Empire Exploration
Operator of record for 235 catalogued wells across 3 states. Every well below links to its full registry page.
Filed as: EMPIRE EXPLORATION INC · Empire Exploration Inc. · Empire Exploration LLC · Empire Exploration, Inc.
At a glance
Empire Exploration is the operator of record for 235 catalogued U.S. oil & gas wells in 3 states. None is listed as active, 165 (70%) are plugged & abandoned and 1 flagged as orphaned. Its largest concentration is in Pennsylvania, with 162 wells (69% of its portfolio).
Wells operated
235
Active
0
Plugged
165
Orphaned
1
Portfolio by state
| State | Wells |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 162 |
| New York | 70 |
| Kansas | 3 |
Well mix
- Oil wells
- 2
- Gas wells
- 180
- Shut-in
- 0
- Active share
- 0%
Is this your company?
Claim Empire Exploration to keep this portfolio accurate — verified operators can correct well statuses and add plugging documentation.
Claim your operator profileWhere does Empire Exploration operate?
Empire Exploration's catalogued wells are spread across 3 states: Pennsylvania (162), New York (70) and Kansas (3). Its 70 New York wells are 0.2% of the 46,514 catalogued in that state — its largest share of any state. Counts cover only states whose registries WellCensus has ingested with operator names; wells in Nebraska and Texas (location indexes) and in states without a registry ingest are not yet attributed to any operator.
How many of Empire Exploration’s wells are active, plugged or orphaned?
0% of Empire Exploration's catalogued wells are active, 29 percentage points below the national share of 29%. 70% are plugged & abandoned, against 47% nationally. 1 wells filed under this name are flagged as orphaned — unplugged, with no operator able to plug them.
What kinds of wells does Empire Exploration operate?
By product class, 2 (0.9%) are oil wells and 180 (77%) gas wells; nationally the shares are 43% and 17%. The deepest of its wells with a published depth is Vance 4 in Sheridan, KS at 4,565 ft. The wells listed below sit in Sheridan (KS), Chautauqua (NY), Pawnee (KS), Cattaraugus (NY) and Graham (KS). State filings spell the name 4 ways; WellCensus merges exact-normalized spellings only, so subsidiaries and affiliates keep their own pages.
Notable wells operated by Empire Exploration
| Well | API # / state ID | Status | Type | Location | Operator | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vance 4 | 15-179-21199 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Sheridan, KS | Empire Exploration LLC | 4,565 ft |
| Nysra 12-6394 | 31-013-19299 | Plugged & abandoned | Gas | Chautauqua, NY | Empire Exploration Inc. | 4,370 ft |
| Winkler 7053 | 31-013-22037 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Chautauqua, NY | Empire Exploration Inc. | 4,334 ft |
| Nysra 12-6396 | 31-013-19297 | Plugged & abandoned | Gas | Chautauqua, NY | Empire Exploration Inc. | 4,329 ft |
| Hutchinson 'B' 7 | 15-145-00811 | Plugged & abandoned | Oil | Pawnee, KS | Empire Exploration, Inc. | 4,265 ft |
| Charrington Creek 7309 | 31-013-22453 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Chautauqua, NY | Empire Exploration Inc. | 4,080 ft |
| Miller, L 3 | 31-009-21891 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Cattaraugus, NY | Empire Exploration Inc. | 3,700 ft |
| Benoit 1 | 15-065-23598 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Graham, KS | Empire Exploration LLC | 3,686 ft |
| Miller, L 2 | 31-009-21830 | Plugged & abandoned | Other type | Cattaraugus, NY | Empire Exploration Inc. | 3,670 ft |
| L. Phillips 2 6334 | 31-013-18946 | Plugged & abandoned | Gas | Chautauqua, NY | Empire Exploration Inc. | 3,600 ft |
| Morey 6283 | 31-009-18615 | Plugged & abandoned | Gas | Cattaraugus, NY | Empire Exploration Inc. | 3,573 ft |
| L. Phillips 3 6379 | 31-013-19041 | Plugged & abandoned | Gas | Chautauqua, NY | Empire Exploration Inc. | 3,571 ft |
Deepest first where depth is published. See all 235 wells →
Frequently asked questions
How many wells does Empire Exploration operate?
Empire Exploration is the operator of record for 235 catalogued oil & gas wells, with the largest concentration in Pennsylvania (162). Only wells in states WellCensus has ingested are counted.
How many of Empire Exploration's wells are still active?
0 of Empire Exploration's catalogued wells are active; 165 are plugged & abandoned and 1 are flagged as orphaned.
In which states does Empire Exploration operate wells?
Empire Exploration is the operator of record for wells in Pennsylvania (162), New York (70) and Kansas (3).
Does Empire Exploration operate mostly oil or gas wells?
2 of Empire Exploration's catalogued wells are oil wells and 180 are gas wells; the rest are injection, service or unclassified wells.
What is Empire Exploration's deepest well?
Among wells with a published depth, Vance 4 in Sheridan, KS is the deepest at 4,565 ft.
Where Empire Exploration's wells are
About this data
Source: State oil & gas regulator registries (operator of record as filed, exact-normalized across states) plus the USGS United States Documented Orphaned Well Database (2026), as published October 10, 2026 — WellCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: WellCensus, “Empire Exploration — well portfolio”, https://wellcensus.com/operators/empire-exploration-71665 (data as of October 10, 2026).
Dataset updated . Operator portfolios are resolved from raw state registry filings (exact-normalized names; subsidiaries stay separate).