For Newbies: Satellite Views Of Your Wells

Updates

After the original note below, a reader sent me this note:

On the NDIC GIS map server, one can click on "NAIP 2009" under "imagery" at the sidebar to the right of the map.  The reader says the imagery may not be as recent as Google's and having just looked at it, it seems not to be as clear. However, the topography seems to be better visualized. Anyway, at least two options.

The instructions below seem a bit complicated, but once you do it, you will see how fast it is: a) center your cursor; b) click on "rect identify'; c) cut and paste the "lat" and "lon" at google maps. You don't have to clean up the "lat" and "lon" before pasting.

Original Post

Easy as pie.

1. NDIC website.

2. Click on "GIS Map Server" on left sidebar, about the eleventh button down.

3. At the map, at the sidebar on the left, near the bottom, click on find well.

4. Type in one word of the well's name.  Locate the name of the well you are looking for.

5. Click on that well. It will be highlighted on the GIS map server.

6. Again, on the sidebar at the left of the map, click on the eleventh button down, "Rect Identify."

7. Nothing will happen. Drag the cross-hairs over the well you are interested in. Click on that well.

8. At the bottom of the GIS map are the coordinates of the well; you will have to scroll to the right.

9. Do you see "lat," and "lon"?  Highlight the "lat" and "lon" with your curser.  "Copy."

10. Go to Google maps.

11.  Paste "lat" and "lon" into the white rectangle/search box at the top of Google maps.

12. Hit search, and voila -- there you are. Make sure you are in "satellite" mode on Google maps and you can drill down to see the well.

Showing My Ignorance But Always Willing to Learn (and Share)

I am aware of RSS but never really did much with it, and, until the other day, not even sure how to "do it."

But it turns out RSS offers quite a bit and is much more useful than I would have dreamed. It is particularly useful for sites like mine which continually update earlier posts.

If you "subscribe," the "blog" will appear in your Toolbar at the top of your browser. When you click on the tag in the toolbar, a drop-down menu will appear with about a dozen recent posts.

I highly recommend it. I tried it out for my own website and it turns out to be quite helpful.
If interested, at the bottom of every blog page, at the very, very bottom, you will see:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) 

Simply click on that and follow instructions. 

Random Note Regarding The Blog

I got two questions today about the blog, suggesting others may also want to know.  Someone asked about where the data sources are for my blog, etc.

This is the unedited reply I sent. This may help new folks to my site.

1. At the sidebar at the right, about 1/3 of the way down is a section called "DATA."  Within this section is "New Wells Reporting" where I post all new wells reporting that day. Some wells have not been completed/not fracked, and they won't report an IP. They will be listed as DRL (for drilling, yet to be completed).

2. Periodically, maybe every three months or so, I go back and update all the DRL wells that have reported IPs, and/or production.

3. The source data is the NDIC website, much of which is free, but to get the production data on a monthly basis requires a $50 annual subscription. Well worth it for anyone serious about the Bakken. At the NDIC website here, go to the sidebar on the left and click on "Basic Services."  Follow the instructions how to fax your information to NDIC, pay the $50 and get the password to production numbers.

4. The GIS map server is free.

5. With regard to WTI and Brent, I have written about it often. At my "Data Links" page I have links for the spot price of various grades of oil. Futures and Commodity links are a little bit down on that page. In my simple mind, Brent oil is oil bought/sold for Europe; WTI oil is oil bought/sold in North America. WTI oil is a hop-skip-jump from the refineries on the Gulf Coast. Bakken oil is a long, long way from the Gulf coast and the transportation costs cut into Bakken oil price. In addition, there is the storage issue at Cushing.