Louisiana’s Office of Conservation (part of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources) collects monthly production data from every oil and gas operator in the state. The filing is Form DM-1-R, and it moves through SONRIS, which is the state’s Strategic Online Natural Resources Information System. If you operate wells in the Haynesville, the Austin Chalk, or any of the legacy onshore fields in north or south Louisiana, DM-1-R is part of your monthly rhythm.

Form DM-1-R is the monthly operator’s report of oil, gas, and condensate production. It covers every active well, every shut-in well that is still on the books, and the disposition of everything produced. The data feeds the state’s severance tax calculation and gets used by the Office of Conservation’s enforcement side.

Louisiana reporting is less flexible than some states. The SONRIS system is specific about formats, and a misformatted file kicks back.

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What DM-1-R Reports

Each month, Louisiana operators report for every well:

  • Oil produced (barrels)
  • Gas produced (MCF)
  • Condensate produced (barrels, distinct from oil)
  • Water produced (barrels)
  • Disposition: sold, used on lease, stored, vented, flared
  • Purchaser for sold volumes
  • Serial number (Louisiana’s well identifier, similar to API but state-specific in format)
  • Field and pool codes assigned by the Office of Conservation

Louisiana separates condensate from oil on the filing. If your well produces both (common in the Haynesville and in wet-gas plays), the split has to be accurate. The tax treatment differs.

Who Files and When

The operator of record files DM-1-R. Monthly filings are due by the last day of the second month following production. March production is due by the end of May. Filings go through SONRIS at sonris.com.

Louisiana allows electronic file upload (for operators with many wells) or direct data entry (for smaller operators). Both paths end in SONRIS.

The Field Data That Feeds DM-1-R

DM-1-R is a well-level report. That means the data chain has to produce:

  1. Daily gauges on every tank battery, tied to the wells feeding that battery.
  2. Run tickets noting volume, gravity, BS&W, and temperature, tied to the correct serial number.
  3. Gas meter reads: each producing well, each allocation point.
  4. Condensate-vs-oil separation: where applicable, measured and tracked separately.
  5. Lease use, flare, and vent volumes: documented with a method, not estimated.
  6. Water disposition: hauled to commercial SWD or injected on-lease, each tracked.

Louisiana has been tightening its flaring and venting rules, and the state’s data is cross-referenced with satellite and pipeline-gathering reports. Operators who guess at flare volumes get letters.

How GreaseBook Supports Louisiana DM-1-R Prep

GreaseBook captures daily gauges, run tickets, meter reads, flare and vent volumes, and water hauler tickets in the field. The data rolls up well-by-well in a format that mirrors what DM-1-R needs: oil, gas, condensate, water, disposition, purchaser, serial number.

GreaseBook does not submit through SONRIS. The operator (or the operator’s designated filer) handles the SONRIS login and the submission. What GreaseBook does is remove the month-end hunt for numbers, so when your filer sits down on the 15th of the second month, the data is already clean and reconciled.

A north Louisiana operator running 18 wells across two parishes put it this way: “My pumpers log the gauge, I see it the same day, and DM-1-R prep is done the first week of the month. The SONRIS submission takes an hour.”

DM-1-R punishes estimated data.

GreaseBook gives Louisiana operators real-time field capture so the monthly SONRIS filing is built on measured numbers, not guesses.

See how GreaseBook works →

Common DM-1-R Filing Mistakes

  • Condensate mixed with oil. Louisiana separates them on the filing. Lumping condensate in with oil understates the condensate line and creates tax-treatment errors.
  • Serial number mismatched to the well. Louisiana uses its own serial format, not just the API. Wrong serial means the filing references the wrong well in the state’s records.
  • Flare volumes estimated. The Office of Conservation wants documented methods. “About 10 MCF” does not pass.
  • Shut-in wells skipped. A shut-in well on the operator’s books still gets a monthly zero-production line, not a skipped filing.
  • SONRIS upload format errors. The state’s template is specific. A misformatted CSV or a missing column kicks the whole file back, and the clock doesn’t stop.

Wrong Fit for This Page

If you are a Haynesville major running a full production accounting platform with built-in SONRIS export, you don’t need help with the data collection side. This page is for the Louisiana independent running 5 to 75 wells, pumpers with phones, and a DM-1-R deadline that arrives every month whether you are ready or not.

FAQ

Can I submit the DM-1R directly from GreaseBook?

No. SONRIS is where Louisiana operators submit. GreaseBook builds the clean monthly per-lease rollup that feeds the form: the filing itself stays with you or your third-party filer.

When is Louisiana Form DM-1-R due?

DM-1-R is due by the last day of the second month following production. March production is due by the end of May.

What is SONRIS?

SONRIS is the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources’ online portal for oil and gas regulatory filings, well permits, and production data. DM-1-R is filed through SONRIS at sonris.com.

Does Louisiana separate condensate from oil on DM-1-R?

Yes. Oil, condensate, and gas are reported on separate lines, each with its own volume, disposition, and purchaser.

What is a Louisiana well serial number?

Louisiana assigns a state-specific serial number to each well, used on DM-1-R and related filings. It is distinct from the federal API number, though both identify the same well.

About the author: Greg Archbald is the founder of GreaseBook. He built the product from inside the oil patch and has spent 15+ years on the operator side of oil and gas technology.

Stop reconstructing the DM-1R from paper run tickets and memory.

GreaseBook puts Louisiana operators' daily gauges, run tickets, and inventory math on one screen, so the SONRIS filing runs off numbers that reconciled weeks ago. Because paper run tickets lose barrels that were already paid for.

See how GreaseBook works for Louisiana operators →
**P.S.** DM-1R gets filed by the 15th whether your allocation is done or not. Operators who dread the deadline are almost always dreading the allocation step, not the form. Fix that and the deadline stops being a deadline.