How to Build an Oilfield Prospect List from Public Well Data

Industry Overview: Turning Public Data Into Pipeline

Alberta's public well records are a goldmine for oilfield service companies, but raw data is not pipeline. The discipline of converting hundreds of thousands of ST37 rows into a short, qualified, operator-centric list is what separates high-performing business development teams from those drowning in spreadsheets. The province's mix of unconventional reservoirs — the Montney, Duvernay, Cardium, and Viking — plus mature conventional and heavy oil assets means there is always a well somewhere changing status and creating demand for fracturing services, abandonment, reclamation, or production work. The art is filtering to the slice that matches what you sell.

This guide focuses on the list-building step itself: defining your service profile, filtering ST37, qualifying operators, and organizing the output. It pairs with the broader sales playbook and the account qualification framework.

Defining Your Service Profile First

Before touching data, write down exactly what you sell and which well conditions create demand for it. A swabbing company targets shut-in oil wells; an environmental firm targets abandoned inventory; a completion company targets recent drilling. This service profile is the filter you apply to ST37. The sales playbook formalizes this as the ideal customer profile (ICP). Skipping this step is the most common cause of bloated, low-quality lists.

Filtering ST37 by Status, Type, and Location

The practical filter sequence: start with status (active, inactive, suspended, recently drilled), then location (field centre, township, or radius), then well type (oil, gas, injection). Each filter narrows the universe from hundreds of thousands of rows to a focused subset. The ST37 guide explains the field structure, and the municipality guide covers location radii.

Qualifying With Production Context

Status tells you condition; Petrinex tells you economics. An inactive well with strong historical production is a recompletion candidate, while one with thin output is a reclamation candidate. Pulling production context on your filtered list upgrades it from a name list to a qualified prospect list. The data sources comparison explains the join.

Grouping by Operator to Build the List

Once filtered, group wells by operator so each list entry is a company with a well count and status mix, not a pile of individual wells. This operator-centric view is what outreach actually uses. The identify active operators guide covers the regional grouping mechanics.

From List to Tiered Outreach

A raw list is not a plan. Score each operator on activity, fit, accessibility, and timing, then assign tiers. Tier 1 gets immediate, personalized outreach; Tier 3 goes on a watchlist. The prioritization guide and the account qualification framework provide the scoring models.

What Makes a Good Oilfield Prospect

Before building a prospect list, you need to know what you are looking for. A good oilfield prospect is not just any operator with wells — it is an operator whose well portfolio creates service demand that matches what your company provides, within a geographic area you can actually service.

The characteristics that make a strong prospect vary by service type, but the core elements are consistent:

Geographic fit. The operator's wells need to be within a serviceable distance from your base of operations. An operator with 200 wells across Alberta is less relevant than one with 30 wells concentrated in the area you cover. Proximity determines whether a relationship can develop into actual paid work.

Activity level. Operators actively managing their wells — producing, drilling, filing regulatory notices — create ongoing service needs. Operators who are passive, holding only legacy inactive assets with no apparent investment plans, are less likely to engage with new service providers.

Service alignment. The operator's well types and statuses need to match your capabilities. An operator with inactive heavy oil wells near Lloydminster is a strong prospect for swabbing and workover services. The same operator is a weaker prospect for a company that specializes in frac services for gas wells in the Montney.

Accessibility. Some operators are easier to reach than others. A private company with a local office and a known operations manager is more accessible than a subsidiary of a publicly traded company buried behind procurement portals. Factor accessibility into your prioritization.

Starting with Public Well Data

Alberta maintains comprehensive public well records through the AER. The primary dataset for building a prospect list is the AER ST37 well record dataset, which contains well identifiers, status fields, operator fields, location data, and drilling information for every well in the province.

The ST37 dataset is freely available for download from the AER and the Alberta Open Data portal. It arrives as a large CSV file with hundreds of thousands of rows. This is the raw material for your prospect list — but it needs to be filtered and interpreted to become useful.

Additional data sources that complement ST37 include:

• AER production data — indicates whether wells are currently producing and at what level, helping identify operators with active production in your area
• Regulatory filings — new licence applications, suspension notices, and abandonment applications signal operator decision-making and upcoming work
• Operator directory data — contact information, corporate details, and operational profiles that help you prepare for outreach

For teams working through this data manually, the typical approach involves downloading ST37, importing it into a spreadsheet, and building filters based on geographic and status criteria. For teams using a research platform, the same data is available through a searchable interface without the spreadsheet overhead.

Filtering by Status, Location, and Operator

The filtering process is where raw data becomes a prospect list. Here is the sequence most teams follow:

Filter by Status

Start by filtering the well records by status. The status filter determines what kind of service opportunities you are targeting:

Producing wells — create ongoing maintenance, monitoring, and optimization opportunities. Operators with producing wells may need routine services, production testing, artificial lift maintenance, or workover services.

Inactive wells — create recompletion, workover, swabbing, and assessment opportunities. Inactive wells that have been shut in for months or years may need evaluation before the operator decides on next steps.

Suspended wells — create monitoring, maintenance, and eventual reinstatement or abandonment opportunities. Suspended wells have specific regulatory obligations that require service support.

Recently drilled wells — create completion, production testing, and surface equipment opportunities. Wells that appear in recent licence applications or have recent drilling dates indicate new development activity.

Your status filter should reflect the services you provide. A company focused on abandonment and reclamation services will filter differently than one focused on production optimization.

Filter by Location

Geographic filtering narrows the well list to your serviceable area. Key location fields in ST37 data include:

Field centre — the named field where the well is located. Filtering by field centre (e.g., Lloydminster, Pembina, Rainbow) groups wells by operational area.

