S-34.1, r. 2 - Regulation respecting petroleum exploration, production and storage on land

Section 2 Disposition versions

2018-09-20

2. In this Regulation,

“activity site” means a zone grouping one or more wellbores and the land laid out in the immediate vicinity to receive the equipment and infrastructures necessary for the operations carried out in the wellbores or, in the case of a survey, the zone corresponding to the perimeter of the area of the survey; (site des activités)

“annular space” means a space in the shape of a ring between the outside of a casing and the wall of the wellbore or between two casing walls inserted one inside the other; (espace annulaire)

“bank” means sloping land, of a height equal to or greater than 4 m, having at least 1 segment with a slope whose gradient is greater than 14° (25%) over a height of 4 m; the top and base of the bank are determined by a segment with a slope whose gradient is less than 8° (14%) over a horizontal distance greater than 15 m; (talus)

“blowout preventer” means all the valves and devices located at the top of a well used to control formation fluid and block and monitor the well during the various activities; (bloc obturateur de puits)

“blowout prevention system” means all the control equipment of a well including in particular a blowout preventer, an accumulator and a pipe network allowing the safe flow of fluids during activities in a well; (système anti-éruption)

“casing head” means the top part of a wellbore that forms the interface between its buried part and the ground surface; (collet)

“casing shoe” means an annular part, generally filled with cement, attached to the bottom of a casing string that allows to guide the casing string; (sabot de tubage)

“casing string” means the entire casing of a wellbore composed of a number of tubing sections generally linked by threaded connections; (colonne de tubage)

“completion” means all the work carried out in a well or a section of well to allow its start up once the drilling activities are completed, excluding fracturing; (complétion)

“conductor casing” means the first casing installed at the time of the construction of a wellbore to prevent the collapse of unconsolidated formations near the surface; (tubage conducteur)

“directional well” means a well whose orientation and slope are controlled using dedicated equipment and techniques; (puits directionnel)

“diverter” means a device that ensures a safe flow of fluids resulting from a shallow blowout or kick and that may be used where the conductor casing is installed; (déflecteur)

“drilling fluid” means the mud circulating in the drill rod and coming up in the annular space during drilling to discharge cuttings, cool and lubricate the bit and maintain the desired pressure in the wellbore; (fluide de forage)

“drilling rig” means the equipment used to drill a well which includes in particular a derrick, a winch, a rotary table, a drilling fluid pump, a blowout prevention system, and power, control and monitoring systems; (appareil de forage)

“drill-stem test” means an operation for collecting samples of fluids contained in rock to determine flow characteristics and measure reservoir pressures using drill stems as flow pipe in the wellbore and dedicated equipment; (essai aux tiges)

“flow-back water” means water produced by petroleum exploration and production activities that comes up to the surface of the wellbore; (eau de reflux)

“formation fluid” means a fluid in a natural state present in the pores, fractures, faults, caves or other porosities of the formation; (fluide de formation)

“fracturing test” means a procedure carried out before fracturing, which involves the injection of a fluid and allows to anticipate in particular the length of fractures, the reaction of geological units to fracturing and the confinement potential of the fracturing fluids by the geological feature and the fracturing pressure of rocks associated to a reservoir; (essai de fracturation)

“gas migration” means the emanation of gas detectable on the surface, outside the farthest casing string; (migration de gaz)

“horizontal well” means a well whose wellbore angle, from vertical, exceeds 80°, including a section extended in the reservoir; (puits horizontal)

“injection well” means a well used to inject fluids into an underground formation; (puits d’injection)

“injectivity test” means a procedure used to determine the flow and pressure at which fluids may be pumped into a zone without fracturing the formation; (essai d’injectivité)

“integrity” means, in the case of a wellbore, the condition that ensures containment and prevention of a blowout or migration of fluids in the underground or surface formations with the use of technical and operational solutions; (intégrité)

“intermediate casing” means a casing string generally installed after the surface casing and before the production casing, that offers protection against cavities and abnormal pressures of the formations traversed and that allows the use of drilling fluids of various densities necessary to control previous formations; (tubage intermédiaire)

“measured depth” means the length of travel of the wellbore; (profondeur mesurée)

“miss-fire” means any portion or remainder of a shotpoint containing explosives that have not completely detonated following blasting operations; (raté)

“observation well” means a well that is not in production and that is used to monitor the conditions of one or more geological formations, to determine the decline characteristics of a reservoir or to monitor the other wells of a reservoir, except an observation well for groundwater within the meaning of the Water Withdrawal and Protection Regulation (chapter Q-2, r. 35.2); (puits d’observation)

“packer” means an expendable device used to close a wellbore or isolate an annular space that allows a controlled production, injection or treatment; (garniture d’étanchéité)

“petroleum enhanced recovery” means any petroleum recovery using methods for holding the pressure of the pool, in particular by injecting fluids; (récupération assistée d’hydrocarbures)

“production casing” means a casing installed to isolate the production zones and provide a duct through which the well is completed and operated; (tubage de production)

