本推荐规程（RP）为用于天然气储存服务的盐穴设施提供了功能性建议，包括设施地质力学评估、穴井设计和钻井、风险管理、溶液采矿技术和操作，包括监测和维护规程、现场安保和安全、程序、培训和废弃。它提供了一套全面的设计指南，认识到地下地质多样性的本质，以长期设施完整性和安全性为目标的现场特定地质力学评估。该RP包括从紧急关闭（ESD）阀到洞室的洞室井系统（井口、井筒和洞室）以及对洞室系统的安全性和完整性有重大影响的设施。该RP不适用于用于储存液体或液化天然气的洞室石油产品、盐水生产或废物处理； 也不适用于机械开采的洞穴或枯竭的碳氢化合物或含水层地下储气系统。

This Recommended Practice (RP) provides the functional recommendations for salt cavern facilities used for natural gas storage service and covers facility geomechanical assessments, cavern well design and drilling, risk management, solution mining techniques and operations, including monitoring and maintenance practices, site security and safety, procedures, training, and abandonment. It provides a comprehensive set of design guidelines, recognizing the nature of subsurface geological diversity, and stresses the need for in-depth, site specific geomechanical assessments with a goal of long-term facility integrity and safety.This RP includes the cavern well system (wellhead, wellbore, and cavern) from the emergency shutdown (ESD) valve down to the cavern and facilities having significant impact to safety and integrity of the cavern system.This RP does not apply to caverns used for the storage of liquid or liquefied petroleum products, brine production, or waste disposal; nor to caverns which are mechanically mined, or depleted hydrocarbon or aquifer underground gas storage systems.