Severance/Seal Orders

Severance/Seal Orders

Among the Commission's other enforcement methods, the Oil & Gas Division has the authority to cancel an operator's Certificate of Compliance and order that production be shut in at the lease or well level for noncompliance with Commission rules, effectively blocking that operator's ability to sell oil and gas from a lease. Before the operator can resume production, it must correct the violation and pay a statutory fee for restoration of the Certificate of Compliance.

Data as of 08/31/14

Definition List
Fiscal Year (Sept. 1 - Aug. 31)Notices IssuedResolved without Severance/Seal OrderResolved after Severance/Seal OrderUnresolved NoticesSeverance Fee RevenueSeverance/Seal Orders issued by Fiscal Year
2004 23,468 14,716 62.7% 8,081 34.4% 671 2.9% $933,100.00 8,606
2005 18,929 11,610 61.3% 6,813 36.0% 506 2.7% $850,400.00 7,446
2006 20,080 11,469 57.1% 7,585 37.8% 1,026 5.1% $1,157,575.00 8,820
2007 17,120 10,204 59.6% 6,356 37.1% 560 3.3% $952,520.00 6,782
2008 31,680 20,056 63.3% 9,926 31.3% 1,698 5.4% $1,486,800.00 11,102
2009 27,656 17,496 63.3% 9,148 33.1% 1,012 3.7% $1,364,027.00 10,622
2010 24,583 15,513 63.1% 7,919 32.2% 1,151 4.7% $1,147,375.00 9,077
2011 31,667 20,084 63.4% 10,130 32.0% 1,453 4.6% $1,261,625.00 11,218
2012 24,083 15,446 64.1% 7,320 30.4% 1,317 5.5% $1,937,670.00 8,980
2013 32,289 19,905 61.6% 9,618 29.8% 2,766 8.6% $3,058,625.00 11,525
10-Yr Average 25,156 15,650 62.2% 8,290 33.0% 1,216 4.8% $1,414,971.70 9,418
 
2014 29,978 19,089 63.7% 6,580 21.9% 4,309 14.4% $3,102,775.00 11,541
 
For the 10-year period 2004-2013, 95.2% of violations managed through this process have been resolved.  62.2% of violations were corrected by the operator promptly upon notice with no further action needed by the Commission; another 33.0% were resolved following issuance of a severance/seal order.  Compliance is verified by lease/well inspections in the case of field violations, or file review in the case of reporting violations.  Where the violation remains unresolved, the Commission will pursue the matter through other appropriate enforcement action.

Last Updated: 9/11/2014 9:23:51 AM