Fact Sheet Commonwealth of • Department of Environmental Protection Oil and Gas Well Drilling and Production in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has the proud heritage of being the Commonwealth. Oil fields are generally the first place in the world where a limited to a swath from Washington and Beaver commercially successful well was drilled for oil Counties on the Ohio border, to Warren and production. Edwin Drake drilled the first well in McKean Counties on the border (see 1859 in Venango County, near Titusville. DCNR Map 10). Paraffin-based “Pennsylvania Grade” crude oil REGULATION is renowned for its lubricating qualities. More than 350,000 oil and gas wells have been With passage of The Oil and Gas Act in 1984 drilled in Pennsylvania since that time. (58 P.S. §601.101 et seq.), Pennsylvania modernized environmental controls and In Drake’s time, the main use for oil was to resource management for development of make for lamps and stoves. Now crude oil and natural gas. Like previous laws, and natural gas fuel our modern this Act required that all new wells be permitted world – providing transportation, heating, by the Commonwealth before drilling. In electricity, and petrochemicals for addition, it required registration of any existing manufacturing. Natural gas is used mainly for well not previously permitted, and established heating buildings and producing electricity at bonding requirements for wells. The power plants, but it also fuels some vehicle Department of Environmental Protection’s Oil fleets. and Gas Management Program develops and In the late 1800s Pennsylvania was the leading enforces regulations for the bonding, permitting, producer of oil. Now, oil production is a trickle and registration of wells; environmental compared to the rest of the nation. However, requirements for drilling operations, waste Pennsylvania remains a significant producer of disposal, cementing and casing of wells; and natural gas in the northeastern United States, proper plugging of wells upon abandonment. but the Commonwealth consumes much more The Commonwealth does not get involved in natural gas than we produce. the regulation of production or wellhead sales, and does not tax production or the value of oil In 2005 Pennsylvania produced about and gas properties. Some county governments 3.6 million barrels of crude oil (1 barrel = assess taxes on (projected revenues from) oil 42 gallons), and 168 billion cubic feet of natural and gas property. gas. Most oil wells in the state produce only a few barrels of oil per week, and average gas PERMITTING well production is less than 11 Mcf (thousand To drill a new oil or gas well in Pennsylvania, cubic feet) of natural gas per day (that’s about the operator must post a bond and get a well enough gas to fuel one all-gas household for a permit from the Department of Environmental month). Though production per well isn’t much, Protection (DEP). In the permit application, the nationwide these stripper wells are an important applicant must show the location, proximity to part of our domestic energy supply because coal seams, distances from surface waters and there are hundreds of thousands of stripper water supplies. Technical staff in DEP’s wells producing oil and gas in the United Regional Offices review the permit application States. to determine whether the proposed well would Oil and gas fields in Pennsylvania typically lie to cause environmental impacts, conflict with coal the west and north of the Allegheny Front; that mine operations, or well spacing requirements. is west and north of a line from Somerset An oil and gas operator who plans to drill a County in the southwest to Bradford County in group of wells that will disturb five or more the north central part of the state. However, acres over the life of the project, must apply to recent interest extends to the eastern border of DEP for a separate permit for storm water management. This “disturbed area” includes staff hold workshops for industry and will meet well sites and associated roads, pipelines, and with applicants as needed to address storage areas to be constructed. environmental matters before well site construction begins. The affected surface landowner and coal deep- mine operator have the opportunity to file an OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS objection about the location of the well. If Brine is the general term used for wastewater DEP’s permitting staff find that no adverse produced along with oil or gas; it can be very impacts would result, the operator will receive a salty, therefore, injurious to plants and aquatic permit to drill the well. life. Because of the small volumes of oil or gas OIL AND GAS WELL BONDS from most wells, and the sometimes large volumes of brine produced, the costs of proper Wells drilled in Pennsylvania after April 17, waste handling and disposal can be the biggest 1985, must be bonded. The bond is a financial factor in the cost of production. Finding low incentive to ensure that the operator will cost methods of waste management is very adequately perform the drilling operations, important to the economics of oil and gas address any water supply problems the drilling production in Pennsylvania, particularly for oil activity may cause, reclaim the well site, and production. DEP’s Bureau of Oil and Gas properly plug the well upon abandonment. The Management is working with the oil and gas bond amount for a single well is $2,500; a industry and federal agencies to research blanket bond to cover any number of wells effective, economical means for disposal of is $25,000. wastes resulting from drilling and production. MONITORING In recent years, DEP conducted research DEP Field Operations staff inspect well sites to funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection ensure that the operator sites and drills the well Agency (EPA) to find effective methods of according to the permit and applicable laws. reclaiming unlined pits that were used to DEP staff also investigate complaints where an contain brine from oil wells, a historically oil or gas well or drilling activity may be causing common practice. Another project researched environmental or public safety concerns, the environmental impacts of spreading gas especially when contamination of a drinking well brine on dirt roads for dust suppression. water supply is suspected. This is a current common practice of reusing DEP inspects well sites from construction to the brine in a beneficial way instead of disposal reclamation to ensure that the site has proper in a deep well or treatment plant. Evaluation of erosion controls in place, and that any waste other waste management methods is ongoing; generated in drilling and completing the well for example, using gas well brine to pre-wet was properly handled and disposed of. Also, road salt for de-icing. well operators are required to submit a variety In the years before the need for well plugging of reports regarding well drilling, completion, was realized, or laws enforced, many oil and production, waste disposal, and well plugging. gas wells were abandoned without being When called for, DEP employs progressive properly plugged. This problem is especially enforcement against well operators to ensure acute in Pennsylvania because of the history of that facilities are brought into compliance. oil and gas production leaving thousands of COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE abandoned wells, some dating from the 1800s. For most of the long abandoned wells, the In addition to permitting and enforcement, responsible parties are also long gone. These DEP’s Oil and Gas Management Program staff wells are called orphan wells. Now with funds works to instruct and advise well drillers and derived from permit application fees and operators on best management practices and Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener program, procedures for environmental controls and every year DEP plugs hundreds of abandoned waste management. Compliance assistance or orphan wells that are safety or environmental helps to prevent future incidents of hazards. environmental damage. DEP’s Oil and Gas

For more information about oil and gas drilling PA Department of Environmental Protection and production in Pennsylvania, please contact Oil and Gas Management Program one of the offices listed below. Production Northwest Regional Office information reported by well operators is held 230 Chestnut Street confidential for five years, as required by the Oil Meadville, PA 16335-3481 and Gas Act. Phone: 814-332-6860 Fax: 814-332-6121 PA Department of Environmental Protection For archival and geologic information and Bureau of Oil and Gas Management production histories, please contact: P.O. Box 8765 PA Department of Conservation and Natural Harrisburg, PA 17105-8765 Resources Phone: 717-772-2199 Fax: 717-772-2291 Topographic and Geologic Survey PA Department of Environmental Protection 400 Waterfront Drive Oil and Gas Management Program , PA 15222-4745 Southwest Regional Office Phone: 412-442-4235 Fax: 412-442-4298 400 Waterfront Drive Web link for directions: Pittsburgh, PA 15222-4745 http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/loc.htm Phone: 412-442-4024 Fax: 412-442-4328

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA - OIL & GAS OFFICES DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

For more information, visit DEP’s Web site at www.depweb.state.pa.us, Keyword: “Oil and Gas.”

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Edward G. Rendell, Governor Kathleen A. McGinty, Secretary An Equal Opportunity Employer 5500-FS-DEP2018 Rev. 4/2007