(A) This chapter shall apply to all lands however owned, including the submerged lands, both inland and offshore, tidelands and wetlands located within the jurisdictional limits of the State and any lands owned or administered by any government or any agency or political subdivision thereof, over which the State, under its police power has jurisdiction; and to that end the department is authorized to:
(1) Prevent waste of oil and gas, to protect correlative rights and to prevent pollution of the water, air and land by oil or gas, and otherwise to administer and enforce this chapter. It has jurisdiction over all persons and property necessary for that purpose. In the event of a conflict, the duty to prevent waste is paramount.
(2) Make such investigations as it deems proper to determine whether action by the department in discharging its duties is necessary.
(3) Hire personnel to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
(B) Without limiting its general authority, the department shall have specific authority:
(1) To require:
(a) identification of ownership of oil or gas wells, producing leases, tanks, plants, structures, and facilities for the transportation or refining of oil and gas;
(b) the preparing and filing of well logs and samples, directional surveys and reports on well location, drilling and production, provided, however, that the log and samples of an exploratory or wildcat well need not be filed before one year after the completion of the well and upon the filing of the log and samples of such well the department shall keep the log and samples and information contained therein confidential for one year from the date of filing if requested by the operator in writing to do so and the department may keep the log and samples and information contained therein confidential for an additional year at its discretion if the operator requests in writing that the department keep such log and samples and information confidential for an additional year.
(c) the drilling, casing, operation, and plugging of wells in such manner as to prevent (a) the escape of oil or gas out of one pool into another, (b) the detrimental intrusion of water into an oil or gas pool that is avoidable by efficient operations, (c) the pollution of fresh water supplies by oil, gas, or salt water, and (d) blowouts, cavings, seepages, and fire;
(d) the taking of tests of oil or gas wells;
(e) the furnishing by all persons who apply for a drilling permit a reasonable performance bond with good and sufficient surety with the State of South Carolina as beneficiary to indemnify the State from loss or expense resulting from such person's failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter or the rules, regulations or orders of the department including the duty to plug each dry or abandoned well and to repair each well causing waste or pollution if repair will prevent waste or pollution; a performance bond may cover more than one drilling operation of the same person provided that the amount of such performance bond is increased to cover the additional well each time an application for a drilling permit is submitted to the department by that person.
(f) that the production from wells be separated into gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons, and that each be measured by means and upon standards that may be prescribed by the department;
(g) that wells not be operated with inefficient gas-oil or water-oil ratios, to fix these ratios, and to limit production from wells with inefficient gas-oil or water-oil ratios;
(h) certificates of clearance in connection with the transportation or delivery of oil, gas, or product;
(i) the metering or other measuring of oil, gas, or product;
(j) that every person who produces, sells, purchases, acquires, stores, transports, refines, or processes oil or gas in this State keep and maintain complete and accurate records of the quantities thereof, which records shall be available for examination by the department or its agents at all reasonable times;
(k) the filing of reports or plats with the department that it may prescribe;
(l) permits for the onshore and offshore exploration of oil and gas both on public and private lands whether highlands, wetlands or submerged land;
(m) the placing of meters approved by the department which shall at all times be under the supervision and control of the department wherever the department may designate on all pipelines, gathering systems, barge terminals, loading racks, refineries, or other places deemed necessary to prevent the transportation of illegally produced oil and gas;
(n) payment of reasonable fees for all publications, materials, charts, services and similar items furnished to persons at their request;
(o) that all persons who desire to drill wells for oil or gas obtain a permit from the department prior to the commencement of any drilling operations;
(p) that all pipelines placed in the Atlantic Ocean, its harbors, bays and other bodies of water which are a part of the Atlantic Ocean to transport oil, gas, condensate or product that cross the lands and under waters that are within the territorial jurisdiction of the State of South Carolina be located under the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, its harbors, bays and other bodies of water which are a part of the Atlantic Ocean so that the pipelines will not interfere with navigation, fishing, shrimping, and other lawful recreational and commercial activities.
(2) To regulate:
(a) the drilling, testing, completing, stimulating, producing, reworking and plugging of wells, and all other operations associated with the production of oil and gas;
(b) the spacing or locating of wells;
(c) operations to increase ultimate recovery, such as cycling of gas, the maintenance of pressure, and the introduction of gas, water or other substances into a producing formation;
(d) the disposal of salt water and oil-field wastes;
(e) the exploration for oil or gas in the waters and on the lands that are within the jurisdictional limits of the State regardless of ownership;
(f) the transportation of oil and gas, as defined by this chapter and as distinguished by the definitions from product, from whatever source to gathering systems, refineries, and other storage and processing facilities which handle oil and gas;
(g) the commingling of oil and gas produced from wells having different owners or producers and to adopt such rules and regulations applicable to such commingling as may be necessary to protect the rights of the owners, producers and royalty owners of the wells from which the commingling oil or gas is produced.
(3) To limit the production of oil, gas, or condensate from any field, pool, area, lease, or well, and to allocate production.
(4) To classify and reclassify pools as oil, gas and condensate pools and to classify and reclassify wells as oil, gas or condensate wells.
(5) To promulgate, after hearing and notice as hereinafter provided, such rules and regulations, and issue such orders reasonably necessary to prevent waste and oil discharges from drilling and production platforms, pipelines, gathering systems, processing facilities, storage facilities, refineries, port facilities, tankers and other facilities and vessels that may be a source of oil spills and to protect correlative rights, to govern the practice and procedure before the board and to fulfill its duties and the purposes of this chapter.
(6) To regulate the exploration, drilling, production, and transportation of methane gas in and related to sanitary landfills. The department is authorized to exercise discretion in regulating such activities and may impose any requirement of this chapter as is necessary, in the opinion of the department, to prevent waste of oil and gas, to protect correlative rights and to prevent pollution of the water, air, and land by oil and gas. The department is further authorized to require any person applying for a drilling permit or otherwise producing methane gas in a sanitary landfill to comply with one of the following requirements for financial responsibility in an amount deemed sufficient by the department in its discretion in order to achieve the purpose specified in Section 48-43-30(A)(1):
(i) furnish a bond consistent with the requirements of Section 48-43-30(B)(1)(e); or
(ii) furnish proof of insurance with the State of South Carolina as beneficiary. Before the issuance of drilling permits for methane gas recovery from sanitary landfills, the department must certify that the proposed activity is consistent with the Department of Health and Environmental Control regulations governing the operation, monitoring, and maintenance of the landfills and applicable permit conditions.
HISTORY: 1977 Act No. 179, Part 1, Section 3; 1989 Act No. 162, Section 2; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1236.