) cubic feet of gas to each barrel of oil on the basis of the initial gas-oil ratio test.1.6. Parties.(a) In proceedings concerning the location of shallow wells under Code '22-7-7, the parties shall be: (1) The well operator who proposes to drill a shallow well; and(2) All coal seam owners who have objected to such proposed drilling pursuant to Code '22B-1-17; and(3) The Department, if it has included an objection in the notice of objection.(b) In proceedings to establish drilling units under Code '22-7-9, 10 and 11, the parties shall be: (1) The gas operator who has applied for the establishment of a drilling unit; and(2) The royalty owners of gas underlying the tracts which comprise the proposed drilling unit; and(3) The gas operators of the tracts which comprise the proposed drilling unit; and(4) All persons who have objected to the establishment of the proposed drilling unit pursuant to Code '22-7-9(c).(c) In proceedings to resolve disputes concerning the costs of drilling and operating a well under a pooling order issued by the Board, the parties shall be all royalty owners and gas operators owning interests in the gas produced from the drilling unit for which the pooling order was issued.1.7. Intervention. Any person claiming a right of participation as a party with a direct pecuniary interest may intervene in a proceeding and become a party upon petition to the Board and the granting of such petition. The petition must set forth the direct pecuniary interest of the petitioner in the proceeding and show that the petitioner's participation will assist in the determination of the issues in question. A petition for leave to intervene may be filed at any stage of a proceeding before the commencement of the hearing. In the discretion of the Board, a person may be denied intervention in a matter in which he could have participated as a party but failed to avail himself of the opportunity to do so; and a person shall be denied intervention unless he has a direct pecuniary interest in the proceeding. The Board may permit intervention limited to a particular stage of the proceeding.
1.8. Filing and Service of Documents and Orders.(a) Where to file. All documents required to be filed in a proceeding described in these rules shall be filed with the Chairman, West Virginia Shallow Gas Well Review Board, Department of Energy, 1615 Washington Street East, Charleston, West Virginia 25311.(b) How to file. All filing may be accomplished by personal delivery or first class mail.(c) When filing effected. Filing is effective upon delivery.(d) Copies to be served. Copies of all documents filed in any proceeding described in these rules shall be served upon all other parties to the proceeding.(e) Method of service; service of attorney. Service of documents shall be accomplished by personal delivery or by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, unless otherwise provided in these rules. Whenever a party is represented by an attorney who has signed any document filed on behalf of such party or otherwise entered an appearance on behalf of such party, service thereafter shall be made upon the attorney.(f) When service effected. In the case of personal delivery, service is effective upon delivery. In the case of mailing, service is effective upon mailing.(g) Proof of service. Unless otherwise provided in these rules, all documents required to be served shall be accompanied by proof of service in the form of a certificate of service. The certificate of service shall include a statement of how service was accomplished.1.9. Consolidation of Proceedings. The Board may at any time order a proceeding described in these rules consolidated with any other such proceeding then pending before the Board which involves the same parties and similar issues of law and fact.
1.10. Hearings. All hearings shall be conducted by the Board in accordance with the provisions of Section 5 of these rules, and all such hearings shall be open to the public.