Kentucky
Oil and gas well permits and records
In Kentucky, the Division of Oil and Gas of the Department for Natural Resources, in the Energy and Environment Cabinet, oversees the permitting, inspection and reclamation of the crude oil and natural gas industry. An Application for Permit must be filed with the division before a well is drilled, deepened or re-opened for the production of natural gas or crude oil, for water supply for enhanced recovery, or for injection into a reservoir for enhanced recovery. A permit is also required to drill a stratigraphic test hole, or to operate a well under violation whose previous operator's bond has been forfeited.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 does not name oil and gas well records among its standard record sources. On a property in or near an oil or gas field they are the record of what was drilled and how it was plugged.
- Some wells are unknown. The division says approximately 13,000 known abandoned wells are found in Kentucky's oil and gas fields, and that many more unknown oil and gas wells are present. The absence of a well record does not show the absence of a well.
- A well's file has three main records. The division says a well typically has three records submitted to it: the Affidavit of Well Log and Completion Report (Form OG-3), the Affidavit to Time and Manner of Plugging and Filling Well (Form OG-38), and, if applicable, a copy of the electric log. For a plugged well, the plugging affidavit is the document to ask for.
- Tanks at a well site are posted. The division requires operators to post danger signs in a prominent location on all storage facilities and tank batteries, active or abandoned, under 805 KAR 1:160.
- Reclamation is required. Since 1994, well site reclamation has been required on all severed mineral leases, after drilling and again at the end of the well's life once it has been plugged. Since 2015, site reclamation plans are required for all new wells permitted after June 24, 2015, and an inspector checks the reclaimed location.
What the record shows
The division reviews the well records, enters them into its Oil and Gas RBDMS database, and forwards them to imaging for scanning and digital storage. Copies go to the Kentucky Geological Survey for its publicly available database. A shut-in oil, gas or injection well can be classified as Temporarily Abandoned under a permit of up to two years, which may be renewed. Under the Testing Permit Program (KRS 353.588), an operator may enter an abandoned well for 60 days to test it; a well the operator does not take under its bond is returned to the State Plugging List.
Where to look a site up
- The division links the Kentucky Geological Survey's publicly available database of well records.
- The division's Oil & Gas Resources page links an Abandoned Wells spreadsheet, which it describes as listing abandoned wells as of July 22, 2026, and Permit Lists, which it says hold information for each permit such as the operator name, permit number, lease name, well number and well location. It also links spud reports and transfer reports. This handbook did not open the files.
- The division's main office is at 300 Sower Blvd, 4th Floor, Frankfort, KY 40601, phone 502-573-0147.
Getting the file
The division's page links the Cabinet's Open Records page. The Cabinet takes requests by email to EEC.KORA@ky.gov, with as much detail as possible about the records sought, and has a request form for the Department for Natural Resources. Name the well's permit number if known, and ask for the completion report and plugging affidavit. Only residents of the Commonwealth, as the Open Records page defines them, may request to inspect public records.
Sources
Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet pages, read October 12, 2026, no modified date shown: