PA DEP Oil and Gas Well Data Skill

Queries Pennsylvania DEP unconventional and conventional oil and gas well data via the PA Open Data portal (Socrata) and the PA DEP GIS REST services.

API Key Handling

No API key required for basic queries. For high-volume requests, register a free app token at https://data.pa.gov/ to avoid throttling.

Optional app token header:

-H "X-App-Token: YOUR_APP_TOKEN"

Data Sources and API Structure

Source 1: PA Open Data — Unconventional Wells (Primary)

Endpoint: https://data.pa.gov/resource/nfax-tpjr.json

Covers Marcellus, Utica, and other unconventional (horizontal) wells. ~30,000+ permits since 2008.

Source 2: PA Open Data — Conventional Wells

Endpoint: https://data.pa.gov/resource/e3er-typed.json

Covers vertical conventional oil and gas wells. 300,000+ historical records.

Source 3: PA DEP ArcGIS REST (Spatial Queries)

Endpoint: https://gis.dep.pa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/DEP_Public/OilGas/MapServer

Use for bounding-box spatial queries.

Workflow

Step 1 — Resolve Intent

User Intent	Source	Query Pattern
Unconventional wells by county	Socrata nfax-tpjr	`county_name='SUSQUEHANNA'`
Count by operator	Socrata nfax-tpjr	`$select=operator_name,count(*)&$group=operator_name`
Recent permits	Socrata nfax-tpjr	`$order=permit_issue_date DESC`
Conventional historical	Socrata e3er-typed	Different schema
Spatial bounding box	ArcGIS REST	`geometry=bbox&geometryType=envelope`

Step 2 — Fetch Data (Unconventional)

# Wells in Susquehanna County
curl -s "https://data.pa.gov/resource/nfax-tpjr.json?\$where=county_name='SUSQUEHANNA'&\$limit=100&\$order=spud_date+DESC" \
  -H "Accept: application/json"

# Count wells by county statewide
curl -s "https://data.pa.gov/resource/nfax-tpjr.json?\$select=county_name,count(*)&\$group=county_name&\$order=count+DESC&\$limit=67"

# Filter by operator
curl -s "https://data.pa.gov/resource/nfax-tpjr.json?\$where=operator_name+like+'%25EQT%25'&\$limit=50"

# Active Marcellus wells with coordinates
curl -s "https://data.pa.gov/resource/nfax-tpjr.json?\$where=well_status='Active'&\$select=api_number,well_name,operator_name,county_name,municipality_name,latitude,longitude,spud_date,primary_target_formation&\$limit=200"

# Permits issued in last year
curl -s "https://data.pa.gov/resource/nfax-tpjr.json?\$where=permit_issue_date>'2024-01-01'&\$order=permit_issue_date+DESC&\$limit=100"

Step 3 — Fetch Data (ArcGIS REST)

# Get layer list
curl -s "https://gis.dep.pa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/DEP_Public/OilGas/MapServer?f=json" \
  | jq '.layers[] | {id, name}'

# Spatial query — wells within bounding box (southwestern PA)
curl -s "https://gis.dep.pa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/DEP_Public/OilGas/MapServer/0/query" \
  --data-urlencode "geometry=-80.5,39.7,-79.5,40.2" \
  --data-urlencode "geometryType=esriGeometryEnvelope" \
  --data-urlencode "spatialRel=esriSpatialRelIntersects" \
  --data-urlencode "outFields=*" \
  --data-urlencode "resultRecordCount=50" \
  --data-urlencode "f=json"

Step 4 — Parse Response

Key fields for unconventional wells (Socrata nfax-tpjr):

Field	Description	Example
`api_number`	API well number	37-115-2XXXXX
`permit_number`	PA DEP permit	115-XXXXX
`well_name`	Well name	SMITH 1H
`operator_name`	Operator company	EQT PRODUCTION CO
`county_name`	County (uppercase)	SUSQUEHANNA
`municipality_name`	Township/borough	AUBURN TOWNSHIP
`latitude` / `longitude`	WGS84 coordinates	41.87 / -76.12
`spud_date`	Spud date (ISO)	2022-03-15
`permit_issue_date`	Permit date (ISO)	2022-01-10
`well_status`	Active/Inactive/Abandoned/Plugged	Active
`primary_target_formation`	Target formation	MARCELLUS
`unconventional_well_ind`	Y/N flag	Y

Step 5 — Output

## PA DEP Well Query Results

**Query:** Unconventional wells in Susquehanna County, PA
**Records returned:** 847

### Top Operators (by well count)
| Operator | Wells |
|----------|-------|
| CABOT OIL AND GAS | 312 |
| SOUTHWESTERN ENERGY | 198 |
| WPX ENERGY | 87 |

### Well Summary Table (most recent 10)
| Well Name | Operator | Municipality | Spud Date | Status |
|-----------|----------|-------------|-----------|--------|
| SMITH 1H | CABOT | AUBURN TWP | 2023-05-12 | Active |
...

**Data source:** PA DEP via data.pa.gov (Socrata). Unconventional well
dataset covers permits issued 2008–present. Well status as of last update.

Socrata SoQL Reference

SoQL (Socrata Query Language) supports standard SQL-like syntax:

$where    — filter clause (SQL WHERE)
$select   — column selection and aggregation
$group    — GROUP BY for aggregations
$order    — ORDER BY (field ASC/DESC)
$limit    — result limit (max 50,000)
$offset   — pagination offset
$q        — full-text search

Operators in $where:

=, !=, <, >, <=, >=
like '%TERM%' — substring match
IS NULL, IS NOT NULL
AND, OR

Date comparison: use ISO format '2024-01-01T00:00:00' or '2024-01-01'

Error Handling

Condition	Meaning	Action
HTTP 400 with "Invalid SoQL"	Malformed WHERE clause	Check quoting: strings need single quotes
Empty array `[]`	No records match	Broaden filter or check county name spelling (UPPERCASE)
HTTP 429	Throttled	Add X-App-Token header (free registration at data.pa.gov)
Missing field for some records	Field null for older wells	Note that older conventional records may lack lat/lon
ArcGIS HTTP 499	Spatial service timeout	Reduce bounding box or use Socrata instead

County Name Reference (Marcellus Counties)

PA county names in this dataset are stored uppercase:

County	Code	Notes
SUSQUEHANNA	115	Highest Marcellus well count
BRADFORD	015	Major Marcellus area
TIOGA	117	Northern Marcellus
LYCOMING	081	Active Marcellus area
WASHINGTON	125	SW PA, Marcellus + Utica
GREENE	059	SW PA, deep Utica target
WESTMORELAND	129	SW PA transition zone

Caveats

Data reflects PA DEP permit records; production volumes are not included in this dataset. For production data, contact PA DEP directly or use EIA.
Spud dates may be null for permits that were issued but never drilled.
Operator names are reported as-of permit; corporate mergers may cause the same physical operator to appear under multiple names.
Coordinates are well pad surface locations, not bottomhole targets.
For WV wells, use pnge:wvges-wells instead.

padep-wells