Mike Dorland

Ontario’s Legacy Oil & Natural Gas Well Specialist

Specializing in legacy wells, historical oil and natural gas wells, private natural gas wells, well locating, well plugging, and regulatory assistance across Ontario.

Professional Geoscientist (Ontario) | Certified Engineering Technologist (C.E.T.) | Ministry-Recognized Examiner

Need Help With a Legacy Oil or Natural Gas Well?

If you have found a legacy well, are researching a property, planning a development, dealing with a private natural gas well, or simply aren’t sure what the records mean, feel free to contact me.

Sometimes a review of the available information is enough to point you in the right direction. Other situations require more detailed historical research or field investigation.

Either way, the first step is understanding what you have.

Why Clients Choose Mike Dorland

Legacy oil and natural gas wells are a specialized field.

Investigating them can involve much more than checking a government database or looking at a point on a map.

Depending on the property and the issue involved, an investigation may require a combination of:

• Historical drilling records
• Government petroleum well files
• Petroleum geology
• Historical aerial photography
• Land registry research
• GIS analysis and mapping
• Field investigations
• Magnetic surveys and interpretation
• Well construction knowledge
• Plugging and abandonment experience
• Knowledge of Ontario petroleum regulations

Every property and every legacy well is different.

My goal is to provide clear, practical and defensible advice so that landowners, developers and other professionals understand what they are dealing with and can make informed decisions.

Legacy Oil & Natural Gas Wells in Ontario

If you’ve found an old oil or natural gas well on your property—or government records show a legacy well on or near your property—you probably have questions.

Is the well actually there? Is the mapped location accurate? Can you build near it? Was it properly plugged? Who is responsible for it? What are the regulatory requirements?

Ontario has a long history of oil and natural gas development, and thousands of legacy oil and natural gas wells remain across the province. Some are clearly visible and well documented. Others were plugged decades ago, buried, inaccurately mapped, or have become difficult to locate as the landscape changed around them.

Legacy wells can become important when buying or selling property, planning a subdivision or other development, completing an environmental assessment, constructing infrastructure, or dealing with an unexpected well discovered in the field.

If you need help understanding a legacy well or historical petroleum issue, I can help determine what you’re dealing with and what your next steps should be.

 

Frequently Asked Questions About Legacy Oil & Natural Gas Wells in Ontario

What Is a Legacy Oil or Natural Gas Well?

A legacy well is a broad term commonly used to describe an older oil or natural gas well remaining from historical petroleum exploration and production.

Ontario has one of the oldest petroleum industries in North America, with wells dating back to the 1800s. As a result, legacy wells can vary considerably in age, construction, condition and regulatory status.

A legacy well may be active, inactive, plugged, abandoned, buried or, in some cases, poorly documented.

Some remain clearly visible at the surface. Others have disappeared beneath farmland, roads, buildings or other development.

The term legacy well by itself does not tell you whether a particular well presents a problem. The important questions are where the well is actually located, its history and status, how it was constructed or plugged, and whether it affects the current or proposed use of the property.

I Found an Old or Legacy Gas Well on My Property. What Should I Do?

First, don’t assume that finding an old well means you have a serious problem. Legacy oil and natural gas wells are found on properties throughout parts of Ontario, and many have existed for decades without incident.

However, avoid disturbing, cutting, covering, excavating around or attempting to modify a suspected petroleum well until you understand what it is.

Take photographs and make note of its location. Record any markings, pipes, valves, casing or other equipment that may help identify the well.

Not everything that looks like an old gas well is necessarily a petroleum well. Water wells and other buried infrastructure can sometimes look similar.

The next step is normally to determine whether the well can be identified in historical petroleum records and establish its known status. Depending on the circumstances, a site inspection or additional investigation may be appropriate.

If there is evidence of escaping gas, oil, unusual odours or another immediate safety concern, keep people away from the area and seek appropriate assistance.

The important first step is identifying what you actually have before deciding what needs to be done.

How Do I Know if There Is a Legacy Oil or Natural Gas Well on My Property?

Start with the available petroleum well records, but don’t necessarily stop there.

Thousands of oil and natural gas wells have been drilled in Ontario. Many are well documented, while the locations and histories of some older legacy wells can be more difficult to establish.

