Pennsylvania Unconventional Natural Gas Wells

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Pennsylvania Unconventional Natural Gas Wells Geodatabase is a compilation of eight datasets available from the PA DEP that have been unified and summarized to show the location and life, from permit to production, of unconventional natural gas wells in Pennsylvania. All the source data is provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP). The geodatabase is specifically designed to meet the needs for research analyses and other non-commercial uses. Carnegie Museum of Natural History makes no warranty or guarantee with regard to the accuracy or completeness of the data. The geodatabase is updated quarterly. For the specific schedule, please see the Frequently Asked Questions.

The PA DEP provides eight major reports on natural gas well activity to the public. Click titles for access to source data:

Permits Issued – Proposed natural gas well drilling sites submitted to and approved by the PA DEP
Spud Data – List of new natural gas wells drilled; the Spud date refers to when drilling of a well commenced or will commence
Production Reports – Submitted by well operators as the total natural gas production for a well for the year or six-month period for unconventional wells (through 2014). Starting in 2015, production will be reported monthly.
Waste Reports – Waste information from operators generated by drilling the well for the year or six-month period for unconventional wells (through 2014). Starting in 2015, production will be reported monthly.
Compliance Reports – Inspections of wells, including information on violations and fines
Public Utility Commission (PUC) Act 13 Unconventional Wells SPUD Report – List of wells that the PA DEP has identified that satisfy the requirements set by the Pennsylvania Act 13 legislation
Oil & Gas Locations – Conventional Unconventional – Shapefile of the Oil & Gas Wells in Pennsylvania that the PA DEP has locational information for broken into two formation types of conventional and unconventional wells.
Well Formations Report – Displays geological formation information by listing the target, oldest and producing formations for all oil and gas wells

Each data source provides a well permit or API number for all wells, conventional and unconventional. By extracting well permits numbers from all eight data sources for any wells flagged by the PA DEP as an unconventional well, a master table of permit numbers is generated of unconventional wells. By analyzing each data source, summary data is compiled to determine which wells are in the permitting process, are drilled, or are producing natural gas. Additional information includes how much gas is being produced, the number of violations, and which wells may be identified inconsistently as an unconventional well, as well as other attributes.

If you would like to receive an email update when a new dataset is released, please contact the GIS lab.

Recommended Citation

Whitacre, J. V., and Slyder, J. B. YYYY. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Pennsylvania Unconventional Natural Gas Wells Geodatabase (v.YYYY-Q#) [computer file]. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Available download: URL: https://maps.carnegiemnh.org/index.php/projects/unconventional-wells/. Accessed: Date of Download.

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