It shall be unlawful for any person acting either for himself or herself, or acting as agent, employee, independent contractor, or servant for any person, to knowingly drill, repair, rework, or deepen any well or to install any water or gas repressurizing or injection facility within the corporate limits of the city without a permit having first been issued by the authority of the city council in accordance with the terms of this article.
(1967 Code, sec. 21-3; Ordinance 252 adopted –/–/–; Ordinance 88-510 adopted 10/11/88; 1994 Code, sec. 118.15)
(a) 
When a permit required by this article has been issued for the drilling of a well, the permit shall constitute sufficient authority for drilling, operation, production, gathering of production, maintenance, repair, reworking, testing, plugging, and abandonment of the well, and for the construction and use of all facilities reasonably necessary or convenient in connection therewith, including gathering lines and discharge lines, by the permittee and its employees, agents, and contractors, any zoning ordinance to the contrary notwithstanding, provided that a new or supplemental permit shall be obtained before the well may be deepened below the geological formation in which it was originally completed and before it may be used for repressurizing or injection of water or gas.
(b) 
Once any well has either been completed as a producer or abandoned as a dry hole, it shall be unlawful for any person to drill the well to a deeper geological formation than that reached in the prior drilling operations without the permittee as to the well obtaining a supplemental permit after filing a supplemental application with the city secretary specifying:
(1) 
The condition of the well and the casing therein;
(2) 
The depth to which it is proposed that the well will be deepened; and
(3) 
The proposed casing and cementing programs to be used in connection with the proposed deepening operation.
(c) 
In the event that the city council is satisfied that the well may be deepened with the same degree of safety as existed in the original well, a supplemental permit may be issued without an additional filing fee to the permittee authorizing the deepening and operation of the well to the specified depth as applied for. In any deeper drilling or any deeper completion of any deeper production operations the permittee shall comply with all provisions contained in this article and applicable to drilling, completion, operation, and production of a well.
(d) 
If the operator has removed the derrick and drilling equipment from the location, the supplemental permit shall comply with the requirements specified for a permit in section 5.07.034.
(e) 
When a permit has been issued for the installation of any trunkline, pipeline, or water or gas repressurizing or injection facility, the permit shall constitute sufficient authority for the construction, operation, maintenance, and conversion of existing wells to injection wells and the repair and abandonment of the facility, and for all facilities reasonably necessary or convenient in connection therewith, including gathering lines, by the permittee and its employees, agents, and contractors.
(f) 
No permit required hereunder shall authorize the drilling of more than one well or the installation of more than one trunkline pipeline or more than one water or gas repressurizing or injection facility.
(1967 Code, sec. 21-4; Ordinance 252 adopted –/–/–; Ordinance 88-510 adopted 10/11/88; 1994 Code, sec. 118.16)
(a) 
Every application for a permit required hereunder to drill a well or to install a water or gas repressurizing or injection facility, or trunkline pipeline, shall be in writing, signed by the applicant or some person duly authorized to sign on his or her behalf, and it shall be filed with the city secretary. In case a permit is requested for the purpose of drilling a well or re-entering to rework or drill to a deeper formation, the application shall be accompanied by a filing fee in the amount set forth in the fee schedule in appendix A of this code, in cash, cashier’s check, or certified check, made payable to the city.
(b) 
A separate application shall be required for each trunkline pipeline, well, and each water or gas repressurizing or injection facility.
(c) 
The application shall include full information, including the following:
(1) 
The date of the application;
(2) 
The name of the applicant;
(3) 
The address of the applicant;
(4) 
The proposed site of the trunkline pipeline, the well (including proposed location of gathering lines), or water or gas repressurizing or injection facility, including:
(A) 
Name of the lease owner;
(B) 
Accurate description of the land; and
(C) 
Location with respect to property lines, right-of-way boundaries, and the grades;
(5) 
Type of derrick and drilling equipment (if any) to be used;
(6) 
The proposed depth of the well;
(7) 
Detailed explanation of operating pressures of all pipelines and facilities;
(8) 
Location of compressor, compressor control, or safety devices with explanation of operating characteristics of each;
(9) 
If the proposed well, water, or repressurizing or injection facility or trunkline pipeline is to involve H2S gas, the application shall include details and specifications of the safety provisions and equipment to be utilized;
(10) 
The name of the person or persons to be notified in case of an emergency;
(11) 
If any pipeline connection with the well is to have pressures in excess of 260 psi, the application shall include details and specifications of the safety provisions and equipment;
(12) 
Proposed hole size, casing program, and cementing program; and
(13) 
Attached copy of the approved railroad commission formal permit to drill.
