NorthSTAR FAQ

Any organization that submits data or regulatory forms to North Dakota Oil and Gas Division will need access to NorthSTAR. Eventually most forms listed on the website will allow for electronic submission. For a complete list of forms being released please view the Overview and Release Schedule on the NorthSTAR webpage. If the form you are looking for is not listed, it has yet to be scoped as part of the updated system.

NorthSTAR is not a tool for downloading statewide data. The Oil and Gas Division webpage offers free data on the General Statistics page. The Basic and Premium Subscription services provide additional information and downloads for a small charge. Visit the pages for more information.

Note: If you are a third-party submitter or contractor that reports on behalf of another company you will need to:

• Create your organization account for NorthSTAR (See: How to register a new organization in NorthSTAR)
• Contact the organization(s), whom you submit on behalf of, to receive the proper access and permissions to submit data on their behalf (See: How to associate a person from outside of my organization with our account)

This is a requirement to do business in North Dakota; you can determine your business status here.

Visit the NorthSTAR Organizations listing to see organizations currently created in NorthSTAR. List contains organization name, and if a NorthSTAR administrator has been established.

If you are unsure of who your NorthSTAR administrator is for your organization, please contact your regulatory or permitting department prior to contacting the Oil and Gas Division's office.

No; NorthSTAR is a data entry system that is provided by the North Dakota Oil and Gas Division as a mechanism for collecting reports from companies doing business in the state. This is not a system for pulling reports or queries on statewide data. The Oil and Gas Division webpage offers free data on the General Statistics page. The Basic and Premium Subscription services provide additional information and downloads for a small charge. Visit the pages for more information.

Eight character minimum, including at least one alphanumeric character, one upper case letter and may not match the previous 24 passwords.

For security purposes and other implications, we do not recommend sharing account information with other people, even within your own organization.

Please contact your administrator to have a personal account created and security permissions established for access. Your account is your responsibility to manage. (See: How to create a person account)

Five unsuccessful login attempts result in a lockout. System will automatically unlock the account after 10 minutes of no activity.

Only one login will be needed.

You can only see information for organizations you are associated with and have an active relationship status. To switch between organizations, log out and log back into the system; when prompted choose the other organization account you are associated with.

An organization, person, partnership, or business that has a legal and separately identifiable existence who conducts oil and gas business in North Dakota.

Organizations may have third parties or contractors that report on their behalf.

If this is the case, both organizations (both the org. who needs a report submitted & the org. who employs the third-party submitter) will need to have an organization account created in the system (See: How to register a new organization in NorthSTAR)

Once all organizations and person accounts area created the organization who needs a report submitted will then complete the organization questionnaire and add the submitter to their account (See: How to complete the organization questionnaire). This is done in the people section of the organization questionnaire. Select that you are adding a user already in NorthSTAR and search for the individual you would like to add to your account. Once approved, the new user will be able to choose the organization they need to submit reports for when logging in. (See: How to log in and change between organizations)

• Note: Once approved and associated make sure to set the security permissions carefully selected to allow for proper access to submit forms needed (See: What are the different security permissions? How to find permission assignments)

If you are already in NorthSTAR and need to submit a change or update to your organization information, select "Forms" and "Organization Questionnaire".

Only individual accounts with the security permission of NorthSTAR administrator, entity manager, or entity submitter will be able to submit an updated organization questionnaire.

Fill out all information. Take care to open all drop-down menu options to ensure that all required information is filled out. Select "Save" at the bottom of each window. Go through ALL STEPS until you can select "Submit".

Once submitted the form will show up in your "Forms Submitted" window on the home page. If you do not see it there, check "Forms in Progress" as it is likely that there are errors that need to be corrected or it was not fully submitted.

A Form 2 is required with any major change like but not limited to: Director/Officer level changes, change in address of operations, establishing or changing the organization's NorthSTAR administrator.

These accounts have been added by the NorthSTAR administrator for your organization. Please contact this individual with questions related to access and permissions of your internal staff.

Security permissions are established after a person account is created. The security permissions can only be edited by the organization's NorthSTAR administrator. Security permissions are established per form to allow for either a read-only or submitter access. View these permissions by navigating to the person's detail page: in the section header, expand "Summary", and select "Security". (See: What are the different security permissions? How to find permission assignments)

Administrator status is selected by submitting an organization questionnaire. View your status by navigating to the person detail page: in the section header, expand "Summary", and select "Security".

