The status or state of a Well Event, either at present or at the time it was concluded (Permit Date or Completion Date).
An exception exists when multiple boreholes are drilled from a single surface location. In such cases, each borehole is treated as a separate Well Event and more than one Well Event may be active at a time.
The following values are used in the Event Status data field.
A permitted well location which has been reported abandoned (will not be drilled) by a scouting service company (IHS/Petroleum Information, or Scout Check). This Event Status will be changed to "expired permit" when official notification is received from Division of Oil and Gas.
A shallow well drilled for engineering purposes or for obtaining coal cores.
A permit that has been cancelled — does not include expired permits and revoked permits. On rare occasions, permits have been revived after earlier having been cancelled.
A Well Event that is concluded solely because the operator has transferred the well to a different operator. In such cases, a new Well Event record is entered for the new operator.
A dry (nonproductive) and abandoned well.
In the pre-1994 manual record-keeping system used by the IGS for petroleum well data, "Dry Hole" was given as the "completion status" for some wells that would now be given another Status. Wells of the following Status categories were sometimes called dry holes:
non-potable water supply
boring
potable water supply
salt water disposal
stratigraphic/structure test
waste disposal
Caution. Although we now assign a specific Status to these wells, instead of the generic "dry hole," the routines used to import data for these wells into the PDMS left the term dry hole as a Status for many wells. They have not been systematically converted to the new terminology, so that an undetermined number of Well Events in the PDMS may be listed with a Status of dry hole, when, in fact, they should have a different (but always non-productive) Status.
A permit that becomes invalid because the permitted operation did not take place during the time period specified by the permit. On rare occasions, expired permits have been revived after their expiration date. Expired permits may be removed from the PDMS when they are no longer deemed pertinent.
A well completion for the commercial production of natural gas.
Caution. In the outdated manual record-keeping system used by the IGS for petroleum well data, "Gas" was given as the "completion type" (Status) for wells that would now be termed "non-commercial gas." Since these wells have been imported into the PDMS, they have not been systematically converted to the new terminology, so that some Well Events prior to 2000 may be recorded in the PDMS as gas rather than non-commercial gas. The Symbol in the Well Header on the Well Record Page is the same for both commercial and non-commercial gas wells.
A well completed for the purpose of injecting gas into a reservoir in order to improve production from other nearby wells in a field.
A well completed for injecting and withdrawing natural gas into and out of a reservoir for the purpose of storing the gas for later use. See also, gas storage vs. observation wells.
A well that is abandoned due to mechanical problems encountered while drilling the well. The junked hole is commonly replaced by a subsequent well drilled in close proximity to the first.
An undrilled well for which a drilling location has been permitted. Location indicates that the Well Event is active. When the Status changes, the Well Event drops its Status as a location and assumes the Status indicated by the activity associated with that Well Event.
A Well Event which was concluded because the permitted location has been changed. The Well Event becomes inactive and a new Well Event is entered for the well, unless no other information about the well has changed (permit number, operator, lease, etc.), in which case a separate Well Event is not necessary and the fact that the location has changed can be indicated in the Comments [Well Header] field.
A new Lease Name or Well Number has been reported by the operator. No other changes are associated with the new Well Event.
A well completed for home use, farm use, or for internal use by a business. Typically these are low volume producers, though they may be economically beneficial to the owner. It is not uncommon for an operator to turn an unsuccessful well over to the landowner when the operator concludes that the well will not produce economical quantities of gas.
For the purpose of assigning the well a Symbol in the Well Header, the PDMS treats a well of non-commercial gas Status as a Gas well. In older versions of the petroleum database, wells with non-commercial gas status were not categorized separately from commercial gas wells.
Caution. The PDMS has not been systematically updated to revise this Status of wells drilled before 2001.
Water supply well used for non-drinking water. These are commonly associated with oil field operations. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water maintains records of than 335,000 water wells (both potable and non-potable) drilled in the state. The PDMS contains a relatively small number of these wells (a combined 110+ potable and non-potable water supply wells) because these few provide useful petroleum-related information.
