Well Permitting and Development

Electronic Permitting 

The BLM recently completed a multi-year effort to upgrade its online oil and gas drilling permit processing system called the Automated Fluid Minerals Support System (AFMSS).  AFMSS electronically processes Notices of Staking (NOS) and Applications for Permit to Drill (APD) as well as Sundry Notices and Well Completion Reports. If you need to set up an account in AFMSS or need assistance with your password, please submit a Help Desk Ticket.

Sundry Notices

Submitting sundry notices (sundries) via WIS is currently the preferred method until AFMSS 2 is fully developed. Submitting the Sundry Notices and Reports on Wells Form 3160-5 is another option, though less desirable than electronic submittals. The BLM processes about 50,000 sundries each year. A Subsequent report is due 30 days after operations are completed (refer to 43 CFR 3162.3-2 for regulations of subsequent well operations). 

Other Required Forms

Quick Links

Image shows a flat well pad with a drill rig in an area of dirt on a mountain under a cloudy sky.
Flat well pad with drill rig. Notice the tree on the downslope edge of the drill pad.
Image shows the location in the beginning stages of recontouring to improve top soil management under clear skies.
Recontouring the location to match the original topography.  Top soil management is critical to successful reclamation.
Image shows the successful revegation of the disturbed area. The green plant sit in areas of rock and dirt on a mountain under a clear blue sky.
Successful revegation of the disturbed location. The tree downslope from the edge of the pad survived!
Image shows the rocky area on the mountain, the grass has flourished where the dirt used to be, and the green plants continue to grow under a clear sky.
Fully restored sagebrush ecosystem after being a well location.  Oil and gas is a temporary extraction.