After more than a century of activity, it's quite astonishing that a basin as thoroughly drilled as the Appalachian can still harbor vibrant exploration plays. The Trenton-Black River trend in New York and West Virginia has reanimated interest in states that had been languishing on the sidelines of the industry. (See the cover story, "Trenton-Black River," in this issue.) The regulatory bodies in New York and West Virginia have been hustling to keep up with the brisk activity. Until the Trenton-Black River play burst open, neither state had been concerned with deeper, high-volume wells that could drain large subsurface areas. For the more than 70,000 wells that have been drilled in New York State, a default spacing of 40 acres per well has been quite adequate. "That spacing works for most of our shallow oil and gas drilling, but not for the deeper, more prolific reservoirs," says Bradley Field, Albany-based director of New York State's mineral resources division of the Department of Environmental Conservation. If the state finds 40-acre spacing isn't appropriate for a new field, it spaces it on an individual basis after several wells have been drilled and reservoir parameters have been determined. To date, there are 10 designated new fields in the Trenton-Black River, and three fields have been spaced. Early on in the play, in northern Steuben County, units were established in the 160- to 240-acre range in Glodes Corners Road. The second field, Muck Farms, also in Steuben County, was spaced at 400 to 500 acres, and the most recent, Wilson Hollow, in Chemung and Steuben counties, at 630 acres. "We're anticipating the upcoming activity and mobilizing our people to handle it," says Field. "We're doing everything we can to keep up with industry activity, and get through the hearings as quickly as possible." Historical well data and gas production data, always of interest in a new play, are available readily on the DEC web site at www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dmn. The state has computerized records on more than 34,000 wells. It collects production data annually, which it releases on July 1 of each year. Data for 2000 are currently available. Last year, the Trenton-Black River accounted for gas production of 5.2 billion cubic feet, 30% of the state's total. "Trenton-Black River production was up 73% from 1999, and from what the operators tell us, we expect to double our statewide production this year and next from this play," says Field. Meanwhile, West Virginia has been having its own surge in activity. Some 160 permits for deep wells have been granted since 1999 in the Trenton-Black River play, spanning 16 counties. Those will not all be drilled; many are a result of West Virginia's spacing rules. "The rules for deep-well spacing in West Virginia are one-size-fits-all," says Katherine Lee Avery, with the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Morgantown. The Trenton-Black River wells fall under the deep well rules for the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Charleston. A well must be more than 3,000 feet from the nearest well that is permitted to the same depth or deeper, and also 400 feet from a lease boundary, says Avery. The commission can initiate special field rules, but a company must ask for a hearing. To date, no hearings have been requested. The Geological Survey is the repository for the state's well data and production information. "We maintain the only public log library in the state," says Avery. People have been clamoring to see logs from the new Trenton-Black River wells, but the first two discoveries were not logged because of their massive gas flows. Some of the later wells have logs, but the state has a period of confidentiality for deep wells that can be as long as three years. "We have logs for many of the historic Trenton tests, but I don't expect to see any logs from the new wells for some time." West Virginia's production data can be accessed at the Geological Survey's web site, www.wvgs.wvnet.edu. The state maintains records on more than 123,000 wells. A special section of the site lists all the recently permitted and drilled Trenton and deeper wells, and includes spud dates, completion dates, total depths, flows and production. Just two of the Trenton-Black River discoveries were producing in 1999, and three in 2000.