Locating Oil or Gas
Wells
Using The Federal Township and Range System
Section: The basic
unit of the system, a square tract of land one mile by one mile
containing 640 acres.
Township: 36 sections
arranged in a 6 by 6 system, measuring 6 miles by 6 miles. Sections
are numbered beginning with the northeast-most section, proceeding
west to 6, then south along the west edge of the township and to the
east.
Range: Assigned to a
township by measuring east or west of a Principal Meridian
Range Lines: The north
to south lines which mark township boundaries.
Township Lines: The
east to west lines which mark township boundaries.
Principal Meridian: The
reference or beginning point for measuring east or west ranges. Map
of meridians & base lines from the BLM web server
Base line: Reference
or beginning point for measuring north or south townships.
Understanding
Land Descriptions
We'll start with the largest grouping, the
township and range. The township is named in reference to a Principal
Meridian (P.M.) and a Baseline. Here is an example, T2N R1E. The T2N
refers to Township 2 North (of the Baseline), and the R1E refers to
Range 1 East (of the Principal Meridian).
Next, each township is divided into 36 sections.
Each section is one mile square and contains 640 acres. The sections are
numbered from 1 to 36 in the order shown in the chart to the left.
Within each section, the land is referred to as
half and quarter sections. A one-sixteenth division is called a quarter
of a quarter, as in the NW1/4 of the NW1/4. The descriptions are read
from the smallest division to the largest.
ONE SECTION =
640 ACRES
A section is also broken down into acres.
Sample descriptions are in the ( )s.
A full section contains 640 Acres.
A half section (S1/2) contains 320 Acres.
A quarter section (NE1/4) contains 160 Acres.
An eighth section (N1/2 of NW1/4) contains 80
Acres.
A sixteen section (SW1/4 of NW1/4) contains 40
Acres.
Locating a Well Using Land Descriptions
A land description
generally starts with the smallest part of the description and proceeds
to the largest definition. For example, NW1/4 of NE1/4
of Section 8, T2N, R1E would be the northwest quarter of the
northeast quarter of section 8 in township 3 north and range 2 east. To
locate a well using a land description, you need to work from the
largest part to the smallest part.
Step 1
As mentioned above, to locate the well given as an example
above you would need to work backward and locate the largest part using
the township and range supplied in the description first. In this case T2N,
R1E. Remember the T2N refers to Township 2 North (of the
Baseline), and the R1E refers to Range 1 East (of the Principal
Meridian).
Step 2
After you have located the correct township, you will next need to find
the correct section within that township. Using the example given above
the land description states Section 8, T2N, R1E.
So you would look in the township found in step 1 for section 8.
Step 3
Now that you have located the correct section you need to find where in
this section your well is located. Our example says NW1/4
of NE1/4 of Section 8, T2N, R1E. So you would first look in
section 8 for the NE1/4 of the section (shown as orange in the chart to
the left.) After locating the NE1/4 of the section your last step will
be to find the NW1/4 of that NE1/4 (shown in aqua in the chart to the
left.) The well is generally located at or near the center of the
last unit given.
Congratulations!
You've successfully located the oil or gas well
described in the land description example given above.
Good luck in your search for other wells!
