The Digital Records Search lets you find, view and download the digital files the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey has available. Most are PDF, TIFF, JPG, LAS, Excel or Word files. You can search by well API number, file type, county, 7.5 minute quad, file modified date and batch date. Every field starts blank, which matches all files, but at least one field other than File ModDate must be filled in to run a search; no one field is required.
Search fields
- API #: This is a unique number for each well in West Virginia. To search it requires a 10-digit number between 4700100001 and 4710999999. The first two digits represent the state code, which is 47 for West Virginia. Digits 3 through 5 represent the West Virginia county code. Digits 6 through 10 represent the permit number for the well. For example if you wanted to search for a well in Jackson County with a permit number of 511, you would enter 4703500511 in the API # field. For a complete list of county codes go here (opens in a new tab).
- File Type: This pull-down search field represents all the classifications of digital records that the WVGES has available. The file types are grouped in categories: Logs, Images, Analyses, Well and Test Data, and General Info. Choose a file type from under its category; the category names themselves cannot be chosen. You can also type part of a name, such as "photo", or a file type code, such as ELOG, to narrow the list.
- County: This pull-down search field is for the West Virginia county in which the digital records fall into based on the well API #. All West Virginia counties and codes are given in the pull-down list. To search, choose your selection from the given list.
- 7.5 Minute Quad: This pull-down search field is for the 7.5 minute quad in which the digital records fall into based on the location of the API # on the document. To search, choose your selection from the given list.
- File ModDate: This field finds files last modified since the date you enter, in the form MM/DD/YYYY. It cannot be used by itself; use it with another search field. Not all records have a file modified date.
- Batch Date: The term "Batch Date" is used for the day documents provided by the regulatory agency for oil and gas (WVDEP) are sent out. These are sent out on a weekly basis. Only digital records of file types: Batch Cover sheets, Completion Reports, Well Plats, Plugging Affidavits, Well Permits, and Other Info can have a batch date. So searching on this field will only return these file types. To search by batch date three pull-downs are provided. The only one that is actually searched is the last one labeled "Search Batch Date". The Year (newest first) and Month pull-downs narrow it to the batch dates of one month, and you then pick one of those dates. For example, if you wanted to see all batch dates in August of 2006, you would select 2006 from the Year pull-down and August from the Month pull-down. The Search Batch Date pull-down would then list Aug 4, 2006; Aug 11, 2006; Aug 18, 2006; and Aug 25, 2006. You would then select, for example, Aug 18, 2006 and press Search, which returns all digital records with an Aug 18, 2006 batch date. If the Search Batch Date pull-down is not filled, the batch date is not searched, even if a Year or Month was chosen. Batches are added on a continuous basis; the form shows the minimum and maximum batch dates to help you choose.
- Results/Page: The number of files to show at a time: 25, 50 or 100. When a search finds more, use the page number links above or below the list to go through the results.
- Order By: This option enables you to order the results of your search based on your selection. Note that when not specified records will be sorted in ascending order. When "Desc" is specified the results will be in descending order on the given field. Please make your selection from the given list.
Results
Once you have entered your search and pressed Search, the page shows how many files match, their total size and the files themselves. Select any file name to view that file beside the results or to download it. Previous and Next above the viewer, or the up and down arrow keys on a file name, step through the list.
For each file the results show its type (PDF, TIF, XLS, LAS and so on), its file name, the well’s API #, county, file type, batch date, the date the file was last modified (ModDate) and its size. Sizes of 50 MB or more are shown in red.
Each API # is also a link to Pipeline, the WVGES oil and gas well information system. Selecting it opens that well in Pipeline in a new tab, where you can see its location, owner and completion, production, logs and other well records.
Files with "data" right after the API number in their name (characters 11 through 14, as in a name beginning 4709501125data) are tagged with more than one file type.
Viewing files
The viewer shows most files in the browser, without any other software:
| Files | Shown as |
|---|---|
| The browser’s own PDF viewer | |
| TIFF (scanned logs, plats, completion reports) | The scanned pages, loaded as you scroll; you can choose the picture width |
| JPG, PNG, GIF (photographs) | The picture; select it to switch between fitting the window and full size |
| Excel (XLS, XLSX, XLSM) and CSV | A table for each worksheet, with tabs (the first 2,000 rows) |
| Word (DOCX) | The text, headings and tables |
| LAS logs | The file as plain text, with links to each section (~Version, ~Well, ~Curve, ~Parameter, ~Other, ~ASCII), or a log plot with the header and the first rows of data; a switch at the top changes between them |
| ZIP | The list of files inside |
| Other files (older Word .doc, PowerPoint and so on) | A download link |
Large files: some files, such as SEM images, CT images and long scanned logs, are very large and can be slow to open in the browser. For files of 50 MB or more (sizes in red), downloading is usually quicker than viewing. Files over 100 MB are not shown in the viewer; it offers the download instead.
Downloading files
- One file: choose Download at the top of the viewer. You can also save a file straight from its name in the results: open the link’s menu (right-click, press and hold on a touch screen, or press Shift+F10 on the keyboard) and choose "Save link as" or "Save target as".
- Several files as one ZIP: tick the files you want, on any page of the results ("Select all on this page" ticks a whole page), then choose "Download selected (ZIP)". When the whole search fits, "Download all files (ZIP)" downloads every file it found. A ZIP holds up to 100 files and 500 MB, with a folder for each well and a README file listing the files.
- The list of files: "File list (Excel)" saves the list of files the search found, up to 5,000 files, as an Excel workbook.