Permit requirements - Storage in saline reservoir or aquifer
N.D. Cent. Code § 38-25-06
in effect38-25-06. Permit requirements - Storage in saline reservoir or aquifer
Before issuing a permit for storage in a saline reservoir or aquifer, the commission shall find:
1. The storage operator has or will obtain the consent by lease, purchase, or other
agreement from all surface owners where surface disturbance activities are necessary
and surface facilities will be located.
2. The storage operator has complied with all requirements set by the commission.
3. The storage facility is suitable and feasible for the injection, storage, and withdrawal of
oil or gas.
4. The storage operator has made a good-faith effort to obtain the consent of all persons
that own the storage reservoir's pore space.
5. The storage operator has obtained the consent of persons that own at least sixty
percent of the storage reservoir's pore space.
6. The proposed storage facility will not affect adversely surface waters or formations
containing fresh water.
7. The injected oil or gas will not escape from the storage reservoir.
8. The storage facility will not endanger health or unduly endanger the environment.
9. The storage facility is in the public interest.
10. The vertical boundaries of the storage reservoir are defined to include any necessary
or reasonable buffer zones for the purpose of ensuring the safe operations of the
storage facility and to protect the storage facility against pollution, invasion, and
escape or migration of oil or gas therefrom.
11. The horizontal extent of the injected gas within the storage reservoir, as estimated by
reasonable means and confirmed through appropriate monitoring methods, are
defined to include any necessary or reasonable buffer zones for the purpose of
ensuring the safe operations of the storage facility and to protect the storage facility
against pollution, invasion, and escape or migration of oil or gas therefrom.
12. The storage operator will establish monitoring facilities and protocols to assess the
location and migration of oil and gas, if any, injected for storage and to ensure
compliance with all permit, statutory, and administrative requirements.
13. The method of underground storage is reasonably necessary to effectively carry on the
joint effort, will prevent waste, protect correlative rights of the mineral and surface
estate, and, with reasonable probability, will result in the increased storage and
recovery of more oil and gas.
14. The time, conditions, and method by which the storage facility must be dissolved and
the facility's affairs wound up. A storage facility may be dissolved ten years after the
storage facility permit is issued upon a petition to the commission by the pore space
owners and mineral owners that are credited with at least the percentage of interest of
the pore space required to ratify the storage facility amalgamation agreement, and a
subsequent hearing and order by the commission.
15. All nonconsenting pore space owners are or will be compensated equitably.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c25.pdf#nameddest=38-25-06Fetched: 10/16/2026