As used in this act:

1. 1. “Commission” means the Corporation Commission of Oklahoma;
2. 2. “Person” means any individual, partnership, corporation or association of whatever character;
3. 3. “Brine common source of supply” means the area that is underlain, or which, from geological or other scientific data, or from drilling operations, or other evidence, appears to be underlain by a common accumulation of brine. If any area is underlain or appears from geologic or other scientific data, or from drilling operations, or from other evidence to be underlain by more than one common accumulation of brine separated from each other by a strata of earth and not connected with each other, then the area, as to each said common accumulation of brine, shall be deemed a separate brine common source of supply. In either circumstance of a brine production unit or produced water unit, brine may be produced from multiple common sources of supply from one or more oil and gas wells or one or more brine wells, which shall all be considered the common source of supply for purposes of this act. Brine common source of supply specifically does not include or mean “common source of supply” as that term is defined by Section 86.1 of Title 52 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
4. 4. “Brine” means subterranean saltwater and all of its constituent parts and chemical substances therein contained, including, but not limited to bromine, magnesium, potassium, lithium, boron, chlorine, iodine, calcium, strontium, sodium, sulphur, barium or other chemical substances produced with or separated from the saltwater, and prior to its extraction from the ground, is the property of the owner of the surface estate, as defined in paragraph 9 of Section 802 of Title 52 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Gas, whether found in solution or otherwise, shall not be included within the meaning of the term “brine”;
5. 5. “Brine owner” means any person entitled to share in the proceeds from the sale of brine production or produced water, or the constituent elements or reclaimed water which are recovered from the brine production or produced water, or the effluent. Pursuant to subsection C of Section 86.7 of Title 52 of the Oklahoma Statutes, nothing contained in the Oil and Gas Produced Water and Waste Recycling and Reuse Act shall be construed to prevent the owner of the surface estate from being considered the brine owner;
6. 6. “Brine well” means a well specifically drilled or operated for the primary purpose of extracting brine and shall not include a well drilled or operated for the primary purpose of producing oil or gas;
7. 7. “Solution gas” means all gas produced from brine wells from the brine common source of supply within the brine production unit area;
8. 8. “Solution gas owner” means any person entitled to share in the proceeds from the sale of solution gas;
9. 9. “Owner” or “owners” means, unless a more specific term is used, any person or entity who qualifies as either a brine owner or a solution gas owner;

10. 10. “Operator” means a person who:

    1. a. has the right to drill into and produce from any brine common source of supply and to appropriate that production, either for the operator or for the operator and others,
    2. b. has the right to extract one or more of the constituent elements of brine or produced water produced as an incident to the production of oil and gas, and
    3. c. is authorized by the Commission to drill or extract such constituent elements;
11. 11. “Effluent” means the liquid remaining after extraction of the chemical substances from brine or produced water. Notwithstanding any other provision in this act, no contract or arrangement for further extraction of constituent elements or reclamation of the effluent into reclaimed water or any other commercial usage of the effluent shall result in additional costs or delays to the rights of the oil and gas operator to extract and dispose of subterranean water for, or incident to, the exploration, exploitation, or extraction of hydrocarbons. To the extent the oil and gas operator determines at its sole discretion that any such contract or arrangement will result in additional costs or delays to its rights to extract and dispose of subterranean water, such effluent shall be considered oil and gas produced water and waste, subject to the provisions of the Oil and Gas Produced Water and Waste Recycling and Reuse Act;
12. 12. “Brine production unit” means each separate specific area of land so designated by order of the Commission for production of brine and associated solution gas from brine wells, including the related injection of effluent;

