monitoring enforcement actions, and respond- dry hole ing to citizen complaints regarding oil and gas producing related operations. The section consists of a oil well OIL AND GAS Field Inspection Manager and nine Oil and Gas Inspectors. IN INDIANA anticline Orphaned and Abandoned Sites: Responsible for reviewing abandoned well sites shale seal for inclusion in a statewide list of sites qualifying oil for state closure action. The program manag- water sandstone es projects for well closure and site remedia- tion work on improperly abandoned oil and gas shale seal production facilities. Funding for the program is oil provided through annual well fees paid by In- water limestone diana operators, civil penalty assessments and forfeited bonds. Geologic cross-section Our Website For more information on the Division of Oil & Gas or the oil and gas industry in Indiana, see: INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOUCES dnr.IN.gov/dnroil Division of Oil & Gas Indianapolis Office 402 W. Washington St., W293 Indianapolis, IN 46204 Phone: 317-232-4055 Oil and Gas Fields of Indiana Rusty Retherford, Director [email protected] (Gas wells shown in red, oil wells in green, gas-storage wells in yellow.) Jim AmRhein, Asst. Director, Compliance and Enforcement Source: Indiana Geological and Water Survey [email protected] Beth Hernly, Assistant Director of Technical Services [email protected] Evansville Office 8215 Pollack Ave. DIVISION OF Evansville, IN 47715 OIL & GAS Phone: 812-853-8640 Fax: 812-853-8648 INDIANA Kevin York, Field Inspection Manager, [email protected] Our Mission: Encouraging the responsible development of Division of Oil & Gas Indiana’s oil and gas in a manner that is protective of public 317-232-4055 Drilling rig health and safety, and the environment dnr.IN.gov/dnroil HISTORY OF INDIANA’S OIL AND GAS FIELDS Chester Township, Wells County. Peak production Indiana’s natural gas was reached in 1904 and by 1906 a sharp decline production was 5.95 Trenton Field in production had begun. million MCF (thou- The oil and natural gas industry has been an im- sand cubic feet). As portant part of Indiana’s economy since 1886 when The Trenton Formation containing oil and natural a state, Indiana is significant quantities of gas were discovered in a gas is an Ordovician age limestone of an average ranked 26th in over- well drilled near Eaton in Delaware County. This thickness of 100’ and found at an average depth of all natural gas pro- discovery touched off a major “gas boom” from the 900’ in 21 counties in Indiana. duction in the U.S. Crude oil tank battery Trenton Field in east central Indiana that lasted until around 1910 by which time the gas had been Southwestern Indiana Fields The Division of Oil and Gas depleted by wasteful production methods. Crude oil is thought to have been first discovered Created in 1947, the Division of Oil and Gas is in commercial quantities in 1889 from a well drilled responsible for administering Indiana’s laws per- The natural gas from the Trenton Field played an in the center of Terre Haute although it wasn’t un- taining to the production of oil and natural gas. important role in attracting manufacturing interests til around 1940 that significant oil production be- These laws regulate petroleum exploration and to cities and towns throughout east-central Indi- gan in the oil fields of production operations including: well spacing, ana including Anderson, Muncie, Marion, Kokomo, southwestern Indiana. exploration, permitting, drilling, completion, pro- Peru, and Gas City. duction, plugging, and abandonment operations; The southwestern oil underground injection of fluids for enhanced oil Commercial crude oil production in the Trenton and gas fields are part recovery or for production fluid disposal; and the Field began in 1889 from a well near Keystone, of the Illinois Basin underground storage of natural gas or other pe- which also extends troleum products in underground formations. into Illinois and West- Crude oil pumping unit ern Kentucky. In Indi- The Division is organized into the following three ana, it consists predominately of sandstone res- program areas: ervoirs generally between 1,000’ to 3,000’ depths. Permitting and Compliance: Unlike the broad Trenton Field, oil and gas may Responsible for reviewing permit applications, be found in as many as 25 individual reservoirs, conducting file reviews of existing Class II injec- separated vertically or laterally, in one field. In all, tion wells, provides technical assistance to indus- more than 900 individual reservoirs are recog- try and the public, manages the division’s data nized in approximately 500 fields in southwestern processing system, reviews requests for well Indiana. spacing and drilling unit exceptions, develops di- vision programs, and prepares technical and rule Major production from the southwestern Indiana documents for consideration and promulgation. oil fields progressed rapidly following a 1938 dis- This section consists of an Assistant Director , covery in the Griffin Pool along the Wabash River and three Petroleum Geologists. in Gibson County. Field Services: Current Production Responsible for conducting site inspections, Old Trenton well drilled in the late 1800s In 2017, Indiana’s crude oil production was 1.78 witnessing well testing, plugging and abandon- million bbls. As a state, Indiana is ranked 23rd in ment operations, responding to and investigat- overall crude oil production in the U.S. In 2017, ing oil and produced water spills, initiating and .