Oil and gas: drilling: indemnity bonds: wells.

(1) Existing law requires an operator of an oil or gas well, or a well located on submerged lands under ocean waters, who engages in the drilling, redrilling, deepening, or in any operation altering the casing, of any well to file with the State Oil and Gas Supervisor an indemnity bond in an amount based on the depth of the well or a blanket indemnity bond in a specified amount, but permits the operator, with the approval of the supervisor, to make certain deposits in lieu of the bond. This bill would instead require the amount of the indemnity bond to be $25,000 for each well that is less than 10,000 feet deep, and $40,000 for each well that is 10,000 or more feet deep. The bill would also require the bond to be filed with the supervisor at the time of the filing of the notice of intention to perform work on a well, as specified. The bill would authorize an operator operating 20 or more wells at any time to file a blanket indemnity bond to cover the operation of all the operator's wells, in lieu of an individual indemnity bond for each well, in an amount of $400,000, which would not include bonds or fees required for idled wells, $200,000, for an operator having 50 or fewer wells in the state, which would not include bonds or fees required for idled wells, or $2,000,000, which would include bonds or fees required for idled wells. The bill would increase the amount of the blanket indemnity bond required to be filed by an operator operating one or more wells located on submerged lands under ocean waters to $1,000,000. (2) Existing law requires any person who engages in the operation of a class II commercial wastewater disposal well to file an indemnity bond with the supervisor for $50,000. This bill would raise the amount of the required bond to $100,000.