Where rigs are running and where permits are landing across the East Texas Oilfield — county-by-county intel for mineral owners.
Get a Free Mineral ValuationThe East Texas Oilfield is, primarily, a mature waterflood field. New drilling activity is sparse compared to modern unconventional plays — most operator capital goes to waterflood maintenance (water injection upgrades, pattern conversions, infill water injectors) rather than new producing wells. Rig activity in the field's five core counties typically tracks 1-5 active rigs at any given time, depending on the operator's capital cycle.
For mineral owners, the relevant intelligence isn't typically rig count — it's waterflood maintenance investment and permit filings for new infill drilling, recompletion, or waterflood pattern modification.
Three Texas Railroad Commission filing types matter most for East Texas Oilfield mineral owners:
RRC Form W-1 — drilling permit application for new wells (uncommon on the mature field; typically infill or step-out drilling)
RRC Form W-3 (Plugging Report) — well abandonment; tracks operator decisions about which wells are no longer economic
RRC injection well permits — applications to convert producers to water injectors, or to drill new injection wells; signal of waterflood maintenance investment
Some sections of the East Texas Oilfield have seen selective horizontal exploration of the underlying Eagle Ford Shale. The East Texas Eagle Ford is a separate play from the south Texas Eagle Ford and has been less active overall. New horizontal Eagle Ford permits in the field's five core counties are worth tracking because they can re-monetize previously-leased acreage that had been valued only on Woodbine waterflood economics.
On a mature field like East Texas, a new horizontal Eagle Ford permit or a new injection well in your waterflood unit can materially affect your mineral interest's expected remaining cash flow. A new RRC W-1 or injection well permit on or near your acreage is worth a fresh valuation.
Free written valuation grounded in the latest Texas RRC permit + waterflood unit data.
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