Lessee’s Table
Fall 2023
Senior Research Award
Lessee’s Table.
The Uinta Basin contains thousands of oil and gas wells,
producing 80% of crude in the state. A large portion of this
production takes place on public land, where oil and gas
companies lease parcels from the Bureau of Land Management to
be flattened and produced upon. These areas create a complex
network of roads, pads, and movement which cut through public
landscapes.
Lessee’s Table proposes a new method of interpreting
and experiencing the organisms created when private industry
exploits public space.
Uinta Basin Oil & Gas Fields.
The Uinta Oil Fields is a region of Northeastern Utah, east of the
Wasatch Mountains and South of the Uinta Mountains. The basin
stretches across Duchesne and Uintah Counties. The Green River
runs through the region. Prominent towns include Vernal,
Roosevelt, Myton, and Duchesne. The fields produce the vast
majority of oil and gas within the state. 85% of Utah’s petroleum
production takes place in the Uinta Basin in the northeastern part
of the state. The formation is estimated to hold as many as 300
billion barrels of oil.
A Third of Drilling Takes Place on Federal Lan
One Third of Drilling Takes Place
on Federal Land.
Less than half of the 3 million acres under lease in Utah are in
production, according to BLM statistics. 1.7 million acres of federal
land are unused leases. BLM leases land for oil and gas
production. Leaseholders have the right to drill for oil or natural
gas [within the parameters given below] for 10 years or as long as
there is a producing well on the parcel. Members of the public,
typically industry representatives, nominate lands they wish to
lease. The parcels are reviewed for compliance with the area’s Resource Management Plan [RMP] and other factors such as
resource conflicts that might make the lands unavailable. The
BLM’s lease sales and NEPA process include a 30-day scoping
period, 30-day comment period on the environmental assessment
and 30-day protest period. Parcels are put up for competitive
bidding during a lease sale. BLM state offices are required by law
to hold lease sales quarterly if land is available.
Visual Resource Management [VRM]
A system for minimizing the visual impacts of surface disturbing
activities and maintaining scenic values for the future.VRM Class III
Partially retain the existing character of the
landscape. Allow a moderate level of change
that may attract attention but should not
dominate the view.VRM Class IV
Provide for management activities that require
major modifications of the existing character
of the landscape. The level of change may be
high and may dominate the view.
Vernal Field Office
VRM Designations
Class III
759,977 of 1,719,937 acres [44%].
Class IV
642,450 of 1,719,937 acres [37%].
81% of the land in this area is public.
BLM Field Office RMPs
Create These Spaces.
When a parcel is deemed to lack sensitive soils, endangered
species, and cultural sites it can move forward towards getting
designated for oil and gas production within a Field Office’s
Resource Management Plan. Coupled with a VRM classifcation of
III or IV, its all but certain “members of the public” will nominate
land with oil and gas deposits for leasing.
VRM classifications that allow surface disturbing activies carry the
connotation of a landscape without “virtue” beyond what it can
“produce”. The natural integrity of the land is forever altered by
economic pursuits prepetuated by the government, yet this public
land should not be disregarded.
Through disruption, a new organism emerges. Roads become
vessels, well sites become grafts, and wells become wounds at
different stages of a life cycle.
Typologies emerge, methodologies document.
Lessee’s Table interprets,
documents, and draws the surface
alterations made when oil and gas
production burdens public land in
the hope new meaning can be
gained from incursions into a
exploited space.
Lessees feast, wounds grow, and
scars rarely fade.
The Data
The Utah Department of Oil, Gas, and Mining provides
extensive data on every oil, gas, or service well proposed,
drilled, and reclaimed in the state.
The Setting
Lessee’s Table studies a small bench south of Ouray, Utah
along the Green River to propose a new methodology for
interpretating the visual alterations made to a landscape by a
Lessee’s hunger for profit.
The Boundary
The extent of the study area [organism] reflects the relationship
between surface management agency boundaries, existing
roads, and the Green River.
Roads become Vessels.
Prior to 1957, roads within Lessee’s table connected
Ouray, Utah to homesteads within the bench as well a
ferry crossing at Nutters Hole on the Green River. Post
1957, roads emerged throughout Lessee’s Table with the
goal to transport workers, equipment, and oil and gas on
to and off of the bench. Connecting everything within the
organizism to itself and to the outside world, roads
become the vessels in which all activity relies.
Pads become Grafts.
In order for oil and gas production to begin, a level pad
must be built to support the drilling and eventually
pumping equipement. Top soil is typically displaced and
new terrian is built. This transplant and alteration of the
land acts as the setting in which wells can produce. 365
grafts dot Lessee’s Table.
Wells become Wounds.
