General DNR News

DNR LEADING OTHER STATES IN GEO-INFORMATION ON THE WEB —Unveils oil well data on the Internet—

BATON ROUGE---Louisiana's oil and gas well records and geographical data go on-line today at www.dnr.state.la.us/sonris2000 according to Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials. DNR Secretary Jack Caldwell and the department's key project developers held a special demonstration at DNR headquarters to show and explain how the well data is accessible to the public on the Internet.

"We have positioned Louisiana at the very top of the technological curve with our Sonris/2000 and well reference system and we are very proud of it," said Secretary Caldwell. The department's work has been recognized by the Computerworld Smithsonian awards program in Washington, DC and was also selected as a "best practices in information technology"project at the National Governor's Conference in Milwaukee last month. Governor Mike Foster, Jr. commended DNR and its information systems staff for having improved government efficiency by allowing citizens and industry the ability to access this valuable information. No other state has reached this level of expertise with maintaining the status of well information.

Launched about two years ago, Sonris/2000 is a network of high technology products that include ESRI Arc/Info and the Oracle database engine. It was designed to improve the department's conservation efforts in the areas of coastal restoration and management and mineral resources. The geographical information system (GIS), a component of Sonris/2000, is where detailed data on over 200,000 oil and gas wells can be found. There are more than 1,700 oil and gas field locations within the system. On the Oracle web server such specific information as the depth of a well, permit date, name of operator, casing size and test pressure can be found. The latest data on permits issued by the DNR's Office of Conservation will be located there as well.

Before the development of this new computer technology, reams of documents, files and maps would have to be looked at from the department's regional offices or in Baton Rouge. Now corporate citizens and interested individuals literally have knowledge and history at their fingertips or with the click of a button.

Users of the systems will log onto the DNR's Internet site, then will see a map of Louisiana. Once tapped into the department's GIS, a user may go to a given location and click on a specific well near his/her property to get production information for that site. Anyone seeking information of this type or on leasing and drilling information will find the new system useful and convenient. An e-mail address has also been established by the Information Systems professionals at DNR to answer on-line questions, receive comments and give general assistance to users of the site. The e-mail address is gismail@dnr.state.la.us.

Editors: For more information on this topic, please contact the DNR Public Information Office at 225-343-0556 or Information Systems Director Rizwan Ahmed at 225-342-4500.