---
kind: "section"
citation: "43 C.F.R. § 3179.91"
title: "43"
number: "3179.91"
heading: "Downhole well maintenance and liquids unloading."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/43/3179.91"
---

# §3179.91. Downhole well maintenance and liquids unloading.

- (a) Gas vented or flared during downhole well maintenance and well purging is royalty free for a period not to exceed 24 hours per event, provided that the requirements of [paragraphs (b) through (d)](#b..d) of this section are met. Gas vented or flared from a plunger lift system and/or an automated well control system is royalty free, provided the requirements of paragraphs [(b)](#b) and [(c)](#c) of this section are met.
- (b) The operator must minimize the loss of gas associated with downhole well maintenance and liquids unloading, consistent with safe operations.
- (c) For wells equipped with a plunger lift system and/or an automated well control system, minimizing gas loss under [paragraph (b)](#b) of this section includes optimizing the operation of the system to minimize gas losses to the extent possible, consistent with removing liquids that would inhibit proper function of the well.
- (d) For any liquids unloading by manual well purging, the operator must ensure that the person conducting the well purging remains present on-site throughout the unloading to end it as soon as practical, thereby minimizing any venting to the atmosphere.
- (e) For purposes of this section, “well purging” means blowing accumulated liquids out of a wellbore by reservoir pressure, whether manually or by an automatic control system that relies on real-time pressure or flow, timers, or other well data, where the gas is vented to the atmosphere. Well purging does not apply to wells equipped with a plunger lift system.

## Notes

### Source

Source: 89 FR 25426, Apr. 10, 2024, unless otherwise noted.

### Authority

Authority: 25 U.S.C. 396d and 2107; 30 U.S.C. 189, 306, 359, and 1751; and 43 U.S.C. 1732(b), 1733, and 1740.

### Source

Source: 81 FR 81421, Nov. 17, 2016, unless otherwise noted.