13. 13. “Produced water unit” means the specific area of land so designated by order of the Commission for the commercial extraction and sale of constituent elements, or any one of the elements, or reclaimed water, from produced water. The Commission, based upon the facts and circumstances, shall determine the size and shape of any produced water unit. Unless a larger size unit is determined to be appropriate under the facts and circumstances, the produced water unit shall be the same size and cover the same geographical area as the spacing or drilling unit or horizontal spacing unit created pursuant to Section 87.1 of Title 52 of the Oklahoma Statutes, the horizontal well unitization created pursuant to Section 87.9 of Title 52 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or the unitized management area created pursuant to Sections 287.1 through 287.15 of Title 52 of the Oklahoma Statutes, of the associated oil or gas well or wells from which the produced water is derived. Each such produced water unit shall be limited to the equivalent same brine common source or sources of supply as the oil and gas common source or sources of supply of the associated oil or gas well from which produced water is being received for the extraction of constituent elements of such brine, unless a different size unit is determined to be appropriate under the facts and circumstances. A produced water unit may be created for and limited to the extraction of a single constituent element or multiple constituent elements. Multiple produced water units may be created and exist for the produced water from the same associated oil and gas well or wells, provided that the applicant for each unit meets the definition of operator provided in this section for the rights to each constituent element sought to be unitized. Furthermore, an applicant may seek to create two or more produced water units by and through the filing of a single Commission cause. Where multiple proposed produced water units are encompassed in a single cause, the applicant may prepare a single form plan of unitization, which if approved by the Commission, shall collectively apply to each individual produced water unit encompassed by the single cause.

    If the Commission has not previously established a drilling or spacing unit for the oil or gas well or wells from which the produced water is derived, the Commission shall in its discretion determine the size and shape of the produced water unit, taking into consideration all facts and circumstances including, but not limited to, the economics of collection, transportation, and processing produced water to recover any extracted constituent element;

14. 14. “Injection well” means a well authorized by the Commission for the injection of effluent or other solutions;
15. 15. “Manufacture” means the complete process of drilling, completing, equipping and operating production and injection wells and of extracting and packaging brine;
16. 16. “Oil or gas well” means a well drilled or operated for the primary purpose of extracting oil or gas as those terms are defined in Title 52 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
17. 17. “Associated oil or gas production” means the oil or gas produced from an oil and gas well from which produced water is extracted as an incident to the production of the oil or gas and the produced water is utilized for the purpose of extracting its constituent elements therefrom;
18. 18. “Constituent elements” means salts, metals, elements, and other mineralized substances that are naturally occurring and dissolved, entrained, or suspended in subterranean water in situ and, after extraction from the ground, suspended in the brine or produced water, but specifically does not include skim oil or hydraulic fracturing fluid;
19. 19. “Extracted constituent element” means any constituent element extracted from the produced water through reconditioning or treating of the produced water by mechanical or chemical processes that is saved and commercially utilized or sold;
20. 20. “Produced water” means the subterranean salt water, and the other liquid waste associated with, incidental to, or extracted during oil and gas drilling, completion, or production process. Produced water subject to the jurisdiction of the Oil and Gas Produced Water and Waste Recycling and Reuse Act shall not be governed by the Oklahoma Brine Development Act, unless the produced water is intended to be or is processed for the commercial extraction and sale of the constituent elements, or any one of them;
21. 21. “Reclaimed water” means produced water that has been reconditioned or treated by mechanical or chemical processes after the extraction of one or more constituent elements for commercial purposes. Reclaimed water specifically does not include recycled water as that term is defined by Section 86.7 of Title 52 of the Oklahoma Statutes for purposes of the Oil and Gas Produced Water and Waste Recycling and Reuse Act. A party who, for commercial purposes, treats produced water by mechanical or chemical process for the extraction of one or more constituent elements such that the produced water becomes reclaimed water as defined herein shall not be liable in tort or otherwise, before or after custody transfer, for the use, handling, treatment, or processing by another party of such produced water or reclaimed water;
22. 22. “Recycler” means a person approved and authorized by the Commission who receives produced water, for the purpose of saving, extracting, reconditioning, or treating the same by mechanical or chemical processes into a reusable form; and
23. 23. “Recycling waste” means the noncommercial by-products or residual liquids or solid materials that remain after the recycling or extraction process.

Laws 1990, SB 263, c. 255, § 3, eff. September 1, 1990; Amended by Laws 2026, HB 4338, c. 341, § 3, emerg. eff. May 12, 2026 (superseded document available).