Production and Drilling Data
A decision-grade, source-backed study of Alaska oil-and-gas drilling-permit record lineage, with reproducible controls, limitations, and land-work applications.
10 official source routes
5 evidence layers
Checked October 2, 2026
How should a land team connect an Alaska drilling authorization to the correct well, operator, lease or unit, surface and bottom locations, pool, approval conditions, and later reports?
The reliable link is a chain of records, not a single matching name. The application states what the operator requested. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission approval records the agency action and may add conditions. An incorporated order can supply pool-wide or conservation context. Later operator reports describe subsequent events, while a current well-history display is only a current observation. Combining those roles into one row hides the difference between requested, approved, reported, and currently displayed information.
The API number is the strongest practical starting key when it is complete and consistent, but it is not enough by itself. The review also needs the well name, operator, lease or unit, pool, surface location, bottom-hole location, approval identifier, and document dates. Agreement across those fields supports the proposed lineage. A conflict in location or approval scope deserves review even when the API number matches.
This study used the AOGCC entry point, forms directory, regulations directory, publications route, and orders route as the Alaska-specific source set. Federal data directories from EIA and USGS help distinguish statistical data from permit records. BOEM material concerns offshore mapping and data in a different jurisdictional setting; it is useful for source-role comparison, not as evidence of an Alaska state drilling approval. The GPO and National Archives catalogs can help locate government publications or archival material, but a catalog record does not replace the underlying authorization.
For each candidate well, create a document chronology before attempting a field crosswalk. Record the application as a submitted artifact, then the approval as a separate agency artifact. Add an order only when the approval cites it or the available record documents its applicability. Place operator reports and current system observations later in the chronology according to their own dates. Do not backfill a current operator, pool label, or location into an older approval.
Every observation should retain its source URL, document title, publisher, checked date, page or section locator when available, and the exact label used by the source. Search notes should include the route, terms, filters, access time, and returned condition. An unsuccessful public search means the artifact was not located through that documented search. It does not establish that the artifact was never filed.
Begin with the approval identifier and complete API number. Compare the well name character for character, including any suffix or sidetrack notation present in the source. Next compare the operator shown on the application and approval. Operator agreement is useful, but an operator can change later, so it should never carry the identity decision on its own.
Location supplies a second independent check. Preserve the surface and bottom-hole roles separately. Directional drilling makes those roles materially different. If the approval supplies coordinates, legal-location text, a datum, or another reference, retain that context rather than reducing both locations to one point. A map can show whether a proposed match is plausible, but the approved location text remains the evidence being compared.
Well names can be reused or formatted differently across records. A proposed match based on name and operator alone should remain provisional. The packet should state which additional identifier or location evidence is missing and who must decide whether the records belong to the same well.
An Alaska well record can place several labels near each other: lease, unit, field, and pool. They answer different questions. Store each label in a separate field with the spelling used by the source. A unit label does not establish a lease interest. A pool label does not prove the interval ultimately completed. A field name is not a substitute for the approval's well-specific location.
When a later publication changes one of these labels, add a dated observation. Do not silently revise the approval row. The change may reflect updated nomenclature, a later operational event, or a different reporting convention. The available administrative record may not explain which. A reviewer needs both labels and their sources before deciding whether the difference affects the assignment.
The same discipline applies to incorporated documents. If the approval cites an order by number, preserve that citation and retrieve the identified version. If a general order appears relevant but the approval does not cite it, label the order as background until applicability is established. This avoids turning a research inference into purported well-specific authority.
An approved status does not disclose the scope of an authorization. The approval and attachments may contain well-specific requirements concerning location, pool, casing, testing, reporting, or conservation matters. Capture the condition text with its page and the document that imposes it. If the wording refers to an order, exhibit, or later submission, retain the cross-reference.
For administrative tracking, a condition entry can identify the responsible party named in the record, the triggering event, the evidence expected, and any later filing that appears responsive. That register is a research aid. It does not determine whether the operator complied or whether a later report legally satisfied the condition. Use neutral status language such as "responsive filing located" or "public response not located in the documented search." Avoid "complete" unless the authorized reviewer makes that determination.
Conditions also help distinguish records that otherwise look similar. Two approvals for similarly named wells may have different pool references, locations, or incorporated orders. Comparing the exact condition and attachment set can expose a false match that a name-only search would miss.
Consider a file in which the application and approval carry the same API number, well name, surface location, bottom-hole location, and pool, but a later report names a different operator. The current well-history display also shows the later operator. The available public set does not contain the operator-change artifact.
The correct chronology has at least four observations. The application identifies the applicant and requested work. The approval identifies the operator and conditions at the time of agency action. The later report shows a successor name on a dated filing. The current display shows the successor at the time of access. The last two records support a request for operator-change evidence; they do not prove the effective date or legal basis of the change.
Keep the approval conditions connected to the well through the stable identity evidence. Do not state that the successor accepted, satisfied, or violated those conditions without the missing authority and professional review. The exception should ask for the transfer, assignment, or other operator-change record and identify which downstream decision cannot proceed without it.
A second researcher should reopen every Alaska-specific source used for the candidate well. They confirm the complete API number, approval identifier, well name, operator, lease or unit, pool, both location roles, approval date, cited orders, and condition pages. They also verify that application statements are not presented as agency findings and that a current database value has not overwritten an older document observation.
The reviewer should test the chronology in both directions. Starting from the approval, can each later report be tied back through the well identity? Starting from the current display, can the researcher reach the approval without relying solely on the current operator or well name? Any break becomes a named exception with the missing artifact, search already performed, affected decision, and next owner.
This study reviewed public AOGCC routes and the listed authoritative directories. It did not examine a specific confidential application, field inspection, land title file, operator's complete internal record, or the complete agency file for a particular well. Public pages can change, attachments may be unavailable, and an orders directory does not prove that every relevant order was identified.
The method organizes record lineage for review. It does not decide engineering adequacy, regulatory compliance, lease validity, unit participation, operating authority, ownership, or physical well status. Those questions belong to the responsible technical, regulatory, land, or legal reviewer using the complete record.
An Alaska drilling-permit lineage is defensible when each record keeps its original role and date. The application, AOGCC approval, incorporated orders, operator reports, and current well history should remain separate even when they share an API number. Complete identity and location evidence can support the proposed chain; a current operator display cannot supply a missing operator-change event. The research packet is ready for decision only when its links are reproducible and its unresolved gaps are stated plainly.
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