A historical or legacy well search may involve reviewing:

• Government petroleum well records
• Original well and drilling files
• Historical maps
• Historical aerial photographs
• Property and land registry information
• Geological information
• Previous investigations
• Evidence observed in the field

Some wells remain clearly visible. Others have been buried beneath farmland, vegetation, roads, buildings or newer development.

Where the existence or location of a legacy well is important to a property purchase, environmental investigation or development project, additional research and field investigation may be appropriate.

How Accurate Are Ontario’s Legacy Well Maps?

Ontario’s petroleum well maps are an extremely useful resource, but a mapped legacy well location should not automatically be assumed to represent the exact location of the well on the ground.

Many older wells were drilled and surveyed decades before GPS. Historical locations may have been established using older surveying and mapping methods and later converted into modern coordinate systems.

Changes to roads, property boundaries, lot descriptions and the surrounding landscape can create additional challenges when interpreting historical records.

For preliminary research, government mapping is an excellent starting point.

Where the exact location of a legacy well is important—for example, for a subdivision, building, road, utility or other development—additional historical research and field verification may be necessary.

A point on a map is evidence of a well location. It is not always proof of the well’s exact location.

Can a Legacy Well Be Buried and No Longer Visible?

Yes.

A historical oil or natural gas well can exist even when there is no obvious evidence of it at the surface.

Over decades, wells may become obscured by farming, grading, filling, road construction, landscaping, vegetation or development. Surface equipment may have been removed, and in some cases casing may have been cut below ground level.

This is one reason a visual inspection alone cannot always determine whether a historical well exists on a property.

Where historical records indicate a legacy well but nothing is visible at the surface, historical research can be combined with field investigation and magnetic surveying to help determine its actual location.

How Are Legacy Oil & Natural Gas Wells Located?

Locating a legacy well often begins at a desk and ends in the field.

The first step is usually to gather as much historical information as possible. This can include government well files, original drilling records, maps, aerial photographs, property information and GIS analysis.

The historical information can then be compared with today’s landscape to establish a likely search area.

Field methods may include:

• Visual inspection
• GPS surveying
• Handheld magnetic surveys
• Drone magnetic surveys
• Selective excavation or exposure where appropriate

Steel well casing can produce a magnetic response, making magnetic surveying particularly useful when a legacy well has been cut off or buried below ground.

The best results usually come from combining historical research with appropriate field methods rather than relying on any one technique.

Why Are Legacy Wells Sometimes Difficult to Find?

A well drilled 50, 100 or even 150 years ago may bear little relationship to what the property looks like today.

Over time, wells can become obscured by:

• Agricultural activity
• Grading and filling
• Road construction
• Buildings and development
• Vegetation
• Landscaping
• Removal or burial of surface equipment

The original well location may also have been recorded using historical surveying and mapping methods that do not provide the accuracy we expect from modern GPS.

Property boundaries, roads and landmarks may also have changed considerably.

A legacy well can therefore exist even when there is nothing obvious visible at the surface.

This is why historical research is an important part of determining where to look before beginning a field search.

What Is a Historical or Legacy Well Search?

A historical or legacy well search is an investigation into whether oil or natural gas wells are known or suspected to exist on or near a property.

The scope depends on the property and the reason for the investigation.

A search may include:

• Government petroleum well databases
• Original well files
• Historical drilling records
• Historical maps and plans
• Aerial photography
• GIS analysis
• Property and land registry information
• Geological information

Where records alone cannot provide sufficient confidence, the investigation can progress to field work, which may include visual inspection, GPS positioning, magnetic surveying or other appropriate methods.

The objective is not simply to find dots on a map. It is to develop the best possible understanding of the property’s petroleum history and determine whether legacy wells may affect the property or proposed development.

Can I Build Over or Near a Legacy Well?

This needs to be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The answer can depend on the well’s actual location, its status and condition, how and when it was plugged, the proposed development, and applicable regulatory requirements.

A legacy well described as “abandoned” or “plugged” in historical records should not automatically be assumed to present no development considerations. Plugging methods and regulatory requirements have changed considerably over the history of Ontario’s petroleum industry.

Before designing construction around a historical well, it is important to establish its location and understand its history and status.

