Well locations can be described multiple ways, the two most common are GPS coordinates and distance calls. Adding points based on a coordinate pair in ArcMap is very simple, but what about distance calls? Until now, there has not been an easy way to spot large sets of wells without their GPS coordinates.

The new TractBuilder Well Spotting Tool allows users to convert a spreadsheet with footage calls into points and lines. GIS professionals and land professionals have seen well locations described as “six hundred feet from the north line, four hundred feet from the east line” or “600 FNL 400 FEL” of a specific section. The TractBuilder Well Spotting Tool works with many different PLSS basemap formats, such as FGDC, BLM, and some proprietary data vendors. There’s more! The TractBuilder Well Spotting Tool can spot up to two points and one line per record in the spreadsheet, this is ideal for horizontal wells. The spreadsheet and tool allow you to customize the output to be any combination of one point, two points, and a line connecting the two point locations.

Kyle Souza explains why this tool was a logical choice for TractBuilder to create, “A client came to us with a problem, thousands of well spots needed to be mapped fast, and all they had was footage calls. We have the best tools on the market for creating polygons and polylines from legal descriptions, why not points? As long as a user has the basic location information and the point description the TractBuilder Well Spotting Tool can spot their points, and more, without trouble.”

For more information about the TractBuilder Well Spotting Tool visit the new page on TractBuilder’s website http://www.tractbuilder.com/tools_wellspotting.html. TractBuilder has made available screenshots, videos, a whitepaper, and a free trial of the software. If you need to map well locations, then you need the TractBuilder Well Spotting Tool!