Caution. Non-potable water supply wells drilled prior to the year 2000 may be indicated as dry holes in the PDMS.
A well drilled in the Trenton Field of east-central Indiana, for which no information is available to indicate whether the well was productive or dry.
Observation wells are generally used to detect migration of gas from a gas storage reservoir. See gas storage vs. observation wells.
A well completed for the purpose of monitoring migration of fluids from a waste disposal well is also given the Status of observation.
A well completed as an oil producer.
In principle, a well completed as a simultaneous producer of oil and gas. In fact, a well that reported an initial production test of oil and gas. In many cases, the oil was probably produced and the gas was flared or re-injected into the reservoir.
A well permit issued solely for abandoning a well.
A well permit was issued, but not used.
Old well drilled before 1938 (when permitting began), for which a 5-digit permit number was later assigned, but not necessarily "issued," by Division of Oil and Gas.
A pilot hole is the upper, generally vertical portion of a deviated or horizontal well.
Plugged is a Well Event that only involves a specific plugging operation. For example, an oil well has been producing for a period of time, and a permit is taken out for the purpose of plugging the well—the Event Status is "plugged." On the other hand, if a well has been producing for a period of time, and the operator works the well over and fails in the attempt—the Well Event is not "plugged," instead the Event Status is changed from "workover" to "dry hole," and no separate event is created for the plugging. The same holds for plugging a new well—the plugging is considered part of the "dry hole" status, and a separate event for the plugging is unnessasary.
Water supply well used for drinking-quality water. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water maintains records of than 335,000 water wells (both potable and non-potable) drilled in the state. The PDMS contains a relatively small number of these wells (a combined 110+ potable and non-potable water supply wells) because they provide useful petroleum-related information.
Caution. Wells drilled prior to 2001 may be indicated as dry holes.
Designates a Well Event that was terminated because the operator took out a subsequent permit to drill deeper than the Proposed TD specified for the Well Event it replaces. For newer wells, this Status would be temporary until the results of the drilling are submitted, at which time the status at completion is applied to that particular Well Event.
A new permit was issued to replace a permit that was previously issued, but later revoked, by Division of Oil and Gas. Although "replacement for revoked permit" may be the most recent Well Event, the Symbol on the Well Header for the well would be determined by the most recent operation performed on the well.
For example, if a well originally completed as a salt water disposal well (Event Number 1), were to have its permit revoked (Event No. 2), its subsequent Status would be "replacement for revoked permit" (Event Number 3). The Symbol would still be SWD (salt water disposal).
A new permit was issued to revise an active permit. The replaced Well Event is terminated (completed) when the revised permit is issued.
The permit associated with the Well Event was revoked by the Division of Oil and Gas (date of revocation = Completion Date).
A well completion to dispose of salt water recovered in the process of producing oil and gas.
Caution. It is known that some of the salt water disposal wells in the PDMS were probably completed as water injection (flood) wells, but were misreported as saltwater disposal wells. No systematic effort has been made to correct this problem.
The upper, vertical portion of a deviated well (horizontal well) if it is considered a separate Well Event (because of multiple lateral holes, or separate logging runs for straight and horizontal portions of the well).
A well drilled to gain geological information, generally to evaluate petroleum or mineral resources. It may be a shallow well to determine structural information to help decide whether deeper exploration is warranted, or it may be a hole (often small diameter) to evaluate the stratigraphy in an area.
Caution. It is not uncommon for operators to take out a permit for a stratigraphic/structure test, but to actually drill a normal exploration well. If the operator decides to complete the well for production, the well is then re-permitted for that purpose. In such cases, the Well Event stratigraphic/structure is terminated when the new permit is issued. If no information specific to drilling or completing the a stratigraphic/structural test exists, the Status "stratigraphic/structure test" may simply be changed to the reflect the newer Status.
