20 AAC 25.172. Offshore location clearance

(a) No later than the time that all wells drilled from a fixed offshore platform are abandoned and the platform is removed or dismantled, the operator shall remove all well casing to a depth at least one foot below the mudline. The operator shall provide the commission with verification, using appropriate means approved by the commission, that the casing has been removed as required. If an agency acting on behalf of the state or federal government as lessor approves leaving the platform in place after well abandonment, the commission will accept that approval and waive requirements of this subsection.

(b) When a well is abandoned from a mobile bottom-founded structure, jack-up rig, or floating drilling vessel, the operator shall remove the wellhead equipment, casing, piling, and other obstructions to a depth at least five feet below the mudline before removing the drill rig, unless otherwise approved by the commission as adequate to protect public health and safety. The operator shall provide the commission with verification, using appropriate means approved by the commission, that the requirements of this subsection have been met.

(c) At or after the time that a well drilled from a location on a beach, artificial island, or shifting natural island is abandoned, and before the earliest of one year after well abandonment, the time that the operator stops activities necessary to ensure the integrity of the location, or the expiration of the owner's rights in the property,

(1) the operator shall remove the wellhead equipment and casing to a depth at least five feet below the mudline datum; and

(2) unless the operator demonstrates to the commission that the surface owner has authorized a different disposition to facilitate a genuine beneficial use, the operator shall

(A) remove all materials, supplies, structures, and installations from the location;

(B) remove all loose debris from the location;

(C) fill and grade all pits or close them in another manner approved by the commission as adequate to protect public health and safety; and

(D) leave the location in a clean and graded condition.

(d) If a well described in (c) of this section is located on state or federal land, and if the agency acting on behalf of the state or federal government as lessor approves a disposition different from that required under (c)(2) of this section, the commission will accept that disposition instead of requiring the operator to comply with (c)(2) of this section.

(e) If the Department of Natural Resources, as to a state lease, or by the United States Department of the Interior, as to a federal lease approves a time period beyond one year after well abandonment for location clearance, the commission will set an identical time period for compliance with (c) of this section.

(f) After the work required under (c) of this section has been completed at a location, the commission will, in its discretion, conduct an on-site inspection to verify the location condition at the time of inspection. If the commission conducts an inspection, the commission will provide the operator a report of the inspection.

History: Eff. 4/2/86, Register 97; am 11/7/99, Register 152

Authority: AS 31.05.030

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