Should you be unable to submit an organization questionnaire to update your administrator a Form 2 will need to be submitted to the Oil and Gas Division to establish an administrator on your behalf. (See: What are the different security permissions? How to find permission assignments)

To change their relationship status, the NorthSTAR administrator will need to submit a support ticket to the Oil and Gas Division requesting the person account's relationship status to be determined as "inactive" under their organization. Inactivating a person account will disassociate them from your organization but will keep their account active for personal use.

You can only see information for organizations you are associated with and have an active relationship status.

To switch between organizations, log out and log back into the system; when prompted choose the other organization account you are associated with.

Complete the organization questionnaire which is located under "Forms". (See: How to submit the Organization questionnaire)

Only those with the proper security assignments can submit an organization questionnaire. (See: What are the different security permissions? How to find permission assignments)

If you are a new organization (See: How to register a new organization in NorthSTAR)

If you are already an active user in NorthSTAR (See: What are the different security permissions? How to find permission assignments)

If you are a new organization all people can be added, and access roles assigned when "Registering a New Organization".

If your organization is already in NorthSTAR an organization questionnaire will need to be filled out. You can find this under "Forms". Once submitted to the ND Oil and Gas Division for review and approval all people added will be able to log into their account using the email address you registered for them.

When adding new people please make sure to review all security permissions that may be needed. (See: What are the different security permissions? How to find permission assignments)

If your personal information changes you can edit your details in your account without having to submit an organization questionnaire. In your person detail page, navigate to "Actions" and "Edit Details" - make sure to complete all required information and select "Save" in each window.

If you are changing information for someone else within your organization an organization questionnaire will need to be submitted. Follow through all steps to "Submit". Data will need to be approved by ND Oil and Gas Division before it will show in your account.

All forms submitted on behalf of your organization will still be reviewed by Oil and Gas Division Staff.

All forms in progress on behalf of your organization under this person will be in the forms in progress window. Anyone in your organization, with the proper security permissions, would be able to open, review and submit these forms or delete them.

Names are alphabetic and organizations are alphanumeric. Limited to 50 characters each.

All person accounts are required to have:

• First and Last Name
• Primary Address, City, State/Province, Zip/Postal Code
• (Must check primary box in address)
• Primary Phone Number
• (Must check primary box in phone number)
• Email

Alerts will appear as a number at the top of your home page and in more detail under the "alerts" section. These alerts are generated any time a form has been submitted, approved or rejected. It will notify that an action has been completed in the system.

Alerts will be received only for items you individually have submitted. You will not receive alerts for all organizational activity.

Contact NorthSTAR Support

The legacy system being used by the agency was created in 2002. It has gone under several updates and patches to continue to be utilized by the agency. The software the legacy system utilizes is at the end of support by the manufacturer and the agency would not have the ability to maintain this software once that support is no longer available. NorthSTAR will be beneficial in that is will be a cloud-based service which makes storage space adjustable in the future vs investing in more tangible space and infrastructure to hold data. In addition, both staff and companies working in North Dakota will see benefits of improved reporting, process/work flows, additional electronic form submission and better data analysis capabilities.

Full NorthSTAR functionality is being released in phases. Each phase - outlined in the Overview and Schedule section of the NorthSTAR page - will also include phased access to the features of that phase. We call this the Crawl/Walk/Run approach. This release schedule will minimize disruption for internal and external users as new system features are released and stakeholders begin logging into the new system.

During the crawl phase NorthSTAR will be heavily monitored to ensure that the system is working effectively for all stakeholders. On successful completion of the "Crawl" phase additional users will be introduced at the "Walk" phase and the system workload will be increased. The "Run" phase will be implemented at the successful completion of the crawl and walk phases and will include all impacted stakeholders.

The Crawl/Walk/Run approach has been carefully planned to support a smooth rollout of the NorthSTAR system. Companies will be notified as to when they will be transitioned into NorthSTAR and will be provided the necessary training and support for a successful transition.

NorthSTAR Newsletter & Notifications

The development of this new system is through support and partnerships with the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC), North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources funds, and legislative appropriation.

NorthSTAR is not a tool for downloading statewide data. The Oil and Gas Division webpage offers free data on the General Statistics page. The Basic and Premium Subscription services provide additional information and downloads for a small charge. Visit the pages for more information.

The Oil and Gas Division will continue to offer the Basic and Premium Subscription services for public information and downloads for a small charge.

Free data will also be available in the General Statistics page.