West Virginia Code Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts § 22C-9-1. Declaration of public policy; legislative findings

(a) It is hereby declared to be the public policy of this state and in the public interest to:

(b) The Legislature hereby determines and finds that oil and natural gas found in West Virginia in shallow sands or strata have been produced continuously for more than 100 years; that oil and gas deposits in shallow sands or strata have geological and other characteristics different than those found in deeper formations and unconventional reservoirs; and that in order to encourage the maximum recovery of oil and gas from all productive formations in this state, it is not in the public interest, with the exception of shallow wells utilized in a secondary recovery program, to enact statutory provisions relating to the exploration for or production of oil and gas from vertical shallow wells, but that it is in the public interest to enact statutory provisions establishing regulatory procedures and principles to be applied to the exploration for or production of oil and gas from deep wells, as defined in section two and oil and gas produced from horizontal wells.