Last month, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) announced that it would be implementing electronic permitting procedures in response to office shutdowns caused by COVID-19. The electronic process will also serve as the initial step in developing a fully electronic permitting and reporting system.

The initial system will utilize “AOGCC-designed fillable PDF and Excel forms, emails, and secure FTP sites provided by each Operator.” The Industry Guidance Bulletin 20-001, released by AOGCC, provides guidance on how to complete permit to drill and sundry applications. The Industry Guidance Bulletin 20-002 includes instructions for filling out and submitting AOGCC-designed forms for sundry and well completion reports.

As of April 1, all sundry reports and well completion reports must be submitted via digital formal. Also effective April 1, “Operators shall hold data submittals until a secure, operator-hosted FTP server is available for AOGCC access, which shall be no later than April 20, 2020.” All materials submitted electronically will be stored in accordance with AOGCC’s confidential documents protocols.