Detailed studies of the composition of the organic content of two shale cores from Cottageville, West Virginia, are reported. Analyses were performed on core samples selected at five foot intervals from a 287 ft section of core from the L.A. Bailer Well No. 11940; and a 470 ft section of core from the W.L. Pinnell Well No. 12041. The two wells are located approximately 5 miles apart. The core samples were analyzed for total organic material, organic and mineral carbon, and solvent extractable organics. Infrared spectroscopy and thermal chromatography were used to determine the gross organic composition of extracted and pyrolysis products. Isolation of the bitumen and kergen was accomplished by solvent extraction and chemical separation. Variations in the total organic content, benzene-soluble organic, and pyrolysis product composition are presented for both cores. The organic content and composition of these two cores are also compared with Perry County, Kentucky, well results reported in TPR 77/3. The organic carbon content for the cores from Cottageville, WV, shows an average of 1.48% for No. 12041 and 2.47% for No. 11940. In both cores these values are much less than the organic content of the core No. 7239 from Perry County, Kentucky, which averaged 3.95%. Stratigraphic variations observed in the organic content were similar in the upper two-thirds of the two Cottageville cores. The amount of solvent extractable organics in both of the Cottageville cores is less than that observed for the core from Perry County, but does vary with the amount of organic material in the samples studied. The extraction ratios, however, vary in a similar manner to that observed for the Perry County, Kentucky core. The extractable organics are primarily aliphatic in composition. No apparent relationship between the pyrolysis product composition and organic carbon content was observed.