Facts about Oil and Gas in Illinois
- There are approximately 32,100 oil and gas production
wells, 10,500 Class II Injection wells
and 1,750 gas storage well in Illinois.
- There is oil production in 40 of the 102 counties in Illinois. Most of the
oil production is located in the southern part of Illinois.
- Illinois is part of a geologic structure or province known as the Illinois
Basin. The Illinois Basin covers Illinois, western Kentucky and western Indiana.
- These wells are controlled by more than 1,500 oil operators.
- Approximately 800 drilling permits for oil, gas and injection wells are
issued each year.
- Since 1853, approximately 140,000 oil, gas and injection wells have been
drilled in Illinois
- The first wells were drilled near Champaign, Illinois in 1853. These wells
produced "swamp gas" or "drift gas" from glacial drift.
- The first oil wells were drilled in Clark and Montgomery counties in the
early 1860's.
- Commercial oil production began in Illinois in 1894.
- 181,000 barrels of oil were produced in 1905.
- Peak production occurred in Illinois between 1955 and 1963 with an average
yearly production of 80 million barrels.
- In the 1990's the average yearly production is 18 million barrels of crude
oil.
- Most oil produced in Illinois from 1894 through 1937 was production from
shallow zones (formations less than 1,000 feet). In 1937 deeper zones were
discovered (formations from 2,500 to 3,500 feet). The deepest well drilled
in Illinois was over 13,000 feet deep.
- The majority of wells in Illinois are stripper wells with a daily production
of 1 1/2 barrels of oil.
- The State of Illinois has had a program
regulating the oil and gas industry since 1939.
- The Division conducts approximately 22,000
inspections each year and initiates approximately 3,500 enforcement
actions each year.
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