UWI to GPS: How to Convert Unique Well Identifiers to GPS Coordinates

A Unique Well Identifier (UWI) is not just an administrative tracking number — it encodes the well's surface location directly. Once you know how to read one, UWI to GPS conversion is a two-step operation: extract the LSD from the middle segment, then convert the LSD to coordinates. This guide walks through that process, plus bulk workflows for data teams.

What a UWI Contains

Every DLS-based UWI has three segments separated by slashes:

Event Sequence / LSD Location / Event Suffix

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

The middle segment — 06-32-048-07W5 — is a standard LSD description. It identifies a 40-acre parcel in west-central Alberta, in the Pembina field near Drayton Valley. That's your GPS target.

Step-by-Step: Single UWI Conversion

Step 1: Extract the LSD

Strip the three-digit event sequence and the two-digit suffix. Everything between the slashes is the LSD:

• Full UWI: 100/06-32-048-07W5/00
• LSD: 06-32-048-07W5

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

Type the LSD into the Township Canada search bar. Any of these formats work:

• 06-32-048-07W5
• LSD 6 Sec 32 Twp 48 Rge 7 W5M
• 6-32-48-7-W5

Township Canada normalizes the input and returns GPS coordinates for the surface hole location, the parcel boundary on the DLS survey grid, and a satellite imagery overlay.

Step 3: Use the Result

From the result page you can:

• Copy the latitude and longitude directly into a routing app or field tablet
• Get turn-by-turn directions to the well site
• Export the location as KML, Shapefile, or GeoJSON for GIS use
• Save it to a project for repeat access

Bulk Conversion: Processing a Well List

One UWI at a time is fine for a single site visit. For an asset acquisition, a monthly inspection run, or a well database audit, batch processing is the right approach.

The workflow:

1. Extract the LSD segment from each UWI in your dataset (strip prefix and suffix)
2. Save the LSD column to a CSV
3. Upload to the batch converter
4. Download results as CSV, KML, Shapefile, or GeoJSON

A list of 500 LSDs processes in under a minute. Batch conversion is available on the Business plan and through the Batch API. For data teams running conversion at scale inside Snowflake or Databricks, see the SQL-native DLS enrichment guide.

NTS-Based UWIs

BC wells outside the Peace River DLS block use NTS references instead of LSDs. A UWI like 100/094B-12-A/00 has an NTS location segment (094B-12-A) — 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

Treating the event sequence as part of the location. The 100 prefix in 100/06-32-048-07W5/00 is the well type code. Including it in the LSD search returns no result. Strip it before converting.

Using the bottom-hole location. The UWI encodes the surface location. For horizontal and directional wells, the bottom-hole LSD (where the well terminates in the reservoir) is different. For field navigation and surface lease work, you want the surface LSD — the one encoded in the UWI.

Wrong meridian. W4 and W5 are both active in Alberta and a one-digit meridian error shifts the location by hundreds of kilometres. The meridian is the final element in the LSD (W5 in 06-32-048-07W5). Always verify it against the original well licence before dispatching a crew or submitting a regulatory filing.

For the full picture of UWI structure — including NTS variants, event codes, compact format, and regulatory databases — see Unique Well Identifiers (UWI) in Canada.

Try It Now

Enter 06-32-048-07W5 into Township Canada to locate this well surface on the DLS grid. The result places LSD 6, Section 32, Township 48, Range 7 W5M in the Pembina oil field near Drayton Valley — the GPS pin your field crew's navigation system needs.

For well site navigation and AER licence workflows, see Well Site GPS Coordinates Alberta. For a broader look at how legal land descriptions flow through O&G operations — from well licensing to pipeline routing — see Legal Land Descriptions for Oil and Gas.