Identifying legacy wells early in the planning process is generally much easier and less costly than discovering an unexpected well after construction has started.

What Happens if a Legacy Well Is Found During Construction?

If a suspected legacy oil or natural gas well is encountered during excavation or construction, avoid damaging or disturbing it until it can be properly identified.

The next step is to determine what has been found, identify the well if possible, review its known status and determine whether further investigation or regulatory involvement is required.

Depending on the circumstances, the well may have little effect on the project, or additional work may be necessary before construction can continue in that area.

Finding historical wells during the planning stage is generally preferable to discovering them unexpectedly during construction.

Early investigation can reduce delays, redesign costs and uncertainty.

Can Government Legacy Well Records Be Wrong?

Government petroleum well records are invaluable and form the foundation of most legacy well investigations. However, they need to be interpreted in the context of when and how the information was originally collected.

Some Ontario petroleum records are more than a century old.

Over that period, information has been transferred between paper records, maps, databases and different coordinate systems. Historical property descriptions and landmarks have also changed.

As a result, discrepancies can occasionally occur in well locations, ownership information, construction details or other records.

This does not mean historical government records are unreliable. It means they should be interpreted carefully and, where necessary, compared with other independent evidence.

Who Is Responsible for a Legacy or Abandoned Well in Ontario?

There is no single answer that applies to every historical or legacy well.

Responsibility can depend on factors including:

• The identity of the current or former operator
• Well ownership and licensing history
• Property ownership
• Whether the responsible company or individual still exists
• The well’s regulatory status
• Applicable Ontario legislation and regulations

For older wells, determining responsibility can sometimes require considerable historical research.

For that reason, it is best not to assume responsibility based solely on the fact that a well is located on a particular property.

The individual circumstances and available records should be reviewed before conclusions are reached.

What Is a Private Natural Gas Well?

A private natural gas well produces natural gas primarily for the owner’s own use rather than for conventional commercial sale into a natural gas distribution system.

Historically, private gas wells have supplied homes, farms, greenhouses and other rural properties in parts of Ontario.

These wells are subject to provincial requirements, including licensing and responsibilities relating to their operation and maintenance.

If you are buying a property with a private natural gas well, it is important to investigate the well before completing the transaction.

The existence of a working natural gas supply does not by itself establish that the well’s licensing and regulatory records are in order.

Licence transfers and other regulatory requirements may also need to be addressed when ownership changes.

What Is Involved in Plugging a Legacy Oil or Natural Gas Well?

Plugging is intended to permanently abandon a well and isolate the underground formations penetrated by the wellbore.

Every legacy well is different, so the plugging program depends on factors such as the well’s depth, construction, casing configuration, geological formations, condition and regulatory requirements.

A plugging project may involve:

• Reviewing the well’s history and construction
• Developing a plugging program
• Obtaining required approvals
• Preparing the well for abandonment
• Placement of cement plugs
• Cutting or removing casing as required
• Surface restoration
• Final inspection and regulatory reporting

Historical wells can present additional challenges because their actual construction may differ from the available records.

Proper planning and experienced field supervision are important parts of the plugging process.

How Old Are Ontario’s Legacy Oil & Natural Gas Wells?

Ontario has one of the oldest petroleum industries in North America.

Commercial oil development began in southwestern Ontario in the 1850s, followed by extensive oil and natural gas exploration across many parts of southern Ontario.

As a result, some legacy wells encountered today are more than 100 years old, while others were drilled much more recently.

Thousands of wells representing many generations of drilling technology, construction practices and regulatory standards remain part of Ontario’s landscape.

That long history is one of the reasons legacy well investigations can be both interesting and challenging.

Why Do Legacy Wells Still Matter in Ontario Today?

Ontario’s historical petroleum industry did not disappear when individual wells stopped producing.

The wells remain beneath the landscape.

Today, legacy oil and natural gas wells can affect:

• Property purchases and sales
• Residential subdivisions
• Commercial and industrial development
• Municipal infrastructure
• Road construction
• Utility projects
• Environmental investigations
• Agricultural properties

Understanding a property’s petroleum history can identify potential issues before significant money is spent on design, construction or a property transaction.

The past cannot be changed, but understanding it can help you make better decisions about the property today.