--> Abstract: Smoothed Oil and Gas Field Outlines Created for Six Onshore United States Areas with ArcGIS, by Samuel Limerick, Lucy Luo, Gary Long, David Morehouse, Jack Perrin, Steve Jackson, and Robert King; #90039 (2005)

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Smoothed Oil and Gas Field Outlines Created for Six Onshore United States Areas with ArcGIS

Samuel Limerick1, Lucy Luo2, Gary Long3, David Morehouse4, Jack Perrin2, Steve Jackson2, and Robert King4
1 Z Inc, Reno, NV
2 Z, Inc, Dallas, TX
3 Energy Information Administration, Dallas, TX
4 Energy Information Administration, Washington,

Oil and gas field outlines for six US basins (Denver, Wyoming Overthrust, Warrior, Appalachian, North Slope-portion, Florida Peninsula) were created using ArcGIS software as part of the Energy Information Administration's role in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA).

Field outlines were built utilizing well data tables available from state government entities and augmented with vendor data, then decimated to include only historic producers. Outlines were built by buffering wells with a radius determined from inter-well spacing within the field or reservoir. Buffers are then unioned together by field name to make a single polygon record per field. Because this results in small non-field internal "islands" and a scalloped outline appearance, an algorithm was applied to smooth these irregular boundaries while minimizing the increase in total outline area. Field outline creation and subsequent smoothing were automated by VBA programs within ArcGIS. Outlines for some states (CO/UT/WY) were checked using field outlines digitized by state agencies from hand-drawn geologic maps.

It is believed that the combined state/vendor well data sets capture the vast majority of the present and recent producing wells in most of the study areas, so the resultant outlines include current production and remaining reserve areas. One exception to this is the Appalachian Basin, where digital records have not been created for all the oldest wells. Geologic surveys in several states (OH, PA, KY) are addressing this by creating field outlines in a GIS that combines new wells and digitized old field outlines, which cover the missing well records.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005