“production tubing” means a steel tube placed inside casings used as a duct through which fluids are routed from the production zones to the surface or, in the case of an injection well, from the surface to the production zones; (tube de production)

“protective barrier” means a mechanism installed in a well constituted of one or more components that, collectively, are designed and installed to contain and isolate fluids inside a well; (barrière de protection);

“reconditioning” means major maintenance work or corrective activities on a well to modify it that require the use of a reconditioning device or other service rig; (reconditionnement)

“re-entry” means the new drilling in a well already drilled and for which the drilling rig has been released; (réentrée);

“separating fluid” means any liquid used to physically separate a liquid or a specific use component from another; (fluide de séparation)

“shale” means a non-metamorphic geological unit consisting of sedimentary rocks with a grain size less than 0.0625 mm and consisting of at least 20% of clay minerals and less than 65% of carbonates, such as Utica Shale; (schiste)

“spacer fluid” means fluid designed to clean the wellbore and separate the drilling fluids from the cement flurry; (fluide de chasse)

“surface casing” means a casing in a competent formation after the installation of the conductor casing to provide structural support for placing a diverter or a blowout prevention system and for the subsequent casing strings, prevent the walls from collapsing and protect against underground water contamination; (tubage de surface)

“surface casing vent flow” means the flow of fluids from the annular space between the surface casing and the internal casing; (émanation à l’évent du tubage de surface)

“surface improvement work for sporting or recreational purposes” means a bicycle or cross-country ski trail, a snowmobile trail, a downhill skiing centre, a golf course, a baseball or soccer field, or any other facility of that type intended for sporting or recreational purposes; (ouvrage d’amélioration de la surface à des fins sportives ou récréatives)

“temporary interruption” means the interruption of work for a short period between 2 activities or 2 operations; (interruption provisoire)

“true vertical depth” means the vertical distance from a point in the wellbore to a reference point on the surface, generally the drive bushing; (profondeur verticale réelle)

“usable groundwater” means groundwater whose total concentration in dissolved solids is less than 4,000 mg/l; (eau souterraine exploitable)

“well log” means measurement or recording based on the depth of a characteristic of a geological formation carried out from a wellbore; (diagraphie)

“wellbore” means a well or a stratigraphic survey, including the open part; (trou de forage)

“wellhead” means the surface end of a well including elements to hang casings during the construction phase and a means to install production tubing and place valves and surface flow and pressure control installations in preparation for the well production phase; (tête de puits)

“wellhead value” means the average retail sale price of the substance extracted, excluding all taxes and less the average transportation costs from the well to the places of delivery, measuring costs and, if applicable, purification costs. (valeur au puits)

O.C. 1252-2018, s. 2.

Not in force

In force: 2018-09-20

2. In this Regulation,

“activity site” means a zone grouping one or more wellbores and the land laid out in the immediate vicinity to receive the equipment and infrastructures necessary for the operations carried out in the wellbores or, in the case of a survey, the zone corresponding to the perimeter of the area of the survey; (site des activités)

“annular space” means a space in the shape of a ring between the outside of a casing and the wall of the wellbore or between two casing walls inserted one inside the other; (espace annulaire)

“bank” means sloping land, of a height equal to or greater than 4 m, having at least 1 segment with a slope whose gradient is greater than 14° (25%) over a height of 4 m; the top and base of the bank are determined by a segment with a slope whose gradient is less than 8° (14%) over a horizontal distance greater than 15 m; (talus)

“blowout preventer” means all the valves and devices located at the top of a well used to control formation fluid and block and monitor the well during the various activities; (bloc obturateur de puits)

“blowout prevention system” means all the control equipment of a well including in particular a blowout preventer, an accumulator and a pipe network allowing the safe flow of fluids during activities in a well; (système anti-éruption)

“casing head” means the top part of a wellbore that forms the interface between its buried part and the ground surface; (collet)

“casing shoe” means an annular part, generally filled with cement, attached to the bottom of a casing string that allows to guide the casing string; (sabot de tubage)

“casing string” means the entire casing of a wellbore composed of a number of tubing sections generally linked by threaded connections; (colonne de tubage)

“completion” means all the work carried out in a well or a section of well to allow its start up once the drilling activities are completed, excluding fracturing; (complétion)

“conductor casing” means the first casing installed at the time of the construction of a wellbore to prevent the collapse of unconsolidated formations near the surface; (tubage conducteur)

“directional well” means a well whose orientation and slope are controlled using dedicated equipment and techniques; (puits directionnel)

“diverter” means a device that ensures a safe flow of fluids resulting from a shallow blowout or kick and that may be used where the conductor casing is installed; (déflecteur)

“drilling fluid” means the mud circulating in the drill rod and coming up in the annular space during drilling to discharge cuttings, cool and lubricate the bit and maintain the desired pressure in the wellbore; (fluide de forage)

“drilling rig” means the equipment used to drill a well which includes in particular a derrick, a winch, a rotary table, a drilling fluid pump, a blowout prevention system, and power, control and monitoring systems; (appareil de forage)

“drill-stem test” means an operation for collecting samples of fluids contained in rock to determine flow characteristics and measure reservoir pressures using drill stems as flow pipe in the wellbore and dedicated equipment; (essai aux tiges)

