The Great Lakes Basin includes portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Canada. Oil and gas production currently occurs in each of the Great Lake Basin States except in Minnesota and Wisconsin, where it is believed there are little or no oil or gas reserves. [BACK]

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) performed a National Oil and Gas Assessment (NOGA) in 1995 and is scheduled to complete another in 2005. For more information, please visit the NOGA website at: http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/oilgas/noga/nogaindex.htm

The Great Lakes Basin includes all of the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) and their respective drainage basins. Portions of the Great Lakes Basin are located in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and Ontario. (see figure below.) [BACK]

Oil and gas resources under the Great Lakes have been accessed in the past by both the United States and in Canada. Reserves under the Great Lakes may be accessed offshore via vertical drilling or onshore via directional or horizontal drilling. Vertical wells are drilled directly into the lake bottom and extended vertically downward. Directional and horizontal wells are first drilled on the shore and then extended under the lake via an angled boring.

Oil and gas resources in the U.S. are expected to be found beneath Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Reserves under the Great Lakes may be accessed offshore via vertical drilling or onshore via directional or horizontal drilling. Vertical wells are drilled directly into the lake bottom and extended vertically downward. Directional and horizontal wells are first drilled on the shore and then extended under the lake via an angled boring.

No. Further oil and gas exploration and drilling is not currently allowed in U.S. waters. However, wells drilled under the Great Lakes in the past remain operational. There is currently a moratorium in the U.S. on all oil and gas drilling under the Great Lakes. Section 503 of the Energy and Water Appropriations (EWA) of 2002 established a 2-year moratorium on all Federal and state permits and leases for gas and oil drilling in, or under the Great Lakes.

U.S. EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office is a very good place to start when looking for information about the Great Lakes. They have many resources, including information about each lake. In particular, the Great Lakes Atlas provides comprehensive information about the history, ecosystem, environmental concerns, and joint management of the Lakes. Paper copies of the Atlas are also available. U.S.

There are 385 named oil and gas fields in the State (as of April 2003), and wells have also been drilled in areas between fields or in areas in which fields have not yet been named. Contact our Oil and Gas Section geologists for more information.

The West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection's Office of Oil and Gas has regulatory authority over oil and gas wells drilled and produced in the State.

Production (or injection) information on oil and gas wells can be found by clicking here. This is the Division's online production/injection (OPI) program that allows monthly production/injection information by well from 1977 to present to be viewed. Totals by field, operator, and lease can also be obtained, with the capability of saving that information into an Excel spreadsheet.

The water levels of the Great Lakes have long-term, annual, and short-term variations. Long-term variations depend on the precipitation and water storage over many years. Annual variations occur with the changing seasons. There is an annual high in the late spring and low in the winter. These changes occur at a rate that can be measured in feet per month.

Estimates of amounts of methane gas in the Powder River Basin vary and are often re-calculated. There are several methods to estimate the amount of recoverable gas from a coal seam, all having varying degrees of accuracy. According to the U. S. Geological Survey (2001), the amount of recoverable CBM in the Powder River Basin ranges from 8.24 - 22.42 TCF. The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (2002) estimates 31.8 TCF of recoverable CBM in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming alone.

Potential oil and gas reserves are located beneath Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, and throughout the Great Lakes Basin. [BACK]

The Great Lakes have also served as a valuable shipping lane for large cargo ships transporting goods to and from cities around the perimeters of the lakes. Recently the U.S. Congress has shown interest in reviving the declining shipping industry. Consequently, it funded the Army Corps of Engineers to update the 1985 Connecting Harbors and Channels study to explore the possibility of increasing commercial navigation in the Great Lakes.

Individuals may contact the Division of Oil and Gas at (614) 265-6922 or the Division of Geological Survey at (614) 265-6576 to obtain information regarding any past or current drilling/production on or near their property or within their county. More detailed information would have to be obtained from professional consultants and individuals experienced in developing oil/gas resources in the private sector.

