DEEP WELLS IN NEW YORK STATE 1 
By 
W. Lynn Kreidler, Senior Scientist, Geology 
Arthur M. Van Tyne, Scientist, Geology 
Kathie M. Jorgensen, Junior Scientist, Geology 
INTRODUCTION 
This bulletin updates and supplements infor¬ 
mation on deep wells and areas of gas production 
in New York State published in New York State 
Museum and Science Service Bulletins 373 and 
390. 
The major gas production has been from the 
Ordovician Trenton Limestone, the Silurian Me¬ 
dina Sandstone, and the Devonian Oriskany 
Sandstone. Minor gas production has come from 
the Cambrian Potsdam Sandstone and Theresa 
dolostones and sandstones, Ordovician Queens- 
ton Shale, Silurian Lockport Dolostone, Salina- 
Onondaga limestones, and from various shallow 
Devonian reservoir beds above the Onondaga 
Formation. Gas in commercial quantities was 
discovered in an Onondaga-Edgecliff reef in 1967, 
and two more Edgecliff reefs were discovered 
in 1971; these are in Steuben County. 
Since 1950, records of gas drilling activities 
(Oriskany wells or deeper) have been compiled, 
tabulated, and stored in the New York State Edu¬ 
cation Department’s computer. These well loca¬ 
tions, shown on accompanying maps, can serve 
as an aid to further oil and gas exploration in New 
York State. 
W. Lynn Kreidler, senior scientist, geology, 
supervised the assembling and processing of 
well data presented in this bulletin. He planned 
the map plates, organized the text, and interpreted 
the Oriskany subsurface data. The concept of 
automatic data processing of New York well rec¬ 
ords was proposed by Kreidler in 1965. 
Arthur M. Van Tyne, scientist, geology, in 
charge of the Wellsville office of the State Geo¬ 
logical Survey, gathered a significant portion of 
the oil and gas drilling data presented here. His 
structure mapping permitted an improved de¬ 
lineation of the Clarendon-Linden structure shown 
on Plate IB. He interpreted Oriskany subsurface 
data in Western New York. 
Kathie M. Jorgensen, junior scientist, geology, 
was responsible for extraction of well records 
included in this bulletin, format of the well rec¬ 
ords as computer output, preparation of com¬ 
puter well location maps for the drafting of plates 
and detail maps of closely-spaced well areas. 
‘Submitted for publication February 3, 1972. 
1 
