Data:
Oil and Gas Well Data System Description
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Description: The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey's Oil and Gas Data System is a
relational data structure consisting of 12 file types all keyed on the county code and
permit number of the wells. These file types include COMPLETIONS, LOCATIONS, OWNERS, PAYS
AND SHOWS, STRATIGRAPHY, WATER, PLUG, MECHANICAL LOG CATALOG, WELL SAMPLES
AND CORES, PRODUCTION, COMPLETION STAGE, and PERMIT APPLICATIONS.
Purpose: This system contains and manages data for more than 123,000 oil and gas wells drilled
in West Virginia over the past 140 years. This system supports the research and information needs
of the agency and is available by registration to the general public.
Custodian: West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey.
Date: This system was originally designed in 1966. It has been redesigned several times since
then, generally in conjunction with major hardware and software system upgrades.
Sources of Data: Most of the data are extracted/interpreted by Survey geologists from drillers' logs
(records) and plats submitted by operators to the State regulatory authority since permitting became
required in 1929. Other data were obtained directly from operators or from other sources such as
Survey publications, geologists' records, property maps, GeoLogs, mechanical logs, samples, and cores.
Access: This system of well-specific data is currently available to Survey staff and registered users
of the agency's "pipeline" system. Individuals or companies can become registered users by
completing an application.
Geographic Area: This data system contains data for oil and gas wells drilled in 53 of the 55
counties in West Virginia; no wells have been drilled in the extreme eastern panhandle of the State,
in Berkeley and Jefferson counties.
Coordinate System: Well coordinates are stored in a modified form of latitude/longitude--NAD27--measured
in hundredths of miles (x.xx) south of the reference latitude and west of the reference
longitude. In order to facilitate computer-generated mapping of data in the database, these
coordinates are converted upon data entry through a COMPUTED BY calculation to Universal
Transverse Mercator coordinates (UTM) for UTM zone 17, and both the latitude/longitude and UTM
coordinates are stored in the database.
Attributes: Well completion data; location; surface/mineral ownership and well operator; depths and
formations of pays and shows of hydrocarbons, storage, observation, injection, etc.; stratigraphic
tops and thicknesses; water encountered in the drilling sequence; plugging; hydrocarbon production
reported since 1979; mechanical logs available; cores and samples available; detailed completion
stage information for many Devonian shale wells; and applications for permit to drill.
Units of Measurement: Unless noted otherwise, units of measurement are as follows: elevations--in feet above
mean sea level; depths--in feet below the surface datum; gas volumes--in Mcf (thousand cubic feet); oil volumes--in barrels;
pressures--in psi (pounds per square inch); treatment time--in hours.
Permit Number Series: Several series of well identification numbers are used in the database, including the
following:
- regular-series: wells permitted since 1929, beginning with 1 in each county;
- 30,000-series: wells drilled prior to the onset of permitting requirements in 1929 and abandoned after 1929; identified by
WVDEP as the "Abandoned-series" of well permits; beginning with 30001 in each county;
- 50,000-series: wells drilled prior to 1929 and fractured after 1929; identified by WVDEP as the "Fractured-series" of well
permit numbers; beginning with 50001 in each county;
- 60,000-series: old wells in Clay and Roane counties identified from various proprietary sources;
- 70,000-series: "by-farm" wells, generally drilled prior to 1929, with no official assigned permit number; these wells are
sorted by farm name and assigned artificial in-house sequential "permit numbers" beginning with 70001 in each county in which
they occur; also included are wells generally drilled prior to 1929 with no official permit number and identified with
alphabetic designations in older Survey publications;
- 90,000-series: well generally drilled prior to 1929 for which the Survey has a location but no other precise information
about the farm name, operator, or completion of the wells; beginning with 90001 in each county.