Contact the Division of Oil and Gas at (614) 265-6922 and request the RBDMS database. It requires a minimum of Windows 95, is driven by MS-ACCESS software and is available on CD-ROM for $15.00. It can be updated over the Internet.

Look at your check stubs for a heading that says "Gross Volume" or "Gross Production Volume." This will give you the production for that month. If you want historical production, check the appropriate state agency web site found under Links or call IHS Energy Group at 1-800-468-3381. IHS Energy Group can provide historical production data for a fee.

There are three primary taxes on Utah production: Conservation, Severance, and Property (Ad Valorem) taxes. Click here for a more detailed description of Utah's production taxes. If additional information is needed, please contact the Utah State Tax Commission.

Great Lakes shorelines are important habitat for fish, birds, and other plants and animals. About 75% of Great Lakes fish species use coastal wetlands for some portion of their life cycles; thus their populations are linked to the condition of the coastal margins.

The Great Divide Basin is a unique area along Wyomings portion of the Continental Divide, where the Divide splits in two and rejoins to create a 2.5 million acre desert basin. There are no water channels leaving the Basin and minimal precipitation entering this ecosystem. Any precipitation within Great Divide Basin is absorbed or evaporates through a series of alkali flats or salt lakes.

Elsewhere on our Web site, you can check the list of publications for our county-based oil and gas reports, summary data and drilling statistics, counts of available well data, or counties at a glance. Or, contact our Oil and Gas Section geologists. Several public and academic libraries in West Virginia maintain some of our publications in their collections; check with your library for availability.

Oil production totaled 42,692 barrels from 18 producing wells in 2007, down from 54,807 barrels from 20 wells in 2006. Gas production totaled 650 million cubic feet from 7 producing gas wells, up from 608 million cubic feet from 7 wells in 2006. No CO2 was produced in 2007. There was one active disposal well and 23 shut-in wells at yearend including 20 oil, 1 gas, 1 CO2, and 2 disposal wells.

There are about 190 public beaches along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan and Lake Superior coastline. About 113 of these beaches are regularly monitored.

Our products can be viewed in our online catalog or contact our sales department to arrange a visit to our showroom in Grand Rapids or our booth at an industry tradeshow.

In 1985 the International Joint Commission identified the most severely degraded areas around the Great Lakes. These 43 "Areas of Concern" were areas where there were problems with contaminated sediments, degraded fish and wildlife habitat, restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption and impaired beaches. The 1987 Protocol provided for the development of Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) by the Canadian and American governments to restore water quality in the Areas of Concern.

One of the goals of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was to make the waters "drinkable", "swimmable" and "fishable". The International Joint Commission, (IJC), is required to report on progress towards the goals of the agreement every two years.

The Great Lakes Fleet Experiment will involve NASA, AirDat, Mesaba Airlines, NOAA/National Weather Service, and NOAA/Forecast Systems Laboratory. AirDat will manufacture 64 TAMDAR units for Mesaba Airlines to install on their Saab 340 aircraft. AirDat will downlink the observations to AirDat, Mesaba Airlines, and the Forecast Systems Laboratory. AirDat and FSL will format the data into web pages. The FSL will also send TAMDAR data to NWS offices for display on AWIPS workstations.

Pennsylvania's Great Lakes Prospector is a website that allows users to identify available commercial property in . The website also provides data including workforce demographics, business information, and interactive maps. The data is created and displayed using a Geographic Information System (GIS) that combines layers of information in order to better understand comprehensive details about a specific location and is powered by GIS Planning's ZoomProspector software.

Permits to drill or plug wells are issued to entities registered with the Division of Oil and Gas upon verification that (1) the applicant's registration filings are current and the applicant is in good standing with the Division (no major outstanding violations to Ohio's oil and gas law); (2) the appropriate forms and fees are submitted; and (3) the application for permit meets all statutory requirements.

Township maps of oil and gas wells are available for purchase from the Division of Geological Survey. Cost per map is $4.00 and they may be ordered by calling (614) 265-6576.