§ 23-0503. Well spacing in oil and natural gas pools and fields.\n 1. Spacing orders are not required for wells drilled, deepened,\nplugged back or converted in oil fields or pools which were discovered,\ndeveloped and operated prior to January first, nineteen hundred\neighty-one. Spacing orders are not required for wells drilled, deepened,\nplugged back or converted in natural gas fields or pools, which were\ndiscovered, developed and operated prior to January first, nineteen\nhundred ninety-five and which are not being extended.\n 2. The department shall issue a permit to drill, deepen, plug back or\nconvert a well, if the proposed spacing unit submitted to the department\npursuant to paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 23-0501 of this\ntitle conforms to statewide spacing and is of approximately uniform\nshape with other spacing units within the same field or pool, and abuts\nother spacing units in the same pool, unless sufficient distance remains\nbetween units for another unit to be developed. Prior to issuing any\nsuch permit, the department shall publish a notice of intent to issue a\nwell permit in the environmental notice bulletin, which shall include\ninformation concerning the spacing unit associated with the well.\n 3. a. If the proposed spacing unit does not meet the requirements\ndescribed in subdivision two of this section, the department shall\ndetermine if the proposed spacing unit satisfies the policy objectives\nof section 23-0301 of this article.\n b. If the department determines the proposed spacing unit meets the\npolicy objectives of section 23-0301 of this article, the department\nshall issue a notice of intent to issue a permit and spacing order. The\nwell operator shall cause such notice to be published in a form and\nmanner prescribed by the department. If the notice of intent relates to\na proposed spacing unit that is not of a uniform size and shape with\nother spacing units for the field or pool, the department shall, if\nnecessary, make such adjustment of the allowable production from the\nwell to be drilled thereon so that the owners in the spacing unit\nreceive their just and equitable shares of the production from the pool.\nAny such adjustment of the allowables shall be included in the notice of\nintent to issue a permit and spacing order.\n c. Any comments regarding a notice of intent to issue a permit and\nspacing order must be received by the department within thirty days of\nthe date of the notice of intent and must meet the substantive and\nsignificant requirement for establishing an issue for adjudication. Any\nchallenge to a spacing unit must contain (i) a description and a map of\nthe proposed alternative spacing unit; (ii) a technical justification of\nthe proposed alternative spacing unit, which shall include a description\nand analysis of the scientific data intended by the owner to support its\nproposed spacing unit configuration; and (iii) the name, address and\nexperience of any expert witness proposed to support the proposed\nalternative spacing unit configuration. The department may request the\nowner challenging the spacing unit to present its scientific data to the\ndepartment.\n d. The department shall determine whether substantive and significant\nissues have been raised. If the department receives no comments or if\nthe comments do not raise a substantive and significant issue, the\ndepartment shall issue the permit and the final spacing order. If the\ndepartment determines that substantive and significant issues have been\nraised in a timely manner, the department shall schedule an adjudicatory\nhearing.\n 4. The department may issue permits to drill infill wells on a\nreasonably uniform pattern within the spacing unit after an integration\norder has been issued, if required, and only if it determines that\ndrilling infill wells is necessary to satisfy the policy objectives of\nsection 23-0301 of this article. The distances from the unit boundaries\nset forth i
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