Given below are the detailed listings of data fields in each of the 12 file types in the Survey's
oil and gas well database. In this relational database structure, records in each of
the file types are keyed on the designated county code/permit number of the wells. A "suffix" code
describes the individual episodes of drilling (e.g., original drilling, deepening, or workover). For
wells with multiple deepenings or workovers, linking the various records for specific episodes of
drilling may involve the use of the API number, suffix, and the episode completion date.
For some of the data types (e.g., LOCATIONS, MECHANICAL LOG CATALOG, and WELL
SAMPLE CATALOG), there is only one record regardless of the number of episodes of drilling. For
other data types (e.g., COMPLETIONS and OWNERS), there is one record for each episode of
drilling. For yet other data types (e.g., PAYS AND SHOWS, STRATIGRAPHY, WATER, and
PRODUCTION), there are a variable number of records for each well, with one record for each pay
or show zone or for each stratigraphic unit or water interval described or for each year of
production data available. This data structure imports readily into relational databases such as dBASE or
ACCESS; however, the variable number of records per well for certain data types makes importing
the data into a spreadsheet somewhat more difficult.
At this time, well-specific data are not downloadable directly from the Survey's Web site. Instead,
Survey staff can perform customized searches of the database to retrieve those data fields or file
types requested by the user. These for-fee products can be generated as ASCII or Excel files or
computer-generated plots. A subscription service for direct public access to the database is available
through the "pipeline" system.
NOTES: [ ] = refers to the size of the data field, in bytes
* = data are stored in code; look-up tables are required for translation of codes
Data in this file type are generally taken from a driller's log for each episode of drilling and
summarize the completion of the well. Fields include the spud and completion dates, AAPG well
classification, field code, rig type, well type, initial potentials and rock pressures both before and
after stimulation, elevation, total depth of the well, new and exploratory footages, and the deepest
formations penetrated and tested. There is one record per completion episode or well.
County Code [3] *
Permit Number [5]
Suffix [1] *
Spud Date: Day [2], Month [2], Year [4]
Completion Date: Day [2], Month [2], Year [4]
Year Reported [4]
Classification: Initial [1] *
Final [1] *
Field Code [3] *
Elevation [4] (in feet above mean sea level)
Elevation Type [1] *
Rig Type [1] *
Initial Potential: Gas - Volume Before Treatment [6]
Gas - Volume After Treatment [6]
Oil - Volume Before Treatment [4]
Oil - Volume After Treatment [4]
Rock Pressure: Natural Pressure [4]
Natural Time [4]
Treated Pressure [4]
Treated Time [4]
Well Type [1] *
Completion Method [1] *
Total Depth [5]
New Footage [5] (for this episode of drilling)
Exploratory Footage [5]
Deepest Formation Penetrated [3] *
Deepest Formation Tested [3] *
In this file type, detailed data generally taken from drillers' logs describe each stage of a
Devonian shale completion, including type of completion, rock pressure, initial potential, and
completed zones. There is one record per completion episode or well. There is limited availability
of these data. Data are available for Devonian shale wells mainly in Boone, Cabell, Calhoun,
Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo, Pleasants, Putnam, Ritchie, Roane, Wayne,
Wirt, and Wood counties.
County Code [3] *
Permit Number [5]
Suffix [1] *
Completion Type [1] *
Completion Date: Day [2], Month [2], Year [4]
Interval: Depth to Top of Perforation [5]
Depth to Bottom of Perforation [5]
Depth to Top of Completion Interval [5]
Depth to Bottom of Completion Interval [5]
Number of Holes [3]
Rock Pressure: Before Treatment [4]
After Treatment [4]
Hours Shut-In [3]
Initial Potential: Initial Volume - Oil [4]
Initial Volume - Gas [6]
Final Volume - Oil [4]
Final Volume - Gas [6]
Completion Zone(s) [15] *
Contained in this file type are the coordinates of the well, generally taken from a plat
submitted with a driller's log. Other sources of data may include maps from Survey county reports,
operator property maps, locations received directly from operators, or locations determined by GPS and
received from WVDEP. The well location is given in latitude and longitude (in hundredths of miles
south of the reference latitude and west of the reference longitude) and also in Universal Transverse
Mercator (UTM) coordinates (measured in meters east of the principal meridian and north of the base
line in UTM Zone 17). Also in this record are the 7.5' and 15' quadrangles and the tax district, both
in code. There is one record per well.
