WIS Annoucements

07/01/2008

BLM Restoring Data to its Well Information System (WIS) Web Site
 
The Bureau of Land Management recently restored Indian data that had been previously removed from its Well Information System (WIS). This web-based application is used for electronically submitting and tracking oil and gas permits on Federal lands only, which in turn streamlines the process for approving permits required for development. 
 
Previously, transactions were allowed to be submitted to any of the 31 BLM Field Offices for Non-Indian Leases and Wells only. This subsequent version of WIS now allows submissions of Indian Lease and Well related documents to be submitted to the 10 BLM Field Offices with Indian oil and gas responsibilities. The web address used to access WIS is https://www.blm.gov/wispermits/wis/SP. Once at this web site, instructions are given on receiving login and password information.
 
To comply with security requirements, only Application for Permits to Drill, Notice of Staking, Well Completion Reports, and Sundry Notices for Non-Indian wells (federal) can be submitted into WIS. 
 
Michael D. (Mike) Nedd, the BLM’s Assistant Director for Minerals and Realty Management welcomed the restoration of Indian data to the WIS web site, saying: “We are quite pleased with the decision to re-introduce Indian data into the Well Information System. This web site will now give our customers a complete picture of all well activities on Federal land.” 
 
For more information on the Well Information System, please contact:
 
Paul Brown
(303) 236-8586

08/27/2007

On August 27, 2007, BLM released a new version of WIS, which is now known as Non Indian Well Information System or NIWIS. While the functionality remains much of the same as the previous version, a few key changes have been implemented in this version.

Transactions Limited to Non Indian Wells Only

To comply with new security requirements, only APD's, NOS's, Well Completion Reports, and Sundries for Indian Wells (Federal) will be allowed to be submitted into NIWIS. Transactions may be submitted to any of the 31 BLM Field Offices previously listed in WIS. In the future, there will be a subsequent version of WIS known as Indian Well Information System or IWIS. This system will allow submission of Indian related well documents to 10 BLM Field Offices.

Historical Transaction Data Split - Non Indian Wells Only

To comply with the new security requirements, historical transactions were reviewed and only Non Indian well related transactions are loaded into the new application. Indian transactions will be saved and loaded into the future IWIS version.

Edits added to Assure New Transactions Limited to Non Indian Wells Only

In the bureau's internal database application, the Automated Fluid Mineral Support System (AFMSS) was similarly split into Non Indian and Indian versions. Non Indian AFMSS now contains only federal or Non Indian data. To assure no Indian data is placed in the Non Indian Version, edits will be done on Case Numbers (lease or agreement numbers) on all new transactions. Only valid BLM Lease or Agreement numbers will be allowed to be used on incoming transactions. Formats of these case numbers will follow BLM's LR2000 numbering format (UTU12345, WYW67890, NMNM77777, etc). If you are unsure of the case number format for your lease or agreement, please contact the local BLM Office or click to see a list of WIS Help Desk Contacts.

Password Resets

As previous passwords have expired, a generated NIWIS Account Password will be sent to the given email address used as your NIWIS User ID. Upon your first login, you will be required to change this to a new secure password. Please refer to the Announcement for Password Format Requirements.
 
3/11/2005
 
On March 11th , 2005 the BLM successfully upgraded the WIS system. The upgrade offered a great deal of new functionality that included the following:
  1. Form Search: Easily locate previously submitted forms based on any of the data contained within the form itself. After entering your search criteria and submitting a search, the system will return a list of all of your forms that meet the specified search criteria. To access the new search screen, click on the Search Forms icon located in the upper right corner of the screen. See Section 10 of the WIS How-To Guide for more information on how to search for a particular form.
Note: Since the new search functionality is far more robust than the existing API Number and Well Number search feature, the “Search forms by API Number or Well ID” link has been removed from the wispermits.blm.gov web page.
  1. Labeling Forms: The WIS system allows you to organize and more easily locate your WIS forms by assigning them dynamic labels. Assigning a label to a form is similar to placing it in a folder, but is more powerful, as a single form can be assigned more than one label, and you can create a labeling scheme that is not bound to the hierarchical limitations of folders. You can filter your forms by clicking on a particular label, or search for forms by the labels you have assigned them. See Section 11 of the WIS How-To Guide for more information on applying labels to your forms.
  2. Form Clone: The WIS system allows you to open a form you have previously submitted, make an exact copy of it, change any necessary fields, and submit the new form for approval. This functionality will be particularly useful when you need to submit multiple forms of the same type for a given well. To clone a form, find the form you want to duplicate, open it in your browser, and select the “Clone” option from the Form Actions dropdown at the bottom of the screen. The system will create a new form with all of the fields pre-filled with the cloned form's data. Make any necessary changes to the form, and submit it as you would normally. See Section 7 of the WIS How-To Guide for more information on how to clone a form.
  3. Auto-Fill from Last Routed Form: When creating a new WIS form instance, the system allows you to copy all of the data you entered the last time you filled out a form of the same type. For example, if you are creating a new Sundry Notice, you can use the Auto-Fill from Last Routed form functionality to pre-populate all of the form fields with the data you entered the last time you filled out a Sundry Notice. Since a good deal of this information will be the same across all of the Sundry Notices you complete, (your contact information, organization information, etc.) you will likely only have to change a few data items before submitting the form. To use this functionality, click on the Auto-Fill button from within a form instance and click on the Copy button in the subsequent window. See Section 4.3 of the WIS How-To Guide for more information on using the Auto-Fill from Last Routed Form functionality.
Note: You must first route a form using the upgraded WIS system before you can use this auto-fill feature for a particular form type.
 
