Ontario's Oil and Natural Gas Production
Next production reporting due date: February 15
About Production and How to Search Effectively:
The Ontario Oil, Gas & Salt Resources Library is the public access point for all oil and gas production reports pertaining to petroleum wells in Ontario. Reports on well production, status, injection and fluid disposal are submitted annually by February 15th of each year for activity that occurred in the previous year. Production reports list the volumes of fluids produced on a monthly basis for individual wells, or if wells produce sufficiently low volumes they may be listed as a group. For details on production reporting please refer to the Provincial Operating Standard and other documents in our Government section.
For general production statistics see our Petroleum Industry section.
As part of our commitment to have the highest level of service to Ontario's petroleum industry the OGSR Library provides free access to both digital and scanned production records online to all our members. Production records are also available at the library for physical viewing and copying by members and the general public. Records may also be requested via fax by members and the general public. Research and copying fees may apply. Please refer to our fees schedule.
How to View Production Records Online
The catalogue of scanned production reports maintained by the OGSR Library includes all reports ever filed with the Ministry of Natural Resources, the earliest scanned record is from 1897. Approximately 70,000 image records can be searched. All records are available online.
Library technicians digitize the form data in an online system making the data available to members. Options for searching forms depend on how much data from the form as been digitized. There are also some limitation on how older forms can be digitized depending on the reporting style (see notes below).
The Two Main Ways to Search Production Records Online
- All reports for an individual well: Members can view all tabular production data, pressure data and scanned forms from the production tab on each well card. Well cards are accessed using either the basic or advanced search feature, or visually by using pxtools for Google Earth.
- All reports for an operator: anyone can view all reports submitted by operators by using the operator production history searchbeta form.
Limitations to Online Search
- All reports prior to 1992 only record annual values, these records have not been entered in the monthly volumes database however they may still be searchable by operator or well licence number.
- Most reports prior to 1967 only record summary values for pools or township not individual wells, they are still searchable by operator.
Overview of Production Reports
After the 15th of February production reports for the previous year are available for viewing in the library. The OGSR Library also scans and digitizes these forms making the images and tabular data available to members within weeks of receiving the final reports. An annual report is also released that summarizes activity for the previous year.
Below is a summary of the types of reports collected annually. The most common and critical forms are the form 3's and form 8's.
- Annual Wells Status Report
- Form 3
- Operators with unplugged wells must report the status of each well annually by using a form 3. The form 3 (page 2) also categorises the total number of wells owned by an operator, summarizes production volumes by operator, and includes a total licence fee calculation. Please note that well status changes made to wells throughout the year must still be reported to the Ministry of Natural Resources in accordance with their standards.
- Annual Report of Monthly Oil and Gas Production
- Form 8
- Any petroleum wells producing oil, gas, condensate, or water must report the volume of fluid produced (usually m3 per month or 103m3 per month in the case of gas). Operators must also report any pressure readings taken throughout the year and the numbers of days each month the well was on production. Form 8 are usually submitted for each well, however if production volumes per well are significantly low multiple wells may be reporting on one form. Reporting multiple wells on a sign form is referred to as commingling. For reports with commingled wells all wells in the group must be listed on the back of form 8. Form 8 is also used to calculate the licence fee payable per well.
- Annual Report of Geophysical/Geochemical Surveys
- Form 4
- A person conducting geophysical or geochemical exploration for oil or gas shall, on or before 15th day of February in each year, make a report in duplicate to the Ministry in Form 4 (Annual Report of Geophysical/Geochemical Activity) in respect of the preceding calendar year. (OGSRA Operating Standards v. 2.0)
- Annual Report of Subsurface Oil Field Fluid Disposal
- Form 6
- An annual report on the volume of fluid and target formation for an individual injection well.
- Annual Report of Monthly Injection
- Form 9
- An annual report on the volume and target formation of oil field fluid being disposed of in a disposal well.
- Commingled Wells
- Under certain conditions production from multiple wells may be grouped on a single production report (form 8). These conditions may include: low well production; deviated, horizontal or lateral legs from a single well; or production occurring from wells located in Lake Erie. See Operating standards for details. Wells in a commingled group must be listed on the back of form 8 and the status of each well must be reported individually on form 3.
All petroleum production forms are available online.
See Provincial Operating Standard for complete details.
Data Layers for Google Earth