County Code [3] *
Permit Number [5]
Tax District [1] *
Latitude/Longitude Location:
15' Quad Code [3] *
5' Section [1] *
15' Location:
Latitude: Degrees [2] (between 37 & 40)
Minutes [2] (between 00 & 59)
Miles South [4] (x.xx)
Longitude: Degrees [2] (between 77 & 83)
Minutes [2] (between 00 & 59)
Miles West [4] (x.xx)
7.5' Quad Code [3] *
7.5' Location:
Latitude: Degrees [2] (between 37 & 40)
Minutes [4] (between 00 & 59) (xx.x)
Miles South [4] (x.xx)
Longitude: Degrees [2] (between 77 & 83)
Minutes [4] (between 00 & 59) (xx.x)
Miles West [4] (x.xx)
UTM Location:
Easting [8] (in meters; Zone 17)
Northing [9] (in meters; Zone 17)
This file type contains information taken from a plat and/or driller's log, including the surface
owner of the well, the well number, the mineral owner, and the operator and the operator's number
for the well. These data record information at the time the well was drilled. For information on the
current ownership of a well, contact the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection--Office
of Oil and Gas. There is one record per episode of drilling.
County Code [3] *
Permit Number [5]
Suffix [1] *
Date: Day [2], Month [2], Year [4]
Status [1] *
Surface owner and farm number [24]
Mineral owner [24]
Operator code [4] * (translated in ASCII files)
Company number [15]
This data type contains information taken mainly from drillers' logs. For each episode of drilling,
there are individual records for each completed interval in a well and also for each zone of a
show of hydrocarbon or zone of storage, injection, or observation in a well. As a result, there are a
variable number of PAYS AND SHOWS records for each episode of drilling.
County Code [3] *
Permit Number [5]
Suffix [1] *
Completion Date: Day [2], Month [2], Year [4]
Pay: Activity Code [1] *
Product Code [1] *
Interval: Depth to Top of the Interval [5]
Depth to Bottom of the Interval [5]
Formation Code: at Top of Interval [3] *
at Bottom of Interval [3] *
Volume: Before Treatment [6]
After Treatment [6]
An individual record is coded for each major stratigraphic unit in a well. Data may be taken
or interpreted from drillers' logs, mechanical logs, PI (Petroleum Information Corp.) cards, GeoLogs,
or sample studies. There are a variable number of records per well. Data include the stratigraphic
unit, depth from the surface datum to the top of the unit, formation thickness, and quality codes
describing/defining the source or quality of the data.
County Code [3] *
Permit Number [5]
Suffix [1] *
Formation: Formation Code [3] *
Quality Code [1] *
Depth to Top of the Formation: Depth in Feet [5]
Quality Code [1] *
Thickness of the Formation: Thickness in Feet [5]
Quality Code [1] *
Datum: Elevation [4]
Type of Datum [1] *
Generally, there is one record per well per year, with monthly and annual gas and oil
volumes produced and the operator who reported the production data for that year; monthly
days-on-line are available until 1986. At the time of data input, a "status" code is assigned describing
the source, quality, and/or quantity of the information received. These data are available since
1979 and have been received from the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection--Office
of Oil and Gas, the State agency to which operators are required to report production. Occasionally,
data corrections have been received by this agency directly from operators. There are a variable
number of records available per well.
For information on the current ownership of a well, contact the West Virginia Division of
Environmental Protection--Office of Oil and Gas.
