Plan for protecting the natural gas resources Naval Oil Shale Reserve No. 3, Garfield County, Colorado

Technical Report · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983

OSTI ID:5755289

The purpose of the natural gas protection program is to protect the government's interest in gas resources underlying the Naval Oil Shale Reserve No. 3 (NOSR-3) and the federal buffer zone along the southeastern boundary of NOSR-3. The key elements of this program are twofold: (1) a drilling program to provide gas producing wells on HOSR-3; (2) and a communitization/unit program under which agreements would be made between the government and private concerns to drill gas wells either on NOSR-3 or the leased land adjacent to NOSR-3 in the buffer zone. The costs and revenues related to such wells would be shared based on surface acreage ownership. It is proposed that three confirmation wells be drilled on NOSR-3 to test both producing horizons. If the existence of natural gas on that Reserve, in commercially producible quantities, can be verified, the three wells will be completed in the Mesaverde formation, three wells will be drilled at those same site locations and completed in the Wasatch formations, and it is estimated approximately eight additional wells will be needed to protect NOSR-3 from drainage to existing commercial wells. When the Northwest Exploration Company completes additional wells now planned, the government may need to drill as many as 15 more wells in the NOSR-3 protection program. It is envisioned that upon approval of this plan, the Government and Northwest Exploration, and other interested lessees of land adjacent to NOSR-3, would negotiate to determine the sectional pattern of the lands to be included in the communitization/unit program, the selection of drilling sites, and the manner in which the development costs and sales revenues would be shared.

• Research Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Protection, Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Washington, DC. Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves
• OSTI ID: 5755289
• Report Number(s): DOE/EP-0067/1; ON: DE83014931
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030100 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves-- (-1989)
04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040100 -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Reserves & Exploration-- (-1989)
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
294003* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Natural Gas
294004 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Oil Shales & Tar Sands
COLORADO
DRILLING
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
LAND LEASING
LEASING
LEGAL ASPECTS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NATURAL GAS WELLS
NORTH AMERICA
OIL SHALE DEPOSITS
RESERVES
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
RESOURCES
USA
WELL DRILLING
WELL SPACING
WELLS