By Earley H.B. No. 1739
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the measurement of gas produced from certain wells.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 88.052, Natural Resources Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 88.052. PROHIBITED PASSAGE FROM CONTROL OF PRODUCER
1-7 WITHOUT MEASUREMENT AND RECORD OF AMOUNT; EXCEPTION FOR MARGINAL
1-8 GAS PRODUCTION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
1-9 section, no <No> person owning, leasing, operating, or controlling
1-10 an oil property in this state may permit the oil or gas produced to
1-11 pass beyond the possession or control of that person to the
1-12 possession or control of any other person without first accurately
1-13 measuring the amount of the oil or gas and making and preserving an
1-14 accurate record of the amount.
1-15 (b) A person is not required to measure the amount of a
1-16 well's gas production, unless otherwise required by commission rule
1-17 or order, if:
1-18 (1) the well produces less than 20,000 cubic feet of
1-19 gas in a day;
1-20 (2) the gas is not commingled with production from
1-21 different fields unless the commission has granted commingling
1-22 authority;
1-23 (3) for an oil well, the commission does not permit
1-24 the well's gas production to be measured on a lease basis;
2-1 (4) all affected parties, including any well operator,
2-2 royalty owner, or pipeline operator, agree in writing to the
2-3 management of production and transfer of possession or control
2-4 under estimates of production as provided by Subsection (c) of this
2-5 section.
2-6 (c) The commission by rule shall require the operator of a
2-7 well for which the accurate measurement of gas production is not
2-8 required to submit to the commission an estimate of the well's gas
2-9 production for each month's operation. The commission annually
2-10 shall verify or review the estimates.
2-11 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
2-12 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.