Uncut e-logs to be Available from the Kentucky Geological Survey, Recent News and Annoucements from Kentucky Geological Survey

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Uncut e-logs to be Available from the Kentucky Geological Survey

Lexington, KY. (March 20, 2008) - A new service for oil and gas customers is being offered by the Kentucky Geological Survey at the University of Kentucky. Beginning May 1, 2008, they will be able to download uncut, wireline logs (“e-logs”) directly from the KGS Web site (kgsweb.uky.edu/DataSearching/OilGas/OGSearch.asp).
E-logs have always been available for viewing and downloading as DjVu images, but many of them are too long to be displayed as a continuous image and had to be “cut” into manageable sections. If users wanted to recreate the original log, they had to splice the pieces back together, which can be a long and tedious process. The downloadable e-logs come in a variety of formats. All of the available e-logs (more than 55,400 images in about 70 megabytes) are black and white TIFF images compressed in Group 4 (FAX) format. Although this format can be viewed by a variety of software products, the extremely long length of the e-logs is a problem for some applications, including Microsoft Fax and Image Viewer. But many free and commercially available applications, such as Schlumberger’s BlueView, will display these e-logs.

KGS also has images of scanned colored e-logs available for free download. The original color mages tend to be extremely large (nearly 1 gigabyte per log) and can only be downloaded in LZW compressed format (more than 830 e-logs in 26 megabytes). LZW compression is proprietary, so users will need to use commercial software licensed to view LZW compressed images. The original, uncompressed images are still available from KGS, but not as downloads. Interested customers contact KGS for details on how to obtain these images, and there is a nominal fee for this service.

In addition to the black and white and color images, KGS has a small number of logs available in LAS format, which can only be viewed with appropriate software.

The KGS Web site will display all formats available for a specific e-log. In addition, tools will help users search for e-logs of interest by location, area, farm, operator, etc. Download speed will depend on the user’s Internet service provider and the load on the KGS Web servers. Users wanting all e-logs may prefer to have KGS write the images on their own portable hard drive.

In addition to the images, KGS also can print e-logs on 8-inch-wide, continuous, fan-folded paper. This service is charged by the foot ($0.45/foot, minimum $4.00), and is only available for black and white or grayscale images. Contact KGS at 859-257-5500 x126 for details.

Interested in helping oil and gas exploration in Kentucky? KGS is accepting e-logs to complement and enhance its library. Users with access to additional e-logs in any format are welcome to upload these images for everyone’s use. Individuals and companies will be recognized for their contribution and, in some, case, the contributions may be tax-deductible (Check with your tax expert.).

Do you have a paper copy of an e-log and need a continuous image? Are you willing to share your image? If so, KGS will gladly scan the image and return the paper copy with your image file at no cost to you. Please contact Sarah Briland at 859-257-5500 x 137 for details.