North Dakota Becomes Second State to Implement RBDMS 3.0

In early October the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) Oil and Gas Division officially kicked off the project to upgrade from RBDMS Classic to RBDMS 3.0. The NDIC will be the second agency to implement RBDMS 3.0 behind the California Department of Conservation Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR). DOGGR partnered with GWPC to build RBDMS 3.0 in 2016 and is currently starting the fourth of four project releases.

The NDIC Oil and Gas Division installed RBDMS Classic in 2002 and it was flexible enough to support their regulatory efforts through the Bakken oil boom. Over 15 years after installing RBDMS Classic, the NDIC is ready to upgrade to a modern web application. North Dakota is the second largest oil-producing state in the US and has surpassed previous monthly production records in 2018. RBDMS 3.0 will ensure that the agency is leveraging the newest technology to oversee this booming industry.

Earlier this year the NDIC Oil and Gas Division implemented a couple of RBDMS 3.0 eForms that integrate with their Classic database. Full implementation of RBDMS 3.0 will include a full set of electronic forms which will improve efficiency by reducing manual data entry. RBDMS 3.0 will be easier to use and its configurability will allow NDIC staff programmers to customize the system after it is live. Formal workflows will ensure processes are tracked from start to finish and will allow bottlenecks in the agency to be identified and addressed. It will also allow a subset of data to be available to interested parties to more easily extract and view.

In implementing RBDMS 3.0, the NDIC Oil and Gas Division will leverage technology developed by GWPC and DOGGR. Almost 80% of the desired functionality is fulfilled by the existing application. “Implementing RBDMS 3.0 has helped us gain the bulk of the functionality we want with limited cost,” said UIC & Treating Plant Manager Mark Bohrer. “We’ll be adding capabilities for pipelines and dockets and hearings which future states will be able to use. The cost-sharing model of RBDMS continues to be a huge advantage.”

The project will be implemented in four releases over the next two years. For questions about RBDMS 3.0 contact GWPC technical direction, Paul Jehn at paul@gwpc.org.