Section 240.430  Drilling Unit Exceptions

a)         In the case of irregular sections containing more or less than six hundred forty (640) acres, in those areas where the United States Government has not made an official survey, in areas covered by the old French Surveys and Grants, in meandered lands, in government lots, and in subdivisions thereof where the acreage in quarter-quarter-quarter sections and quarter-quarter sections do not conform to the requirements of Section 240.410, the Department shall establish drilling units for wells such that drilling units will not cause a greater well density than would be encountered in regular official surveys  relative to the distance between wells and the external drilling unit boundary lines specified in Section 240.410.

b)         If the proposed oil wells will be part of an enhanced oil recovery project, spacing requirements for oil or gas production wells are as follows:

1)         Except as provided in subsection (2) below, the drilling unit and well location requirements of Section 240.410 do not apply to an oil well which is part of an enhanced oil recovery project.  For purposes of this subpart, an enhanced oil recovery project is a lease, or a unit composed of a group of leases operating under an agreement which provides for the sharing of production by all of the owners within the unit, which has one or more enhanced oil recovery injection wells permitted and in operation at the time an application for a permit to drill and operate an oil well is filed.  The enhanced oil recovery injection wells in operation must be injecting into the reservoir which will be produced in order for the project to classify as an enhanced oil recovery project.

2)         Oil wells permitted and drilled in accordance with this section must be located no less than 330 feet of the nearest lease boundary line or unit boundary except that, if at the time of application a lease immediately adjacent to the proposed well has producing wells located less than 330 feet from the common boundary line, then the proposed well may be located at a distance closer than 330 feet, but no closer than the distance to the common boundary line of the immediately offsetting well.

(Source:  Amended at 19 Ill. Reg. 10981, effective July 14, 1995)