Appendix B: Status and Error Listings

Filing Oil and Gas Reports Using Electronic Media

Appendix B: Status and Error Listings 

Each electronic filing by the operator will generate a status listing and possibly an error listing. The listings are either mailed or emailed to the operator indicating a successful electronic filing or identifying the problems which caused an unsuccessful electronic filing. The status and error listings inform the operator of problems encountered which should be corrected before the next electronic filing.

Status and Error Listing Distribution
Status and Error listings are distributed one of two ways by E-mail (electronic) or by postal mail. The operator will receive these listings only by E-mail if the information was filed using the Efile System. If the operator uses diskettes or magnetic cartridge tape, the operator has a choice of receiving these listings by E-mail or by postal mail. If the operator enters their Efile user name on the contact worksheet, the operator will receive these listings by E-mail only. If no Efile user name is entered on the worksheet, the operator will receive the listings by postal mail.

Status and Error listings sent to the operator by E-mail are sent the next business day after the information is uploaded. The listing is an ASCII file. Each line in the listing is 132 characters long.

Status and Error listings not sent by E-mail are mailed the next business day after the information is processed. The US Postal Service is the courier service used.

Status Listing
A status listing is generated for each electronic filing and is a summary of what was filed and processed at the Commission. The listing details the following items:

• The number of records,by form, the operator indicated should be in the file.
• The number of records, by form, actually found in the file.
• The number of records, by form, that was previously filed electronically.
• A summary of the number of errors found while processing the file.
• The total number of errors found for each form in the file.

The status listing may also have some remarks at the bottom of the listing. These remarks may be warning messages and/or problem messages that may cause one or more of the forms filed to be rejected (such as too may errors found while processing a form). Warning messages are prefixed with the word WARNING whereas problem messages are not. In general, warning messages are just that, warnings. They normally do not affect accepting the electronic filing but may indicate a situation that may need to be checked into. Problem messages normally indicate that one or more forms filed will not be processed due to the situation detailed in the message. If any problem messages appear on the status listing, Commission personnel will normally call the operator's primary contact person for the form indicated in the message to rectify the problem.

Error Listing
The error listing is a detailed report of any errors found for each record in the electronic filing. Every error found on the record will be detailed underneath the record's header information. The header information will supply enough information to identify exactly which record in the file the preceding errors are for. Although a record may have multiple errors, only the first error found is counted. The error that is counted is indicated by the error severity symbol found on the far left hand side of the listing underneath the record's header information. Regardless of the form being processed, the most severe errors are checked for first. Errors can be one of two types of severity.

The most severe errors cause the record to be dropped. These errors are indicated by the symbol **DROPPED=> on the far left hand side of the listing underneath the record's header information. A dropped record is not processed; therefore, there will be no record that the information was ever filed at the Commission. Dropped records normally require the operator to send in a paper copy of the form with the information that was dropped before the filing deadline of the form.

Errors that are not severe enough to drop the record are indicated by the symbol **ERROR=> on the far left hand side of the listing underneath the record's header information. Records with this error severity are processed, but will normally require a corrected report to be filed.

Rejection of a Form
All records for a form filed electronically can be rejected for several reasons. The three most common reasons for form rejection are agent mismatch, too many errors, and district record problems.

An agent mismatch occurs when the agent in the Agent Record (AA) (AA-AGENT-RECORD)for the electronic filing does not match the primary MEFC agent or the alternate MEFC agent,if supplied by the operator (see the Authorization Procedures starting on page II-5 for more details on the agent requirement). The agent the active MEFC and the agent on the Agent Record (AA) must match exactly (spelling and punctuation); otherwise, all the records for the form in question will not be processed.

Having too many errors while processing the form will also reject the filing. The total errors found while processing the form is compared to the error variance assigned to the operator for that form (see below for a detailed description of variances). If the total errors for the form being processed exceeds the error variance, all the records for the form will be dropped.

Errors found while processing the district record (DR-DISTRICT-RECORD) for forms that require one will also reject the form. The district record supplies address and contact information that is critical to the processing of the preceding records and therefore must be filled out properly.

Error and Form Variances
There are two types of variances, error and form, and they only apply to information filed by magnetic cartridge tape. All forms that can be filed electronically have an error variance, whereas only a few forms will have a form variance. These variances are set by Commission personnel.

An error variance is the percentage of records for a form filed electronically that can be in error and not reject all the records for the form. In most cases, the error variance is 10 percent, meaning that up to 10 percent of the records filed for the form may be in error and not cause all the records for the form to reject.

A form variance is the percentage of the total records for a form filed electronically that can be over or under the previous total number of records filed by the operator electronically for the form. This variance will not automatically reject the form and will generate a warning message on the status listing if the total number of records are not within the variance range. In most cases, the form variance is 10 percent, meaning that the total number of records for the form filed electronically must be within 10 percent of the total number of records filed previously for the form. Currently, only the monthly production and the monthly transportation and storage reports have a form variance. The variance may indicate that records are missing in the electronic filing that the operator intended to file.