SHAWNEE FOREST OIL, GAS EXPLORATION IS PLANNED

HARRISBURG, Ill. -- Geologists believe there is oil in the Shawnee National Forest.

"The forest area occupies the southern rim of what is called the Illinois Basin," forest geologist Andrew Rorick said Tuesday. "We know there is some oil there; we just don't know how much or whether it's feasible to take it out of the ground."

The U.S. Forest Service and the Federal Bureau of Land Management, which are responsible for oil and gas leasing and drilling on national forest land, may get some answers early next year.

"Several parcels in the forest will be offered for competitive oil bidding in January," said Rorick, who works out of the Shawnee National Forest office at Harrisburg.

Rorick said the Illinois Oil Basin includes most of Illinois, the western half of Indiana and Kentucky.

"Oil is being produced in all three of these states," he said. "Although we don't know much about what is going on in the subsurface in Shawnee Forest, we know there is some oil there. Small deposits of oil have been discovered during fluoride mining in the area."

The public-lease auction for 126 parcels in the forest, ranging from 400 to 2,500 acres, will be held Jan. 13 at the Mount Vernon Ramada Inn.

"The lease area comprises about 190,000 of the Shawnee Forest's 268,400 acres," said Rorick. "A total of 90 percent of the federal mineral estate of the forest is available for oil leases."

The only land not available is within the seven wilderness areas and special-purpose or sensitive sites in the forest.

""We have had some previous interest in oil exploration," said Rorick. "All we can do now is wait until January to see if that interest is still there."

The Resource Management Forest Plan of 1986 did not make allowances for oil or gas leasing. This came about as a result of the 1992 Amended Forest Plan.

Forest officials believe that potential income form oil and gas leasing could be more than $350,000 the first year and more than $260,000 a year for each subsequent year.

The minimum bid is $2 an acre, and successful bidders must also pay a first-year rental fee of $1.50 per acre and a $75 administrative fee.

Leases are for 10 years or as long as the lease produces oil or gas. The lease cost will be $1.50 per acre per year for the first five years and $2 an acre for each of the following five years.

If oil or gas is produced, the developer will pay a federal royalty of 12.5 percent on its value. The state will receive 25 percent of lease-rental revenue for distribution to counties containing Shawnee Forest land. In addition, 25 percent of royalties -- if any -- will be paid to the counties.

For the prospector, oil exploration is a high-risk businesses. Nationally, well drilling occurs on one lease in 10. Of those wells, only one in 10 produce oil or gas.

"There's no predicting how many parcels will be leased or how high the bids will go, or if there will even be any bids," said Rorick.

Shawnee employees will monitor leased land before, during and after drilling to protect the environment.

"Roads, drill rigs, pipelines and pump will be needed," said Rorick. "There will be special restrictions to about 30 percent of the mineral leases. Access is limited in some of the wild and scenic river corridors and season restrictions will be established to protect wildlife from disturbance in some places."

Following testing, the land will be returned to its original contour, with the planting of suitable vegetation. Erosion control will be practiced until the plantings hold the soil.

The Shawnee National Forest encourages conservation groups and other citizens to participate in lease development decisions. The Shawnee will also do an environmental analysis with full public involvement for each well-drilling request.

Rorick described a typical drilling site: "It will be a two- to three-acre clearing with a drill rig in the center. Near the rig platform and its 100-foot mast will be several semi-trailers and a shallow pit about the size of a 90-by-90 baseball diamond. Drilling will be round-the-clock for a few days to as much as two months and testing could take another month.:

Oil wells will have "rocking-horse" pumps and tanks to hold the crude oil. The pumping facilities will occupy less than one acre of the original drill site and the remainder will be reclaimed.