la-sonris

Louisiana SONRIS Data Skill

Queries Louisiana oil and gas regulatory data from the SONRIS system maintained by the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Office of Conservation. Louisiana is a major oil and gas state with production from the Gulf Coast, salt dome structures, Haynesville Shale, and the critically important Smackover Formation brine trend.

API Key Handling

No API key required. SONRIS public data queries are freely accessible without authentication.

Note: SONRIS is a legacy Oracle-based web application. URLs use Oracle ORDS (Oracle REST Data Services) patterns and may redirect between hostnames. Some pages require session cookies. The system can be slow and occasionally unavailable.

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Data Access Architecture

SONRIS provides data through three channels:

1. SONRIS Web Application — well search, production queries, permit data
2. SONRIS GIS — spatial data viewer
3. Bulk Data Downloads — ASCII data files and report archives

Channel 1: SONRIS Web Application

Base URL: http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/

The SONRIS system uses Oracle ORDS URL patterns. Key entry points:

Query Tool	URL	Data
SONRIS Main Menu	http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/cart_top_html	Hub for all query tools
Well Search	http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/cart_well_srch_sta	Search wells by serial number, operator, parish, field
Production Query	http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/cart_prod_qry	Production data by well, field, or operator
Injection/Disposal Query	http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/cart_inj_qry	Injection well volumes
Permit Query	http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/cart_permit_qry	Drilling and workover permits
Scout Ticket	http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/cart_scout_qry	Well completion/scout data

Well search parameters:

Parameter	Description
Well Serial Number	Louisiana unique well identifier
API Number	Standard 14-digit API number
Operator Name	Current or historical operator
Parish	Louisiana parish (equivalent to county)
Field	Named field
Section/Township/Range	Legal location
Well Type	Oil, Gas, Injection, Disposal, etc.

Channel 2: SONRIS GIS

URL: https://sonris-www.dnr.state.la.us/gis/agsweb/IE/JSViewer/index.html

ESRI-based GIS viewer showing:

• Well locations (color-coded by type/status)
• Field boundaries
• Unit boundaries
• Pipeline routes
• Lease/permit boundaries

Channel 3: Bulk Data and ASCII Downloads

SONRIS provides bulk ASCII data files for download. Access via the SONRIS main menu:

Dataset	Description
Well Header Data	Basic well information (serial number, API, operator, location, status)
Production Data	Monthly production volumes by well
Injection Data	Monthly injection/disposal volumes by well
Completion Data	Formation, perforations, initial potential
Permit Data	Drilling and workover permits
Plug and Abandon Data	P&A records

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Query Patterns

Well Search

# SONRIS well queries use Oracle ORDS URL patterns.
# The web forms submit POST requests with Oracle-specific parameters.

# Look up a well by serial number:
curl -s "http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/cart_well_dtl" \
  --data-urlencode "p_wsn=SERIAL_NUMBER"
# Response is HTML with well detail page.

# Search wells by parish and field:
# Navigate to the well search page and submit the form with parish/field criteria.
# The exact form parameters depend on the SONRIS page structure.
# URL: http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/cart_well_srch_sta

Production Query

# Query production for a specific well:
# Navigate to production query and enter well serial number.
# URL: http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/cart_prod_qry

# Production data includes:
# - Monthly oil production (BBL)
# - Monthly gas production (MCF)
# - Monthly water production (BBL)
# - Condensate production (BBL)
# - Days on production

Injection/Disposal Query

# Query injection volumes for disposal wells:
# URL: http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/cart_inj_qry
# Enter well serial number or search by operator/parish.
# Returns monthly injection volumes, pressures, and fluid types.

Manual Workflow for Research

For systematic data gathering, the recommended approach is:

1. Identify target wells: Use SONRIS Well Search by parish and formation to find wells in the Smackover or other target formations
2. Get well serial numbers: Record the Louisiana serial numbers from search results
3. Pull production data: Query production for each well serial number
4. Pull injection data: Query injection volumes for disposal wells in the area to estimate produced water volumes
5. Cross-reference with USGS: Match wells to the USGS Produced Waters Geochemical Database for brine chemistry (Li, Mg, TDS)

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Workflow

Step 1 — Resolve Intent

User wants...	Best channel
Specific well details	SONRIS Well Search by serial number or API
Production by well	SONRIS Production Query
Injection/disposal volumes	SONRIS Injection Query
Well locations on map	SONRIS GIS Viewer
Parish-level summaries	SONRIS Production Query by parish
Bulk data for analysis	ASCII data downloads from SONRIS
Smackover brine chemistry	Cross-reference SONRIS wells with USGS Produced Waters DB

Step 2 — Fetch Data

SONRIS is a session-based web application. For individual lookups:

1. Navigate to the appropriate query page
2. Submit the search form with parameters
3. Parse the HTML response

For bulk analysis, download the ASCII data files.

