The Petroleum Resources Division provides the current state of oil and gas rights within the Northwest Territories. This data is current as of March 2023. Data is provided in the following formats:

• Esri SHP files with included xml metadata for use in Geographic Information System Software. An Esri (lyr) file is included with the SHP file so that symbolization and labeling is available immediately upon opening the SHP file in ArcGIS, though modifying the symbolization is at the end users discretion. Esri SHP files are provided in both geographic coordiante system NAD 1927 and NAD 1983.
• PDF export of metadata of the NAD 1927 and NAD 1983 SHP files for easier reading by non-GIS or non-XML enthusiasts.
• KMZ – for use in Google Earth, Google Maps or similar programs which can read KMZ.
• MS Excel spreadsheet of the attribute tables exported from the SHP file

Oil and Gas Rights NWT INAC - thumbnail 2018

As of 2021, there will be new versions of the regional map with a Title_URL added to the PDF filename. This notation is to identify versions of the map that provide page links pointing to the Oil and Gas Licences (Titles) page. 

If you hover your cursor over the LAND_CODE field where the titles/licence codes are listed and move down the list, you will see that the link changes based on which Oil and Gas Licences web page the licence can be found. These links will take you to the corresponding licence page in a new window or tab.

oilrights.png

Downloadable Maps

The maps are 53.2 inches x 32.6 inches (135.13 cm x 82.80 cm) in size, saved at 300 dpi from ArcGIS Advanced 10.5.1. There are two formats available.

1. The NWT Hydrocarbon Potential map in TIF format saved as PDF (41 MB ~ 5-6 minutes to download at 1Mb/s) contains no individual objects or text, it is simply an image of the map. There is also a less compressed version of the NWT Hydrocarbon Potential map in TIFF format saved as a PDF (173 MB in size and will take 24 minutes to download at 1Mb/s), for those that want to have less compression artifacts in the map for viewing or printing.
2. The NWT Hydrocarbon Potential Map directly saved from GIS environment in GeoPDF format (54 MB ~ 7-8 minutes to download at 1Mb/s). This map is a GeoPDF with the ability to turn layers on and off and determine the latitude and longitude position of any point on the map using the Analyze Tool in Adobe Acrobat. The map has vector points, lines, polygons, text labels and annotation as well as text in the legend. The end user can also measure perimeter, length and areas using the Analyze Tool in Acrobat Professional. For a more lengthy description of how to use the Analyse/Analysis Tool please refer to the current areas for expression of interest page. This map allows for full print reproduction and content searches within Adobe Acrobat. Note: some layers with transparencies are merged with the background and cannot be individually turned off as this is a limitation of the export process.

The files are available below.

Printing Notes

For best print reproduction on an HP plotter while printing from Adobe Acrobat:

• If you have access to a plotter that is 44 inches in width or larger, you can create a custom page setup of 44 inches x 42 inches to allow for accurate printing of the map as designed.
• Use the newest postscript drivers and select "properties" then "colour" then "application managed colours", let the software perform colour correction.
• If using the HPGL2 drivers disable the automatic colour correction as well.
• Do not use the HPGL2 printer drivers to print the large 110MB size PDF, this will cause errors in the final output, only print the TIF version PDF using the HPGL2 drivers.

For support in printing the large format map or questions regarding the map please contact us.

In either of the GSC_NAD27 or GSC_NAD83 Esri File GeoDatabases, there is an  ECO_ITI_PR_OilandGasRights _SummaryIndex feature class; this is the feature class that you want to use to see the oil and gas rights in a map. 

Open this layer in ArcGIS, you can symbolize the feature class using one of the provided Esri layer files in the download section below, just change source path to pick the ECO_ITI_PR_OilandGasRights _SummaryIndex feature class.  When using the SummaryIndex feature class you can tunnel down through the related tables using the Info Tool in ArcMap to see the ownership and percentages of ownership of the each significant discovery licence, production licence and pioneer production licence.

If you only want to use the standard flat file feature class open the ECO_ITI_PR_OilandGasRights feature class in either of the GSC_NAD27 or GSC_NAD83 File GeoDatabases, likewise you can use the available Esri Lyr files to symbolize these feature classes.

Alternatively you can use the standard Esri SHP files in GSC_NAD27 or GSC_NAD83 formats and again, symbolize the layers using the available Esri lyr files.