If information specific to drilling the stratigraphic/structure Well Event does exists, then a new Well Event is added to accommodate the new Status and the new information.
Before 2011, the PDMS Event Status "temporarily abandoned" referred to wells that had been drilled, but were not being used, and had not been plugged. This usage differed from that of the Division of Oil and Gas (DOG), which uses an official (legal) definition set out in Indiana Code 312 IAC 16-5-20 Temporary abandonment of wells; Authority: IC 14-37-3-6; IC 14-37-8-8; Affected: IC 14-37-8-1; IC 14-37-10 Sec. 20: An owner or operator may defer plugging and abandonment for a well that has been drilled, completed, and cased for production if certain conditions are met. The conditions are specific and lengthy. For information on the legal designation and obligations of temporarily abandoned wells, please refer to the Division of Oil and Gas Website, Statute and Rules.
With respect to PDMS Event Status, the IGS no longer uses the "temporarily abandoned" designation; but instead, simply makes a notation in the Event's Comments field that a well has been officially permitted for temporary abandonment on such and such a date. If the well was classified as an oil well at the time, the Event Status remains "oil," and the Event is still considered "current" until such time as new information is received.
Although the Event Status "temporarily abandoned" is no longer used in the PDMS, the condition of temporary abandonment of a well is now indicated in the Well Symbol (in the Location Table). However, the PDMS meaning is more general than designated in the official term. For convenience, the PDMS uses the term "temporarily abandoned" to refer to wells that have been drilled, but are not being used, and have not been plugged. Thus, wells classified as "orphaned" by DOG are treated as "temporarily abandoned" wells for the purpose of assigning a Well Symbol.
So, two steps are taken when designating a well as temporarily abandoned in the PDMS.
A comment
is added to the Comments data field in the Well Event record;
Example: "Well was temporarily abandoned on 12/6/2010;" or,
"Listed in List of Orphaned Sites, 3/4/2011: Periodic Report
of Division of Oil and Gas, see Division of Oil and Gas Website <
http://www.in.gov/dnr/dnroil/2610.htm
>"
The Petroleum Well Symbol in the Well Header (Location Table) is changed to the appropriate one of the following Symbol Code values:
| TAGAS | temporarily abandoned gas well | |
| TAGS | temporarily abandoned gas storage well | |
| TANEW | temporarily abandoned new well (not previously completed) | |
| TAOBS | temporarily abandoned observation well | |
| TAOG | temporarily abandoned oil and gas well | |
| TAOIL | temporarily abandoned oil well | |
| TASTRT | temporarily abandoned structural/stratigraphic test | |
| TASWD | temporarily abandoned saltwater disposal well | |
| TAWD | temporarily abandoned waste disposal well | |
| TAWI | temporarily abandoned water injection (flood) well | |
| TAWS | temporarily abandoned water supply well |
A sump hole is a separate, deviated lateral hole, generally connected to the main lateral of a horizontal well or connected to the "straight hole" or "pilot hole." It's purpose is to allow well fluids to drain into the sump, were they will accumulate and be pumped out of the well for disposal. Sometimes the straight hole or pilot hole serves as a sump hole itself (in that case, the Event Status should be recorded as "straight hole" or "pilot hole" instead of "sump hole").
The completion status of the Well Event is unknown.
A well drilled for disposal of commercial waste. These wells were not drilled or permitted in conjunction with petroleum-related activities; however, they may be driller deeper than the petroleum wells in the local area, and therefore may be of great interest to those searching for hydrocarbon resources.
A well completed for the purpose of injecting water into a petroleum reservoir to enhance production from other nearby wells.
"Workover" is a temporary status for a newly permitted workover well. It is equivalent to the status of "location" for a newly permitted new well. It never refers to a "concluded" Well Event. After the well has been completed, the Status "workover" is replaced in the same Event Header. A new Well Event is not entered.