 
The Bureau of Land Management has upgraded its security policy to ensure the utmost in safeguards for your online experience. As of March 14, 2005, all WIS users will be required to use a strong password to enter the system. You will be prompted by the system to change your password on March 14, or upon your first log-on to the system after that date. Users will also be required to change their passwords every 90 days in order to ensure the highest security measures,
 
  • Passwords will be eight or more characters in length.
  • Passwords must contain a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters.
  • There will be at least one numeric character (0,1,2,3...9).
  • There will be at least one special character (e.g., %, &, #, *, etc.).
  • Passwords are to be changed every 90 days. You will be prompted at 90 days to make this change.  
  • There will be no reuse of passwords allowed for at least 8 changes.
  • Your account will be a locked out after five failed password entries and can only be cleared by Paul Brown or Casey Ferguson at the phone numbers listed below.
  • Passwords may not be used until 180 days have passed since their last usage.
  • When changing your password, at least two characters must be unique. Reuse of the same password with a different suffix (1, 2, and 3) shall not be permitted.
If you have any further questions about this transition or are locked out of the system, please contact Paul Brown at 303-236-8586 or Casey Ferguson at 303-236-3509. Thank you for your understanding while we make this transition, and we look forward to continuing our partnership together.
 
 12/16/2004
 
On December 16th, 2004, the Bureau of Land Management deployed the first upgrade to the Well Information System (WIS 1.1). This release addresses a number of issues that operators have identified as necessary for more effective system usage. The new functionality offered in version 1.1 includes:
  • Access to a printable PDF version of all submitted forms in a 1 or 2 page format.
Each time you make a WIS submission, the system automatically creates a 1 or 2 page PDF document and attaches it to the WIS form. This document contains the form data as you submitted it to the BLM for approval, and can be printed or emailed to anyone that requires a condensed copy of the form. Once the BLM approves a form submission, the system creates another condensed PDF version of the WIS form containing the permit data at the time the form was approved.
File attachments are saved along with all other documents you attached to the submission, and can be accessed by either clicking on the paper-clip icon next to the form name in your In-Process tab, or by opening the form itself and clicking on the Attachments icon.
File names will be formatted in the following fashion:
    • Original Submission: “WIS_Print_Submitted_51234.pdf” where 51234 is the AFMSS Transaction ID.
    • Approved Version: “WIS_Print_Revised_51234.pdf” where 51234 is the AFMSS Transaction ID.
Note: The WIS system creates the condensed PDF documents as part of a process that executes every half-hour. You may need to wait up to 30 minutes before PDF documents are available as attachments to your original form submission.
  • The ability to search for previously submitted forms by either AFMSS Transaction ID or Well API Number.
To access the search functionality, click on the “Search for forms by AFMSS ID or API Number” link below. After you enter the desired search criteria (for example, an AFMSS Transaction ID of “51234” or an API Number of “43-019-12345”, where the dashes are not required), the system will search the forms that you have previously submitted for any that match the search criteria entered. If a match is found, the system will provide you with a link to the form in WIS. After clicking on the link, you will be required to enter your login information before viewing the form. The system will not allow you to access any form that you do not otherwise have access to.
 
Note: This feature is currently accessible only from the WIS home page. The search functionality offered in WIS 1.1 is meant to be an interim solution. A more robust solution that allows for searching directly within the WIS application across all form fields will be offered in the next system release, currently scheduled for March, 2005.
  • Enhanced form functionality, including:
    • Less restrictive date fields. When entering dates, you no longer need to specify dates using the MM/DD/YYYY format. Examples of valid date entries are as follows:
      • “5/5/04” would be translated to “05/05/2004”
      • “1 1 04” would be translated to “01/01/2004”
      • “4/31/03” would return an error since the date specified is not valid for the month indicated
    • The ability to populate the date contained in the signature field block (Name, Date, Title, Signature) with the current date by clicking the “Today” button.
Note: The system will use the date from your computer’s clock. If this date is incorrect, the date the system enters into this field will also be incorrect.
    • The ability to enter fractions in certain numeric entry fields. The system automatically converts the fractions that are entered to the equivalent numeric decimal value to three decimals of precision. For example, the system will translate an entry of “5 1/3” to “5.333”.
For more information on the functionality included in WIS 1.1, please see the WIS How-To-Guide. As always, we encourage your feedback regarding system usability and welcome any suggestions for new enhancements you would like considered for a future system release.
 
10/12/2004
 
On October 12th, 2004, the Bureau of Land Management deployed a new web-based application for submitting and tracking oil and gas permitting forms (Notice of Staking, Application for Permit to Drill or Reenter, Sundry Notice and Well Completion Report). The link used to access the WIS system (wispermits.blm.gov) has not changed. For information on using the new WIS system, please click on the “See WIS System How-To Guide” link below.
 
You can log in to the new system by clicking on the “Logon to WIS’ link below. To log in to the system you will enter your email address and password. Both the email address and password on record have been migrated to the new system. If you have multiple WIS accounts that use the same email address, or are having trouble logging in, please contact Paul Brown, at (303) 236-8586.
 
Note: For users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, this version of WIS requires version 5.5 or greater. There appears to be a bug (or bugs) in IE version 5.0 that exhibit itself via empty fields when a draft is brought up for editing and also the inability to save drafts.