Part 1. Well licence application

Applications for well licences shall be made on Form 1. Exact reproductions of Form 1 are acceptable.

1.1 Application form 1

Applicants shall complete Form 1 in the following manner:

  1. all sections of the form shall be completed including the name of the drilling contractor (if known at the time of application) except for sections labelled for Ministry use; and
  2. all numerical data shall be submitted in the International System of Units (SI).

1.2 Incomplete applications

Incomplete applications will not be processed until missing information is provided. Missing information may be submitted:

  1. by fax to the Petroleum Operations Section, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry at 519-873-4645; or
  2. by editing electronically filed applications.

1.3 Application exhibits

All applications must be accompanied by:

  1. for wells located:
    1. on land, a well location plan that complies with section 1.9,
    2. in water covered areas, a well location plan that complies with section 1.9 that is submitted with Form 7;
  2. a drilling program that provides further details on the following:
    1. a geological prognosis of formation tops and expected oil, gas, water and loss of circulation zones and pressures;
    2. drilling rig type(s);
    3. the hole size, casing size, grade, weight for the entire length of the well;
    4. a well bore schematic diagram showing expected casing setting points, hole and casing size, how casing is set, water and hydrocarbon zones;
    5. contact personnel and phone numbers;
    6. drilling procedures described in sequence;
    7. casing and cementing procedures including cement type, additives, volumes and tops;
    8. sample, coring, logging, testing and surveying programs;
    9. casing and formation integrity testing procedures;
    10. drilling fluids;
    11. proposed alternatives or contingencies to accomplish isolation of the required formations should the general program fail where specific ground or drilling conditions create problems e.g. lost circulation zones, aquifers, or other unusual conditions;
  3. if the well is located in a unitized area, a map showing the unit area and unitized substances; and
  4. the well licence application fee.

1.4 Application fee

The application fee shall be in the form of a money order, cash, cheque or pre-authorized debit from an account or credit card, or credit or debit card payable to the Minister of Finance, and submitted with the well licence application.

1.5 Off-target location

Where an operator wishes to drill a well in an off-target location, the operator shall present to the Ministry at the time of application the geological or topographic reasons that explain why it is unfeasible to drill the well within the target area.

1.6 Send to

Applications shall be submitted to Petroleum Operations Section, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 659 Exeter Road, London, Ontario N6E 1L3, or by email to: posrecords@ontario.ca.

Note: Prior to applying for a well licence the operator shall establish security for the proposed well in accordance with Ontario Regulation 245/97 and provide information on such security on Form 1 "Application for a Well Licence".

1.7 Posting well licences

The operator shall post a copy of the well licence at the well site during all well drilling, workover or service operations involving a drilling or service rig.

1.8 Well names

The operator shall:

  1. limit the length of the well name to 30 characters including spaces;
  2. always reference the well licence number and original well name in any correspondence with the Ministry regarding the well;
  3. not change the name of the well without Ministry approval; and
  4. in the case of problem or dispute over the well name, use the well name established by the Ministry

1.9 Well location plan

The operator shall submit a well location plan that meets or exceeds the quality shown in Figure 1 as part of the application for a well licence. The plan shall be a scaled drawing showing:

  1. the exact surface coordinates of the well taken from two intersecting township lot boundaries where the North-South coordinates are to be determined first, and then the East-West coordinates taken perpendicular to the direction of the North-South measurement;
  2. the angle between the directions used to determine North-South and East-West coordinates in subsection (a);
  3. the ground elevation of the well site above mean sea level;
  4. a clearly drawn North arrow;
  5. the well name and location (onshore: geographic township, tract, lot and concession; offshore: lake, block and tract);
  6. all dwellings, agricultural, commercial or industrial buildings, schools, churches, places of public assembly, high voltage power lines, road allowances, transmission pipelines or other occupied utility right of ways, rivers, streams or shorelines, including labeling, that are located within 100 metres of the well site;
  7. the well’s location and the spacing unit required for the well with its target area and the location of the spacing unit within the township lot(s). (Note: Where a well’s location is off-target, the plan shall indicate the spacing unit necessary for the well by combining the affected tracts, spacing units or unit areas as the case may be.);
  8. the geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) of the:
    1. surface location of the well, and
    2. bottomhole location of the well for deviated, horizontal and lateral wells; and
  9. the name of the person who prepared the plan and the date the plan was prepared.

1.9.1 Units, reporting and datum

Measurements used to prepare the well location plan shall:

  1. be presented in the International System of Units (SI units);
  2. use geographic coordinates (north latitude and west longitude) based on the North American Datum 83 (NAD 83) measured and reported to the nearest 100th of a second
  3. be accurate to the nearest 10th of a metre for linear measurements;
  4. be accurate to the nearest minute for angular measurements;
  5. be surveyed from a vertical benchmark referenced to Geodetic Surveys of Canada based on NAD 83 for ground elevation measurements and be accurate to the nearest 10th of a metre; and
  6. where the well is located in a water covered area, the location shall be verified with the drilling rig on location.

1.9.2 Deviated and Horizontal Well Location Plans

Operators proposing a horizontal or deviated well shall submit:

  1. added to the plan view as required by this section, the proposed well bore trace, bottom hole latitude and longitude location of the well bore, and the location at which the well bore enters the target formation;
  2. a cross sectional plan showing the;
    1. target geological formation as anticipated by the geological prognosis,
    2. direction of the deviated or horizontal well bore,
    3. kick-off point of the well bore, and
    4. the point(s) of intersection between the well bore and spacing unit target area(s).

1.9.3 Well Bore Surveys

Operators shall conduct deviation and directional surveys on all deviated, horizontal and lateral wells:

  1. at deviation tests intervals not exceeding 150 metres from the surface casing flange top to the total depth of the well during drilling;
  2. that are accurate to ±1% of the well depth; and
  3. submit to the Ministry, the results of the survey including the latitude and longitude of the bottomhole location of the well bore and a final cross section plan and plan view of the well bore, as described in section 1.9.2., using the actual survey data within 30 days of the well’s TD date.