“flow-back water” means water produced by petroleum exploration and production activities that comes up to the surface of the wellbore; (eau de reflux)

“formation fluid” means a fluid in a natural state present in the pores, fractures, faults, caves or other porosities of the formation; (fluide de formation)

“fracturing test” means a procedure carried out before fracturing, which involves the injection of a fluid and allows to anticipate in particular the length of fractures, the reaction of geological units to fracturing and the confinement potential of the fracturing fluids by the geological feature and the fracturing pressure of rocks associated to a reservoir; (essai de fracturation)

“gas migration” means the emanation of gas detectable on the surface, outside the farthest casing string; (migration de gaz)

“horizontal well” means a well whose wellbore angle, from vertical, exceeds 80°, including a section extended in the reservoir; (puits horizontal)

“injection well” means a well used to inject fluids into an underground formation; (puits d’injection)

“injectivity test” means a procedure used to determine the flow and pressure at which fluids may be pumped into a zone without fracturing the formation; (essai d’injectivité)

“integrity” means, in the case of a wellbore, the condition that ensures containment and prevention of a blowout or migration of fluids in the underground or surface formations with the use of technical and operational solutions; (intégrité)

“intermediate casing” means a casing string generally installed after the surface casing and before the production casing, that offers protection against cavities and abnormal pressures of the formations traversed and that allows the use of drilling fluids of various densities necessary to control previous formations; (tubage intermédiaire)

“measured depth” means the length of travel of the wellbore; (profondeur mesurée)

“miss-fire” means any portion or remainder of a shotpoint containing explosives that have not completely detonated following blasting operations; (raté)

“observation well” means a well that is not in production and that is used to monitor the conditions of one or more geological formations, to determine the decline characteristics of a reservoir or to monitor the other wells of a reservoir, except an observation well for groundwater within the meaning of the Water Withdrawal and Protection Regulation (chapter Q-2, r. 35.2); (puits d’observation)

“packer” means an expendable device used to close a wellbore or isolate an annular space that allows a controlled production, injection or treatment; (garniture d’étanchéité)

“petroleum enhanced recovery” means any petroleum recovery using methods for holding the pressure of the pool, in particular by injecting fluids; (récupération assistée d’hydrocarbures)

“production casing” means a casing installed to isolate the production zones and provide a duct through which the well is completed and operated; (tubage de production)

“production tubing” means a steel tube placed inside casings used as a duct through which fluids are routed from the production zones to the surface or, in the case of an injection well, from the surface to the production zones; (tube de production)

“protective barrier” means a mechanism installed in a well constituted of one or more components that, collectively, are designed and installed to contain and isolate fluids inside a well; (barrière de protection);

“reconditioning” means major maintenance work or corrective activities on a well to modify it that require the use of a reconditioning device or other service rig; (reconditionnement)

“re-entry” means the new drilling in a well already drilled and for which the drilling rig has been released; (réentrée);

“separating fluid” means any liquid used to physically separate a liquid or a specific use component from another; (fluide de séparation)

“shale” means a non-metamorphic geological unit consisting of sedimentary rocks with a grain size less than 0.0625 mm and consisting of at least 20% of clay minerals and less than 65% of carbonates, such as Utica Shale; (schiste)

“spacer fluid” means fluid designed to clean the wellbore and separate the drilling fluids from the cement flurry; (fluide de chasse)

“surface casing” means a casing in a competent formation after the installation of the conductor casing to provide structural support for placing a diverter or a blowout prevention system and for the subsequent casing strings, prevent the walls from collapsing and protect against underground water contamination; (tubage de surface)

“surface casing vent flow” means the flow of fluids from the annular space between the surface casing and the internal casing; (émanation à l’évent du tubage de surface)

“surface improvement work for sporting or recreational purposes” means a bicycle or cross-country ski trail, a snowmobile trail, a downhill skiing centre, a golf course, a baseball or soccer field, or any other facility of that type intended for sporting or recreational purposes; (ouvrage d’amélioration de la surface à des fins sportives ou récréatives)

“temporary interruption” means the interruption of work for a short period between 2 activities or 2 operations; (interruption provisoire)

“true vertical depth” means the vertical distance from a point in the wellbore to a reference point on the surface, generally the drive bushing; (profondeur verticale réelle)

“usable groundwater” means groundwater whose total concentration in dissolved solids is less than 4,000 mg/l; (eau souterraine exploitable)

“well log” means measurement or recording based on the depth of a characteristic of a geological formation carried out from a wellbore; (diagraphie)

“wellbore” means a well or a stratigraphic survey, including the open part; (trou de forage)

“wellhead” means the surface end of a well including elements to hang casings during the construction phase and a means to install production tubing and place valves and surface flow and pressure control installations in preparation for the well production phase; (tête de puits)

“wellhead value” means the average retail sale price of the substance extracted, excluding all taxes and less the average transportation costs from the well to the places of delivery, measuring costs and, if applicable, purification costs. (valeur au puits)

O.C. 1252-2018, s. 2.