The impressions of 710 wells exist within the confines
of Lessee’s Table. From 1957 to present day, mostly
gas wells have dominated the organism’s landscape. A
well can exist in many states. From abandoned
locations that were never drilled to wells that have long
been plugged, the wells in Lessee’s Table resemble
wounds at different stages of the healing process.
Grafts
Grafts are the surface disturbances created to house extraction
equipment. The land is flattened in order to make a rectangular
plot 2:1 in ratio and 100,000 sq feet in size. Each graft has been
catergorized by their characteristics [regular / irregular] and stage
[BRSD, LACR, SCAB, SCAR] and relative age.
TYPICAL_GRAFT_PLAN
Within the API documentation [discussed within the process
section] found for each graft lies a site plan for each graft
made by the drilling company. This is the typical plan made
before disrupting the surface of the organism.
AVERAGE_GRAFT_SHAPE/SIZE
An average graft was calculated by measuring the width and
height of each graft within the organism. The average width sits at
466 feet with a height of 236 feet. This average can be used to
understand the ways in which this plot is planned and how the land
is manipulated in order to fit a specific size and ratio.
REGULAR_GRAFTS
Regular grafts exist when the visual
language of the graft reflects the average
shape imposed on the landscape regardless
of wound type. These wells have a
recognizably rectangular shape at a 2:1 ratio
and usually have a vessel coming in from
the short side of the graft.
IRREGULAR_GRAFTS
Irregular grafts exist when the visual
language of the average graft shape does
not identify with the reality of the graft at
hand. These grafts are created when a
landscape feature such as a wash or a
steep hillside imposes heavily on a
rectangular graft, when multiple grafts
overlap, or when flat terrian makes a graft’s
rectangular shape hard to identify.
DRY_HOLE_GRAFTS
Created when wells were drilled but nothing was found, causing the hole to be plugged and abandoned. Dry hole grafts can have other types of wounds found on them, or can be grafts in the process of reclamation.
BRSD_GRAFTS
Exist when locations were approved for drilling, but no action was taken by an actor within a year of the well’s approval. Bruised grafts can coexist with other types of wounds or can be grafts in the process of reclamationLACR_GRAFTS
Those with a well that actively extracting. They are open wounds. Laceration grafts can co-exist with other types of wounds, most typically with bruises, scars, and scabs.
SCBD_GRAFTS
Exist when laceration wounds are stitched up but can still be reopened.SCRD_GRAFTS
Those which have been permanently stitched and are in the process of “healing.” Scarred grafts are often still visible on the landscape. Scarred grafts can coexist with any other wound type. WATER_GRAFTS
Exist when a scarred or lacerated wound facilitates the disposal or extraction of water for the pumping and drilling process.
Vessels
Vessels are the carriers of both actors and the natural gas and oil
which are pulled from the organism. Vessels create an extensive
network which runs amok throughout the organism. They connect
the grafts to one another and to the world beyond the organism.
In order to study the growth and functionality of the vessels in
Lessee’s table, the extent of each vessel was determined using
the earliest “first production date” tied to the wound it was intended
to service.
By dividing by age and grouping by like kind, typologies emerge.
MAIN_ARTERIES_VESSELS
Act as the primary carrier of operators and observors. These vessels have access to all 356 grafts, as well as the boundary of the organism.14-34GRAFT_VESSELS
Carry operators and observors from fourteen to thirty-four grafts.08-13GRAFT_VESSELS
Carry operatos and observors from eight to thirteen grafts.
03-07GRAFT_VESSELS
Carry operators and observors from three to seven grafts.02GRAFT_VESSELS
Carry operators and observors to two grafts. 01GRAFT_VESSELS
Carry operators and observors to only one graft. 01GRAFT_VESSELS are short in distance but numerous in existence.
HISTORIC_VESSELS
Existed within the organism before the extraction by the actors took place. These vessels existed prior to 1957. Many paths they took were incorporated later.EXPLORATORY_VESSELS
Take operators and observors to places within the organism where grafts have not been made. They explore the landscape rather than act as a major part of the system of extraction. However, wound in the state of bruises can be found via travel on exploratory vessels. ACCESS_VESSELS
Lead operators and observors into and out of the organism. They exist outside of the organism and connect to Utah State Highway 88.
GHOST_VESSELS
Once existed by no longer serve their original purpose. 03-07GRAFT_VESSELS
Carry operators and observors from three to seven grafts.
Taxonomy
A new interpretation has been developed as a way to understand
Lessee’s Table. In order to create the interpretation, it was
necessary to institute a new nomenclature. This has been
documented in the categorizations of vessels and grafts to the left.
To move further it was necessary to tag individual grafts and
establish unique names for each.
Once a name process was developed, a documentation
methodolgy was built. The documentation of the graft must be
born from the name.
Graft Naming System
The names of the grafts are laid out as follows:
First, a PLSS township range is stated.
This system is used as....
