Permit-Numbering Series

EXPLANATION OF PERMIT NUMBERS

The Survey utilizes several series of well identification numbers in its 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; this series was identified by WVDEP as the Abandoned-series of well permit numbers, appearing on paper copies of plats, completion records, and logs with a permit number beginning with 1 in each county in which they occur and an A-suffix; in the computer database, the A is dropped and 30000 is added to the permit number, creating a pseudo-permit number with some relevancy;
45,000-series	stratigraphic cores from other than oil and gas wells; generally donated to WVGES; artificial "permit number" assigned by WVGES
50,000-series	wells drilled prior to 1929 and fractured between 1929 and 1979; in 1979, all wells in this series still in production were reassigned a regular-series permit number. This series was identified by WVDEP as the Fractured-series of well permit numbers, appearing on paper copies of records and logs with a permit number beginning with 1 in each county in which they occur and an F-suffix; in the computer database, the F is dropped and 50000 is added to the permit number to create a pseudo-permit number with some relevancy;
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 permit number; some wells may have been drilled after 1929, but have incomplete or inaccurate information on the log header; 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;
90,000-series	well generally drilled prior to 1929 for which we have locations but no other precise information about the farm name, operator, or completion of the wells. These wells are known from various property and Survey maps, but specific details of ownership and completion of the wells is not yet known to us or not yet known definitively to us. In some cases, we have been unable to precisely discriminate among several wells in close proximity, and therefore we have not made "guesses". The 90,000-series has been assigned arbitrarily by our agency as a matter of keeping track of specific well locations; WVDEP, the State regulatory agency, has agreed with the rationale in identifying these wells and has decided in the interim to retain these numbers, in lieu of anything better.

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; this series was identified by WVDEP as the Abandoned-series of well permit numbers, appearing on paper copies of plats, completion records, and logs with a permit number beginning with 1 in each county in which they occur and an A-suffix; in the computer database, the A is dropped and 30000 is added to the permit number, creating a pseudo-permit number with some relevancy;

45,000-series

stratigraphic cores from other than oil and gas wells; generally donated to WVGES; artificial "permit number" assigned by WVGES

50,000-series

wells drilled prior to 1929 and fractured between 1929 and 1979; in 1979, all wells in this series still in production were reassigned a regular-series permit number. This series was identified by WVDEP as the Fractured-series of well permit numbers, appearing on paper copies of records and logs with a permit number beginning with 1 in each county in which they occur and an F-suffix; in the computer database, the F is dropped and 50000 is added to the permit number to create a pseudo-permit number with some relevancy;

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 permit number; some wells may have been drilled after 1929, but have incomplete or inaccurate information on the log header; 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;

90,000-series

well generally drilled prior to 1929 for which we have locations but no other precise information about the farm name, operator, or completion of the wells. These wells are known from various property and Survey maps, but specific details of ownership and completion of the wells is not yet known to us or not yet known definitively to us. In some cases, we have been unable to precisely discriminate among several wells in close proximity, and therefore we have not made "guesses". The 90,000-series has been assigned arbitrarily by our agency as a matter of keeping track of specific well locations; WVDEP, the State regulatory agency, has agreed with the rationale in identifying these wells and has decided in the interim to retain these numbers, in lieu of anything better.

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WV Geological & Economic Survey
1 Mont Chateau Road
Morgantown, WV 26508
Phone: (304) 594-2331
Fax: (304) 594-2575
info@wvgs.wvnet.edu

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