Support for the Canadian Well Identification System

Please send your comments or support request to CWIS@ppdm.org

What Is A Well?

PPDM has a set of baseline definitions for wells. The purpose is to remove uncertainty in the use of common terms and thereby reduce the risks involved in the capture and exchange of well data. The CWIS standard uses the What Is A Well? (WIAW) definitions.

What Is A Well? Definitions, interactive tool, booklet for download, review of terminology by regulators.

FAQ

+ Why a new identifier system?

+ CWIS design

+ Adoption and implementation

+ Legacy wells and records

+ Future of the UWI

+ Well identifier

+ Wellbore identifier

+ Well reporting identifier

For a well with re-entry on the original perforations, do we get the exact same Well ID, Wellbore ID and Well Reporting ID with an original date plus a new date?

Yes, for the Well ID and the Wellbore ID because these are the same as before.
The Well Reporting ID will probably be different, assuming the original perforations were closed and abandoned.
The regulator’s regulations always determine the assignment of the ID.

If a well has two Wellbore IDs and only one Reporting ID, which wellbore has been completed?

Completion information is attached to the wellbore(s) that is/are completed.
The Well Reporting ID is attached to the Well, not to a specific wellbore.

The CWIS does not appear to identify which UWI events are commingled. We prefer the existing system, which incorporates a well status and gross completion interval (GCI).

Well status and GCI are attributes of the existing UWI and can likewise be attributes of the Well Reporting ID.
The Well Reporting ID can be linked to each contributing GCI, even in multiple wellbores.

A well flowed only water on a production test. Will it be assigned a Well Reporting ID?

The CWIS allows a Well Reporting ID for a production test.
However, each Authority must determine the relevant reporting requirements and decide when to assign a Well Reporting ID.

How do I identify the perforated interval and the test results?

Perforations/completions are attributes of the Wellbore ID.
A Well Reporting ID can be assigned to any recovered fluid, depending on the Authority’s rules.

A well was perforated and tested in three formations. Is a Well Reporting ID assigned to each zone?

If there is fluid recovery, there may be one Well Reporting ID or there may be three.
This depends on how each Authority implements the Standard.

A multileg well has one reporting leg (boss leg) and two drain legs. How will a Well Reporting ID be assigned?

See Figure 13 in the Standard.
The Authority makes the rules and assigns the identifiers.
The Standard expects that this example has one Well Reporting ID.
Additional Well Reporting IDs, subordinate to the main Well Reporting ID, could be assigned to each leg if there is a need to track or allocate production at this level. Be sure to design the relationships so there is no duplication or loss of volumes.

A dual completion well was converted to commingled. Does the regulator create a new Well Reporting ID or use one of the existing IDs?

The authority will create a new Well Reporting ID.
See Figure 15 in the Standard.
Both old identifiers are kept to keep track of historical production.

Saskatchewan has a Completion ID. Is it the same as Well Reporting ID?

Probably yes, but see the province's regulations.
Saskatchewan adopted the first draft of the CWIS Standard in 2013. The final version in 2014 changed Completion ID to Well Reporting ID to clarify the meaning and purpose of the identifier.

Use Cases

These use cases were developed by the CWIS Work Group in 2015. Each case shows how to apply the CWIS standard. If you have any suggestions to enhance an existing use case or recommendations for another use case, please let us know at cwis@ppdm.org.