Step 3 — Parse Response

• All SONRIS web responses are HTML (Oracle ORDS-generated pages)
• ASCII bulk files are typically pipe-delimited or fixed-width
• GIS viewer is interactive only (no documented REST endpoint for public use)

Step 4 — Produce Output

Format: Raw Data Table + Narrative

## Smackover Formation Wells — Union Parish, Louisiana

| Serial No. | API Number      | Operator           | Status    | Formation  | Depth (ft) |
|------------|----------------|--------------------|-----------|------------|------------|
| 123456     | 42-111-12345   | Standard Lithium   | Active    | Smackover  | 9,500      |
| 123457     | 42-111-12346   | Equinor            | Active    | Smackover  | 9,800      |
| ...        | ...            | ...                | ...       | ...        | ...        |

**Summary:** Union Parish has 15 active Smackover wells operated by companies
involved in lithium extraction research. The Smackover Formation in this area
produces brine at depths of 9,000-10,500 ft with TDS of 200,000-350,000 mg/L
and Li concentrations of 150-400 mg/L — well above the ~100 mg/L economic
threshold for direct lithium extraction (DLE).

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Louisiana Geographic Reference

Key Parishes for Oil and Gas

Parish	Region	Key Formations
Plaquemines	Deep South LA	Gulf Coast, deepwater staging
Lafourche	South LA	Gulf Coast, shallow shelf
Terrebonne	South LA	Coastal production
Caddo	NW LA	Haynesville Shale
De Soto	NW LA	Haynesville Shale
Red River	NW LA	Haynesville Shale
Union	N LA	Smackover Formation
Columbia	N LA	Smackover Formation
Claiborne	NW LA	Smackover, Cotton Valley
Webster	NW LA	Smackover, Cotton Valley
Bienville	N-central LA	Smackover

Formations Critical for Li/Mg Research

• Smackover Formation (Upper Jurassic): The most important formation for U.S. lithium-from-brine research. North Louisiana Smackover wells produce brines with 150-477 mg/L lithium — the highest known concentrations in U.S. produced waters. The formation extends across south AR, north LA, and east TX.

  • Depth: 8,000-11,000 ft
  • TDS: 200,000-350,000+ mg/L
  • Li: 100-477 mg/L (commonly 150-300 mg/L)
  • Mg: 1,000-5,000+ mg/L
  • Also rich in Br, Ca, Na, and other valuable solutes
  • Active DLE projects: Standard Lithium (south AR), Equinor, ExxonMobil

• Cotton Valley (Upper Jurassic): Overlies the Smackover. Brines have lower Li (10-100 mg/L) but are produced in larger volumes.

• Haynesville Shale (Upper Jurassic): Major gas play in NW Louisiana. Produced water volumes relatively low (gas wells) but brine chemistry similar to Cotton Valley. Li typically 10-50 mg/L.

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Error Handling

Condition	Meaning	Action
401 Unauthorized	Session expired or SONRIS access issue	Clear cookies; start a new session from the main menu
302 Redirect loop	SONRIS URL migration (sundown to sonlite)	Follow redirects; use sonlite.dnr.state.la.us base URL
Blank page / timeout	SONRIS server overloaded	Retry after several minutes; SONRIS has limited server capacity
"No data found"	No matching records for criteria	Verify serial number format; check parish/field spelling
Oracle error displayed	Backend database issue	Retry; report persistent errors to DNR
URL pattern changed	SONRIS migration from sundown to ORDS	Try both old (sundown) and new (ORDS) URL patterns

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Caveats and Data Limitations

1. Legacy system: SONRIS is an aging Oracle-based system. Performance can be poor, and the interface is dated. URLs may change as DNR migrates from the old "sundown" paths to Oracle ORDS.
2. No REST API: SONRIS does not offer a modern REST/JSON API. All queries return HTML pages generated by Oracle ORDS.
3. Session-based access: SONRIS uses server-side sessions. Automated access is difficult — cookies must be maintained between requests.
4. URL instability: SONRIS has undergone multiple URL migrations:
   • Old: sonris-www.dnr.state.la.us/sundown/cart_prod/...
   • Current: sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/cart_prod/...
   • Redirects are in place but not always reliable.
5. Water chemistry not in SONRIS: SONRIS tracks production and injection volumes but not brine geochemistry. For Li/Mg concentrations, use the USGS Produced Waters Geochemical Database and cross-reference by API number.
6. Smackover data coverage: Not all Smackover wells report to SONRIS. Some brine production is permitted under mineral extraction rather than oil and gas, which may be tracked differently.
7. Parish vs. County: Louisiana uses "parishes" instead of "counties." There are 64 parishes in Louisiana.