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The only way to be certain is to drill a well. Even if hydrocarbons are present, whether or not recovering that oil or gas can be profitable is dependent on many factors. If you live in an area of known production (oil producing counties or gas producing counties) and have producing wells on surrounding tracts of land, the probability of having oil or gas increases. However, even with nearby producing wells, there is always an element of risk in exploration and development of petroleum resources.
The consulting geologist performs services for a fee. In the petroleum industry, the geologist compiles information about the rocks that underlie an area. They find and interpret appropriate data from available drilled wells. Utilizing this information and a variety of map, photographic, and experimental data, the geologist then evaluates the probability of the occurrence of oil or gas and tries to estimate its value.
Independent consulting geologists are found by looking for GEOLOGIST in the yellow pages of the phone book. Often engineering firms employ geologists and may also perform contract geological services. Kentucky law requires persons practicing geology to be registered with the state and licensed as professionals. A professional geologist must meet requirements of education and experience and should show any client their certification materials. Contact the Kentucky Division of Occupations and Professions, Board of Registration for Professional Geologists at 502/564-3296 (extension 226) for information on the registered geologists in Kentucky and request a copy of the Consumer Guide to Geological Services.
The Geologic Data Center of the Kentucky Geological Survey houses an oil and gas well records library. Oil and gas well data have been collected by the Survey since the late 1800's. However, the data file was permanently established as the archive of oil and gas information in 1960 with the passage of KRS 353 that mandated the submission of drilling records by oil and gas operators. The library is maintained for the benefit of the public, government, and the petroleum industry with the intent to provide information necessary for the exploration, development, and conservation of the oil and gas resources of the Commonwealth. Data available in the library include:
Copies of drilling records may be obtained at the data center. Additionally, computer data searches, well lists, and well-location base maps are available. Well-record data and stratigraphic tops are available on diskette. Well-location base maps are available as overlays for the standard USGS 7.5-minute quadrangle topographic or geologic maps (1:24,000 scale). Well lists and diskettes may be ordered based on:
Drilling records are available for $0.20 each up to standard letter- or legal-size copy and include:
Long, fanfolded documents, electric logs, and others are available as continuous copies of the entire log. These items are charged by the length of the copy with the typical log being $9.50 to $12.50. Well lists are available for $10 plus $0.03 per well, $0.05 per well if latitude and longitude or stratigraphic tops are included. Diskettes are $20 plus $0.08 per well, $0.15 per well if latitude and longitude or stratigraphic tops are included. Standard well-location overlay maps are $40 and include the map and a list of well-identification and completion data.
You may place an order by phoning the Geologic Data Center at 606/257-5500 or 606/257-8238. You may contact us by e-mail. The mail address is Geologic Data Center, Kentucky Geological Survey, 228 Mining and Mineral Resources Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0107. Orders may be shipped cash on delivery (COD), charged to MasterCard or Visa, or charged against a pre-established account on file with the Survey's Publication Sales Office. Call Publication Sales at 606/257-5500 or 606/257-5500 for information on setting up a charge account.
The Kentucky Geological Survey is not in a position to guarantee the security of any electronic mail message. We suggest you contact us by phone or letter if you wish to place an order that is to be charged against a MasterCard or Visa account.
Oil and gas well record data are available on standard 3.5-inch diskette formatted for DOS and Windows based computers. The data are provided as a printable ASCII file with records terminated by carriage returns. Documentation is provided as an ASCII text file with each disk. A table of data provided for each well is available. These data are designed to be imported into a variety of "off-the-shelf" data base and spreadsheet software.
The Kentucky Geological Survey is the designated agency for housing rock samples collected during oil and gas well drilling, highway and foundation drilling, exploratory samples from coal and industrial mineral tests, and others. Persons engaged in the exploration for and development of Kentucky's petroleum resources must submit samples of the rocks penetrated during drilling at the request of the Survey. These samples provide essential information for a better understanding of petroleum, coal, mineral, and ground water resources and related environmental issues. The repository is a library where these samples may be viewed. The new repository on Iron Works Pike is now open. If you wish to visit the facility or contribute cores or samples, please contact Patrick Gooding at 606/255-2439.