(d) 
The application shall be insufficient if the data contained therein fails to set forth the information and details as to reasonably assure the city council that all provisions of this article have been complied with and that the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the city will not be endangered by the construction or drilling of the proposed facility or well.
(1967 Code, sec. 21-5; Ordinance 252 adopted –/–/–; Ordinance 88-510 adopted 10/11/88; 1994 Code, sec. 118.17; Ordinance adopting 2021 Code)
(a) 
The city council, within 20 days after the filing of the application for a permit to drill a well, trunkline pipeline, or a permit to install water, flooding, gas injection, or any primary or secondary recovery system for the production of oil, gas, and liquid hydrocarbons, brine water, and sulphur water shall determine, after a public hearing, whether or not the application complies in all respects with the provisions of this article and whether it should be approved, and if it does and is approved, the city council shall issue the permit and then fix the amount of the principal of the bond and insurance provided for herein.
(b) 
Each permit shall:
(1) 
By reference have incorporated therein all the provisions of this article with the same force and effect as if this article were copied verbatim in the permit;
(2) 
Specify the location of the proposed well, injection facility, or trunkline pipeline with particularity to lot number, block number, name of addition or subdivision, section line, or other available correct legal description;
(3) 
Contain and specify that the term of the permit shall be for a period of one year from the date of the permit and so long thereafter as oil and gas are produced or until the time as the permittee has permanently abandoned the operation of the well or facility for which the permit was issued;
(4) 
Contain and specify such other terms and provisions as may be necessary in the particular case to accomplish the purpose of this article and to insure and preserve the safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the city;
(5) 
Contain and specify the details and specifications of the safety provisions and equipment to be utilized when the proposed well, water, or gas repressurizing or injection facility or trunkline pipeline is to involve H2S gas;
(6) 
Specify the hole size, casing program, cementing program, and total depth to which the well, if any, will be drilled; and
(7) 
Contain and specify that no actual operations shall be commenced until the permittee shall file and have approved an indemnity bond in the designated principal amount as so determined by the city council or has complied with the bond and insurance provisions of this article.
(c) 
The permit, in triplicate originals, shall be signed by the city secretary and prior to delivery to the permittee shall be signed by the permittee, with one original to be retained by the city and the others by the permittee, and when so signed, it shall constitute the permittee’s drilling and installation license, as well as the contractual obligation of the permittee to comply with the terms of the permit, the bond, and this article.
(d) 
If the permit be refused, or if the applicant notifies the city council in writing that he or she does not elect to accept the permit as tendered and wishes to withdraw the application, or if the bond of the applicant be not approved or if the applicant notifies the city council in writing that he or she wishes to withdraw the application, then upon the happening of any such event the cash deposit provided for to be filed with the application to drill a well shall be returned to the applicant, except as shall be retained therefrom by the city $500.00 as a processing fee.
(1967 Code, sec. 21-6; Ordinance 252 adopted –/–/–; Ordinance 88-510 adopted 10/11/88; 1994 Code, sec. 118.18)
In the event of a failure of a permittee to comply with any provision of this article, the oil and gas inspector shall issue in writing a notice to the permittee of the nature of the noncompliance and stating a reasonable time necessary to gain compliance. After lapse of the reasonable time, if compliance has not been made, the city council may suspend the permit for a period of time or cancel the permit.
(1967 Code, sec. 21-7; Ordinance 252 adopted –/–/–; Ordinance 88-510 adopted 10/11/88; 1994 Code, sec. 118.19)
As to all wells and pipelines and water or repressurizing or injection facilities and such other facilities as may be covered by this article, existing within the corporate limits of the city prior to April 1, 1966, and which are in existence at the time the land upon which the same are situated is annexed to the city, no permit or filing fee shall be required, but the oil and gas inspector shall inspect such facilities, and if satisfied that they conform to standards and practices generally recognized, observed, and followed by the oil and gas industry and can be operated in such a manner to insure public safety, shall issue a certificate in writing that the wells or facilities conform to the requirements hereof; provided, however, that the operator of the existing well or facilities shall comply with the bond and insurance provisions hereof.
(1967 Code, sec. 21-8; Ordinance 252 adopted –/–/–; Ordinance 88-510 adopted 10/11/88; 1994 Code, sec. 118.20)