OIL AND GAS WELL RECORDS

KGS is the official repository for records of all oil and gas wells drilled in the State, and the Petroleum and Stratigraphy Section is responsible for these records on file in the Geologic Data Center in Lexington. A variety of records, such as drillers' logs, wireline logs, well-location survey plats, plugging affidavits, and completion reports, are on file for an estimated 225,000 wells. In addition, well-data files for western Kentucky are available at the Henderson office.

Records for 1,668 new wells were processed and recorded by the Survey last year. The Kentucky Geological Survey staff also reviews and enters into the computerized data base as many of the older well records as time permits; 6,829 records were added to the data base in 1994, including 406 added under the accelerated scanning program. The computerization of the Well Record Library and the expanded utility of supporting data sets are expected to greatly enhance the speed and efficiency of data retrieval. By the end of 1995, data for approximately 135,000 wells should be available.

Last year, 1,730 visitors were assisted and 1,326 phone requests for information were processed at the Lexington and Henderson facilities. A total of 20,150 copies of well records were supplied. More than 27,000 feet, representing logs for more than 1,773 wells, were copied for the public in 1994.

Custom printouts based on user specifications can be made on request. Well-location base maps are available as overlays for the U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000-scale 7.5-minute topographic quadrangle maps. Data are also available in machine-readable form on floppy disks. One hundred twenty-four well lists, 644 computer-generated overlays to topographic maps, and 108 floppy diskettes were made during the fiscal year.

For those areas not completed, the following well locations are available for plotting: all wells reported complete since January 1, 1981; all locations for which a permit has been issued since January 1, 1984; all pre-Trenton wells; all Devonian and deeper wells of western Kentucky and the majority of eastern Kentucky; and all Class II (injection and disposal) wells reported active in 1979 and completed since.