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Acknowledged, Ann. Yes, that agrees with the situation I believed right along existed in Wells. Jackson Township, right next door? I dunno.

FWIW, I have never understood Talisman's use of the term "plugged".  I do not know what that term connotes.  My best guess, though, is "plugged" means no further development is ongoing.  But I do not equate "plugged" with "abandoned".  I think, instead, "plugged" just means "on hold".  But that's all guesswork on my part.

In basic terms, a plugged well is one that's been filled with cement. You can always redrill a plugged well, but it's very unusual. Plugged wells don't have to be inspected, bonded or anything, and they don't hold a lease. A plugged well is the end of the road.

Jack, thanks.  It's very good of you to post.  Your interpretation of "plugged" was always mine, as well.  We have really old wells nearby to where I live which are plugged.  They are dead wells and dead issues.

But Ann was quite specific in her post that she was referring to use of the term "plugged" by Talisman.  I actually have a personal interest in four such wells, the progress of which I follow via personal contact with the principal (the landowner).  I know those four wells are, in effect, on hold.  I might describe them as "stillborn" in the sense they never went to completion, and into production, owing to current horrid market conditions for natural gas.  I do anticipate those wells to come on-line some day, when (if) the market improves,

Regardless, why Talisman chooses to use the term "plugged" for such wells is beyond my ken.  It thoroughly confused me right from the first time I saw that term being employed, perhaps a year or two ago.

See my "explanation" of the two types of well plugging back a few replies.  It wasn't too long after the impact fee went into effect that the number of plugged wells increased significantly.  It does not mean that a well is "bad". 

I know this is maybe off-topic but on the production reports there are a lot of non-producing wells with a SPUD date listed - but some of the wells listed with a SPUD date ,I am fairly sure, were never drilled. So what does SPUD date mean? There are wells listed with SPUD dates from years ago and on at least a couple that I noticed there has never been a unit declared on the sites.

The DEP SPUD date is when the "conductor pipe" is set.  The conductor pipe is larger diameter than casing pipe and a section is set prior to drilling the well.  (It helps center the pipe, protects it, etc.) 

There was a flap about this because some operators set the conductor when the pad was prepared ... which could be well before the actual drilling started.  

I have posted this before but it looks like SWEPI is going to do a few TBR wells this year in Tioga County. They are working on at least one as of the past couple of weeks. I also noticed that many other permits were denied in the past couple of weeks. I have never seen so many denied but maybe that is common and I did not notice because of their location. Many were applied for in Dec 2014. I saw another today - for the Vandergrift 290 site but I am unsure what the permit was for exactly. It was a "Expedited E&S Stormwater General Permit" - is that a general site permit?

Erosion & Sediment Permit.  Usually an early permit required prior to preparing for pipeline, well pad, etc. 

 

Ann - Thank you so much for both replies!

If that's what Talisman is doing, it's pretty strange. It's hard to believe you could trick the State and avoid a fee by claiming a well is plugged that isn't. That word has a well-defined legal meaning in PA, and this is about as sensible as telling the IRS a person is "dead" to avoid them having to file an income tax return! But if Talisman thinks they can get away with it, who am I to argue?

More than any reasonable person would want to know about "temporary plugging":

"INACTIVE STATUS - § 78.101. General provisions."
 Upon application, the Department will grant inactive status for 5 years for a permitted or registered well if the application meets the requirements of section 204 of the act (58 P. S. §  601.204) and § §  78.102—78.105. ..."

http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/025/chapter78/s78.101.html

Now I'm completely mystified what you're trying to say. Inactive status has been around for years, and it's got nothing to do with plugging. (Wells are either active, inactive or plugged.) Check the rest of the PA Code, particularly section 78.91 which deals with plugging - the term "temporary plugging" does not exist in the PA Code or the gas industry. There is no such type of well.  

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