Township, range, meridian — the Alberta Township Survey coordinates that provide precise geographic positioning. Filtering by these fields isolates wells within a defined grid area.

Postal code or latitude/longitude — where available, these provide additional precision for distance-based filtering.

Define your serviceable radius first, then apply geographic filters to the well data. Wells outside your radius are not worth prioritizing, no matter how promising their status or operator profile.

Filter and Group by Operator

Once you have filtered by status and location, group the remaining wells by operator. This produces a summary that shows each operator and their well count within your filtered criteria. This is your raw prospect list — every operator holding wells that match your status and geographic filters.

At this stage, do not over-filter. The goal is to capture every operator who might be relevant. Refinement happens in the qualification step.

Qualifying Prospects Before Outreach

A raw prospect list generated from filtered well data will contain both strong prospects and noise. Qualification separates them. Apply these evaluation criteria to each operator on your list:

Total wells in your service area. Operators with a meaningful number of wells in your filtered region deserve more attention than operators with a single well that happened to match your filters. Set a minimum threshold — perhaps 3 or 5 wells — to focus your effort on operators with real presence in the area.

Status distribution. Examine the mix of statuses for each operator. An operator with 10 wells — 7 producing and 3 inactive — is actively managing their portfolio and has specific inactive well needs. An operator with 10 wells — all inactive for 5+ years — may be a lower priority unless you specifically serve the reclamation market.

Recent activity. Check whether the operator has any recent regulatory filings, well transfers, or new licence applications. Recent activity indicates active decision-making and near-term service demand. Operators with no recent filings may be in a holding pattern.

Operator profile. Research the operator's apparent size and focus. Do they appear to be a single-operator company managing a handful of wells, or a larger operation with staff across multiple regions? The size of the operation affects both the scope of potential work and the approach you take for outreach.

Competitive positioning. Consider whether your competitors are likely already serving this operator. If the operator has well-documented service relationships, your outreach may need to focus on a specific gap or opportunity rather than a general introduction.

Organizing Your List for Action

After qualification, organize your prospect list into a format that supports outreach. A structured list typically includes:

• Operator name and AER code — for accurate identification in AER records
• Well count in your service area — the number of wells matching your filters
• Status breakdown — producing, inactive, suspended, and other counts
• Primary well types — oil, gas, injection, or mixed
• Recent filing activity — any notable regulatory filings in the past 6–12 months
• Priority ranking — your assessment of which operators to contact first
• Contact information — names, phone numbers, emails where available
• Research notes — context gathered during qualification that will help in outreach
• Proposed next action — whether to call, email, visit, or hold for further research

Export this list in a format your team can act on — a CSV for CRM import, a shared spreadsheet for team review, or a printed list for field use. The format matters less than the quality of the information and the completeness of the research behind each entry.

Save the list and its underlying search criteria. Prospect lists go stale as operators change, wells change status, and new activity appears. Having saved criteria lets you refresh the list periodically without rebuilding from scratch. For the full end-to-end workflow beyond list building, see our Oilfield Sales Prospecting Workflow.

Common Mistakes in Prospect List Building

Starting without defined criteria. Downloading ST37 data and trying to figure out what to filter for after the fact wastes hours. Define your status, location, and service criteria before touching the data.

Over-filtering early. Applying too many filters in the first pass can exclude relevant prospects. Start broad and narrow during qualification rather than losing prospects at the initial filter stage.

Skipping qualification. A raw filtered list is not a prospect list. Without qualification, you are calling every operator that happens to have a well in the area, regardless of whether they are a realistic customer.

Not saving research. When the prospect list lives in one person's spreadsheet and the qualification notes are in another person's head, the research is not reusable. Save everything in a shared location.

Building once and never updating. Well data changes constantly. Operators acquire and divest assets, wells change status, and new filings appear weekly. A prospect list built once and never refreshed becomes inaccurate within weeks.

Best Practices and Checklist

• Do write your service profile before opening ST37.
• Do filter status, then location, then well type.
• Do group by operator number, not well, for the final list.
• Do layer Petrinex production context to qualify.
• Do save the search as a watchlist for refresh.
• Don't filter before defining what you sell.
• Don't list individual wells instead of operators.
• Don't skip verification of the legal operator entity.

Decision Framework: Tiering Your List

Safety and Compliance Notes

Prospect lists describe regulated assets. Before any site visit implied by your outreach, confirm authorization and follow oilfield safety standards. The AER and CAPP publish the safety and operating practices governing wellsite conduct, and the fracturing glossary defines the technical terms that appear in well records and filings.

Glossary of Key Terms

• ST37: AER well-record dataset used to build prospect lists.
• Petrinex: Production reporting system for qualifying by economics.
• Ideal customer profile (ICP): The defined service-and-well-condition fit.
• Status filter: Selecting wells by active, inactive, suspended, or abandoned.
• Operator number: Stable key for grouping wells by company.
• Watchlist: Saved search that surfaces status changes automatically.
• UWI: Unique Well Identifier linking the physical wellbore across data.
• Inactive Well Program: AER framework creating steady disposition demand.

Summary

A great prospect list is not downloaded — it is built through disciplined filtering and qualification. Start from your service profile, filter ST37 by status, location, and well type, group by operator, qualify on activity and production, and tier the result into an outreach plan. Save the search as a watchlist so the list stays current. For the full sequence after the list, continue to the sales prospecting workflow and the account qualification framework.

Related Resources

Expand your approach with the ST37 guide, the identify active operators guide, the data sources comparison, the account qualification framework, and the opportunity research guide. See also the sales playbook.