County Code [3] *
Permit Number [5]
Operator Code [4] * (translated in ASCII files)
Year of Production [4]
Well Status [1] *
Annual Summary Data:
Volume: Gas [7]
Oil [6]
Days-on-Line [3]
Flow Pressure [4]
Shut-in Pressure [4]
Monthly Detailed Data:
Oil (in barrels): Gas (in Mcf): Days-on-Line:
January [5] January [5] January [2]
February [5] February [5] February [2]
March [5] March [5] March [2]
April [5] April [5] April [2]
May [5] May [5] May [2]
June [5] June [5] June [2]
July [5] July [5] July [2]
August [5] August [5] August [2]
September [5] September [5] September [2]
October [5] October [5] October [2]
November [5] November [5] November [2]
December [5] December [5] December [2]
These data, taken from drillers' logs, describe the occurrence of water encountered in the
drilling operation; this is not the water produced along with other hydrocarbons. These data were
used to generate statewide maps of the fresh water/salt water interface (WVGES Publication MAP-WV12).
With one record per occurrence of water, there are a variable number of records per well.
County Code [3] *
Permit Number [5]
Suffix [1] *
Water: Quality [1] *
Depth to Top of Interval [5]
Quantity [3] (in bailers)
This file type contains information about the partial or total plugging of a well. There may
be more than one record per well if a well was initially partially plugged or redrilled and replugged
after the initial plugging. Data are taken from affidavits of plugging and other official documents and
reports.
County Code [3] *
Permit number [5]
Plug-Back:
Date: Day [2], Month [2], Year [4]
Total Depth [5]
Year Reported [4]
Flag for Source of Information [1]
This file type contains an inventory of mechanical logs currently maintained by the
Geological Survey. Logs are available for more than 20,000 wells. There is one record per well,
containing information about the availability of various types of logs in the Survey's log library,
a gross interval over all logs available, various log scales, and the physical location of those logs; the
deepest formation logged is available for a limited number of wells. Digitized log traces are not
available at this time.
County Code [3] *
Permit Number [5]
Status [1] *
Range of Intervals [11] (xxxxx - xxxxx, in feet)
Deepest Formation Logged [3] *
Logs Available [14] *
Microfilm Roll Numbers [11]
Comment [40]
This file type contains an inventory of cores and subsurface samples contained in the
Survey's core library. Cores are available for more than 80 wells, and samples are available for
more than 4,000 wells. There is one record per well, containing data on the presence of
samples/cuttings and/or cores, the interval sampled, the cored interval and associated stratigraphic
information at the top and bottom of the cored intervals, and the availability of written descriptions
of those cores or cuttings.
County Code [3] *
Permit Number [5]
Cuttings: 1st Interval [11] (xxxxx - xxxxx, in feet)
2nd Interval [11] (xxxxx - xxxxx, in feet)
1st Core: Interval [11] (xxxxx - xxxxx, in feet)
Top Formation [3] *
Bottom Formation [3] *
2nd Core: Interval [11] (xxxxx - xxxxx, in feet)
Top Formation [3] *
Bottom Formation [3] *
Sample Studies [7]
Comment [20]
Status [1]
Number of Boxes [5]
Date Sample Received [4]
In a separate in-house file, the Survey tracks proposed drilling activity taken from approved
applications for permits issued to drill wells; there is one record per episode of drilling. Included are
the operator, proposed depth of the well, geologic formation targeted, proposed type of well, and
the date the permit was issued. These data help to track regions and target formations of current
development and interest.
County Code [3] *
Permit Number [5]
Suffix [1] *
Operator Code [4] *
Target Formation [3] *
Projected Depth [5]
Status [1] *
Old Permit Number [5]
Well Type [1] *
Date Permit Issued: Day [2], Month [2], Year [4]
Reporting Quarter [1] (between 1 and 4)
Year Reported [4]
Page last revised: August 13, 2007
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West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey
Address: Mont Chateau Research Center
1 Mont Chateau Road
Morgantown, WV 26508-8079
Telephone: 304-594-2331
FAX: 304-594-2575
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST, Monday - Friday
Permission to reproduce this material is granted if acknowledgment is given
to the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey.