Second, the PLSS section is stated.
This system is used as...
Lastly, the graft age is indicated using a alphabetical system. WIthin each PLSS township range and section, each graft is organized by age and given a letter from
a - z based on their relative age from oldest to youngest.
Within this naming system an observor has the ability to locate where that graft lies within the organism, as well as its age relative to that location.
Graft Tagging System
A system for describing wounds found on each graft provides observers with information conveyed in the form of a tag. The tag is laid out as follows:
First: The number of wounds which lay upon the graft.
Second: The wound type, such as oil, gas, water.
Third: The wound progress, as documented in the grafts section.
And lastly the year in which the the wound was made.
1[G;LACR- 1992] + 2[G;LACR- 2008] + 1[O;BRSD- 1994]* + 1[G;BRSD- 1986]
Terrain
The terrain on which the graft lies is divided into two categories, variable or flat. These categories were defined using aereal photography along with digital elevation information in order to determine what the type of terrain the graft lies upon.
Graft_Main_Axis
A main axis was determined for each of the grafts. By observing where the access vessel approaches the graft as well as the direction of the long axis, a degree from due north was recorded.
Archive
Each graft was analyzed and documented using the system prior
mentioned. This was also archived into a spreadsheet in which
one could visit and be able to understand and draw the physical
characteristics of each graft.
There is a total of 365 grafts documented within Lessee’s Table.
Field Research
In October of 2023, a field research trip was made to the Uinta
Basin. The areas which were visited and studied were BLM land,
meaning I, as a member of the public, was able to traverse the
roadways and get right up to the pumps.
While there I was struck by the complex systems already in
place, and the beauty of the autonomous structures moving
throughout the landscape. The area is constantly in a motion,
from the pump jacks, to oil trucks navigating rough roads, to wild
horses and antelope moving in packs among the developments.
A complex system of existing roads and gas lines guide those
through the land to designated areas of view, with a visceral
sound echoing through the space.
The area was photographed along the way, as well as
recordings of sound, video footage,
and other visual documentations and observations.
Field Research
While at the area of a study, a motional automated trail camera was placed in order to document the amount of activity coming in and out of the area. For a total of 24 hours on the 2nd of October 2023, the camera captured each moving vehicle for 10 seconds of footage. A total of 73 vehicles were captured moving
in and out of the area along that road during those
24 hours.
SMA Mapping
Using existing SMA [Surface Management Agency] designations
an area of the Uinta Basin Oil and Gas Fields was decided upon
as a case study in which to continue the project. Within this map
lies private land, coded in yellow, Uintah and Ouray Reservation
land, coded in light blue, and state land [SITLA], coded using the
dark blue. All land not assigned a color is federal public [BLM]
land. The red dots signify producing oil or gas drills, the orange
dots signify non-producing oil and gas wells, and the red lines
signify roads. Through this map one can understand how the
government has broken up this section of the basin.
Documentation Process
Using ArcGIS, a software used for collecting geographic information, the area of study was able to be analyzed through aerial photography working in conjunction with public data and geographic tools.
Well / Pad Analysis
Each well was able to be located using the data from the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining. Using this well location each pad could be located as well, along with how many wells existed upon the pad, along with other visual and geographic details.
Along with each of these locations, all documentation pertaining to that well was able to pulled, such as the date of first and last productions, what stage it was at [producing, drilling, exploration, etc], along with a variety of documents containing plans for the well and respective pad.
Road Analysis
Using state data on records of roads within the area, each
road could have a date attached to it in which it was first built.
This data began to show how the area grew when added in
conjunction to the data of the pads and wells. The first roads
within the area were found, and it could be observed that as
more wells were accepted, roads must be built to get to them,
and thus the network began to spread.
Calculating Average Pad
Each pad was measured along its length and width. This was used within ArcGIS, which was then recorded and averaged to discover what the average pad size was. During this same process, the pads axis could also be measured relative to due north. This was also recorded so as to best represent each pad in the drawings later.
API Well Numbers
All information of each pad, well, and road was recorded
within spreadsheets which themselves become an archive
and a portrait of the organism. The spreadsheet in full is
shown later in the this documentation.
Visit to search for Utah well documentation:
dataexplorer.ogm.utah.gov
or
oilgas.ogm.utah.gov/oilgasweb
Final Presentation + Artifact
Lessee’s Table was presented to students, faculty, and critics of the University of Utah’s Multi-Disciplinary Design program on the 20th of November 2023. The following are images from that presentation.
The imagery, writings, and drawings were 30 pound
uncoated plotter paper mounted on to one ply chipboard, using t-pins to place them upon the wall.
The artifact is a physical elevation map of Lessee’s Table at 1:36,000 foot scale. The layers of elevation are laser cut one ply chipboard, with a base of 1/4 inch baltic birch plywood.