UWI to GPS: Convert Any Unique Well Identifier to Coordinates

This guide covers how to convert a UWI to GPS coordinates - from parsing the location component out of the identifier, to entering it into Township Canada for a single lookup, to running batch conversions on thousands of well records. If you work with AER well data, production databases, or well licence documents, this is the reference workflow.

What Is a UWI?

A Unique Well Identifier (UWI) is the standardized reference format for every licensed well in Canada. Developed by PTAC (Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada) and adopted by the AER, BC OGC, and Saskatchewan's Ministry of Energy and Resources, the UWI encodes the well's surface location directly inside the identifier string.

The format follows a fixed pattern: event sequence / location / event suffix.

A typical DLS-format UWI looks like this:

100/06-32-048-07W5/00

The middle segment - 06-32-048-07W5 - is a standard LSD (Legal Subdivision) description in the Dominion Land Survey system. It identifies a specific 40-acre (16-hectare) parcel: LSD 6, Section 32, Township 48, Range 7, West of the 5th Meridian. That's west-central Alberta, near Rocky Mountain House.

Converting a UWI to GPS means extracting that location component and resolving it to latitude and longitude coordinates.

How to Convert a Single UWI to GPS

Step 1: Extract the Location Component

Take the segment between the two slashes. For 100/06-32-048-07W5/00, the location is 06-32-048-07W5.

The event sequence (100) is the well type code. The suffix (00) tracks completions and re-entries at the same surface site. Neither affects the GPS coordinates.

If you're working with a compact UWI (no slashes), remove the first three digits and the last two. 10006320480700 becomes 06-32-048-07W5 the same way.

Step 2: Enter the LSD into Township Canada

Go to Township Canada and type the extracted LSD into the search bar:

• 06-32-048-07W5
• Or any equivalent format: 6-32-48-7-W5, LSD 6 Sec 32 Twp 48 Rge 7 W5M

Township Canada returns the centre-point GPS coordinates for that 40-acre parcel, calculated from official survey data. You also see the parcel boundary on the DLS grid map.

Step 3: Use the Coordinates

From the result, you can:

• Copy the lat/lng pair for a navigation device or GIS application
• Get driving directions to the well site
• Save the location to a project for future reference
• Export as CSV, KML, Shapefile, GeoJSON, or DXF (export guide)

For more on converting Alberta well licence locations specifically, see the well site GPS coordinates guide.

Example: UWI to GPS Conversion

UWI: 100/06-32-048-07W5/00

Extracted LSD: 06-32-048-07W5

GPS result: approximately 52.37°N, 115.05°W

That's a 16-hectare parcel in west-central Alberta. The coordinates point to the parcel centre - accurate enough for field navigation, AER filings, and GIS mapping.

Batch UWI to GPS Conversion

Single lookups work for a handful of wells. For larger datasets - quarterly AER filings, asset reviews, production databases - you need batch processing.

CSV Upload

Pre-process your UWI list to extract the location components. In a spreadsheet, split the text on the / delimiter and take the second segment. In SQL: SPLIT_PART(uwi, '/', 2).

Upload the resulting column of LSD descriptions to Township Canada's batch conversion tool. It processes up to 5,000 records per job and returns GPS coordinates for every row. Batch conversion is available on the Business plan and through the Batch API. The output flags any descriptions that did not resolve, so data entry errors in your source records surface before they reach a regulatory submission.

Search API

For programmatic workflows - a well status dashboard, an automated ETL pipeline, a custom reporting tool - the Township Canada Search API accepts LSD strings and returns GPS coordinates as GeoJSON. Feed the parsed location component from each UWI into the API endpoint and get a structured response with coordinates and parcel boundary.

For a deeper technical walkthrough of UWI parsing, Snowflake SQL integration, and API usage patterns, see UWI to GPS: The O&G Developer's Guide.

NTS-Format UWIs

Not all Canadian wells use DLS-based identifiers. Wells in British Columbia (outside the Peace River block) and the Northwest Territories use UWIs built on the National Topographic System (NTS). The location component references an NTS map sheet and block rather than an LSD/section/township.

An NTS-format UWI might look like: 200 B-077-C/094-A-03/00

The location component - B-077-C/094-A-03 - is an NTS grid reference. Convert these using the NTS to GPS converter. For BC wells near the DLS/NTS boundary (the Peace River region), confirm which system applies before running the conversion.

Common Mistakes

• Entering the full UWI string: The converter expects a legal land description (06-32-048-07W5), not the full UWI with prefix and suffix (100/06-32-048-07W5/00). Strip the event sequence and suffix first.
• Using the bottomhole instead of the surface location: Directional and horizontal wells (event codes 102, 103, and higher) have a bottomhole in a different LSD than the surface. The UWI always encodes the surface location - that's what you want for field navigation.
• Dropping the meridian: 06-32-048-07 without W5 is ambiguous. Always include the meridian - it determines whether the location is in Alberta (W4/W5), Saskatchewan (W2/W3), or Manitoba (W1).

Related Guides

• Unique Well Identifiers (UWI) in Canada - full reference on UWI format, PTAC standards, and regulatory context
• Well site GPS coordinates Alberta - converting AER well licence locations to navigation-ready coordinates
• Batch convert legal land descriptions - process hundreds of locations from a CSV
• Legal land descriptions for oil and gas - broader guide to O&G land description workflows

Convert a UWI Location Now

Try it - extract the LSD from your UWI and enter it into Township Canada. For bulk workflows, upload a CSV of extracted locations to the batch converter and get GPS coordinates for every well in seconds.