The Carter coordinate system is a grid, based on latitude and longitude, used to locate oil and gas well data in Kentucky. The system
was developed by the Carter Oil Company to mimic the township and range location system in areas that had not been surveyed. The State is divided into a regular grid with each cell (or "quad") being
five minutes of latitude by five minutes of longitude. These quads are assigned letters (equivalent of the township) beginning with "A" in the south and increasing through "Z" and "AA" to "GG"
northward. The quads are assigned numbers (equivalent of the range) beginning with zero (0) in the west and increasing to 92 in the east. Each five-minute by five-minute quad is further subdivided
into 25 one-minute by one-minute sections. Within the one-minute section, the location is pinpointed by specifying the distance from an adjacent pair of one-minute section boundaries to the well. The
Carter coordinate is written by specifying a pair of footages from the one-minute section boundaries and the reference boundary (north, south, east, or west) for each, the one-minute section number,
the five-minute quad letter, and the five-minute quad number. A Carter coordinate and topographic index map of Kentucky is available from Publication
Sales.
Oil and gas production data are reported to the Severance and Property Tax Divisions of the Kentucky Revenue Cabinet. Until 1994, these data were held confidential by the Cabinet and were available only as monthly figures by county. Historical oil production data in this format are available beginning in 1918, and gas production data are available beginning in 1986. Because of Revenue Cabinet policy, some county data collected after 1990 may remain confidential. Beginning with the 1994 calendar year, the Division of Oil and Gas of the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals is requiring production data to be reported directly to the Division by oil and gas operators. By statute, the data reported to the Division will remain confidential for one year. In addition, for the first year, the Department has been granted additional time to set up the production data collection program. Data for the 1994 calendar year are scheduled to be available to the public in September 1996. The available data may be obtained as either printouts or in electronic form.
The Department of Mines and Minerals, Division of Oil and Gas, is the Kentucky agency responsible for regulating oil and gas drilling. All questions on statutory requirements should be addressed to the Department. They may be contacted by e-mail, or inquiries may be sent to the Division at P.O. Box 14090, Lexington, Kentucky 40512-4090. The phone number is 606-246-2026. If you are an operator, contact the Division and ask for a copy of the Commonwealth of Kentucky Oil and Gas Well Operator's Manual.
In general, a permit is required for drilling, re-opening, or deepening:
An application for a permit must be submitted to the Division. It must be accompanied by a permit application fee, copies of a surveyed well location plat, and a performance bond to ensure proper plugging and abandonment of the well. Contact the Division for details on spacing regulations, bonding requirements, or casing requirements. After a well has been drilled, a well log and completion report must be submitted along with copies of any electrical, nuclear, mechanical, or geophysical surveys run. When a well has been abandoned, an affidavit showing the time and manner of plugging the well must also be submitted. Additional permits may be required from other agencies to operate the well. For example, injection wells are regulated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 office, Atlanta, Georgia. These regulations are summarized in the Commonwealth of Kentucky Oil and Gas Well Operator's Manual.
The Division of Oil and Gas publishes a list of permits issued and wells spudded (drilling has begun) on their web site. The lists are dated to simplify tracking the most recent activity.
During certain drilling operations, data about the drilling fluid ("mud") are collected as it is pumped and recycled: its water content, weight, a description of the rock cuttings brought to the surface, the kind and amount of any brine, oil, or gas, and other information. These data are recorded in chart form, the mud log.
After drilling to a particular depth, a device is lowered into the hole. This device is equipped with a variety of sensors that measure electrical, nuclear, or mechanical properties of the rock penetrated. As the tool is withdrawn from the hole, data representing the changes of rock properties with depth are recorded and a chart is made. Each rock and fluid encountered in the hole produces a set of responses that enable the geologist to determine its type, the presence or absence of oil, gas, or water, and other properties.
There are many specialized logs. A video camera may be used to view the rocks and condition of the hole. Logs may be used to evaluate the mechanical integrity of the hole or target zones for production or in need of repair. Not all drilled wells are vertical holes; some logging equipment is utilized during drilling to direct and steer the drilling tools in intentionally angled wells that may reach horizontal.
