Where rigs are running and where permits are landing across Oklahoma — county-by-county intelligence for Mid-Continent mineral owners deciding whether to hold or sell.
Get a Free Mineral ValuationFor Mid-Continent mineral owners, what happens on or near your acreage in the next 12 to 24 months is the single biggest variable in your interest's value. A new horizontal permit can materially raise the value of your interest. Conversely, a section that has gone dormant for years tends to be worth less than a production-only valuation suggests.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) publishes operator filings within a few business days of submission. The Baker Hughes rig count tracks active rigs by county. Buckhead Energy monitors both and incorporates them into every Mid-Continent mineral valuation.
Active drilling in 2024-2026 has concentrated in:
SCOOP/STACK (Canadian, Kingfisher, Blaine, Garvin, Grady, Major) — Woodford Shale + Meramec horizontal stacked-pay drilling; Continental, Devon, Marathon, Camino active
Anadarko Basin deep gas (Beckham, Roger Mills, Ellis, Dewey) — Granite Wash + Springer; selective deep drilling
Cherokee Platform (Pawnee, Lincoln, Payne, Hughes) — Mississippi Lime + Hunton + Caney Shale horizontal redevelopment
Texas Panhandle (Wheeler, Hemphill, Roberts) — Granite Wash deep drilling + selected Cleveland sand
Arkoma Basin (Pittsburg, Coal, Latimer) — Woodford Shale gas; activity tracks gas price cycles
Two OCC filing types matter most to Mid-Continent mineral owners:
OCC Form 1000A — drilling permit application. A new 1000A on your section means the operator intends to drill. Typical timeline from permit to spud is 3 to 9 months.
OCC pooling order — issued by the Corporation Commission to pool an entire section's mineral interests for an upcoming horizontal. A pooling notice means a horizontal is imminent.
For a deep dive on the OCC pooling process and your options as a mineral owner, see our force pooling guide and pooling vs unitization page.
Operators that have filed multiple new permits in a single county over the last 12 months are signaling continued capital deployment in that area — often a leading indicator of upcoming horizontal completions. Recent persistent filers include Continental Resources (STACK Woodford), Camino Natural Resources (Anadarko Hunton), Ovintiv (STACK), and selected Mississippi Lime operators on the Cherokee Platform.
For full operator activity profiles see: Mid-Continent Operators List, Cherokee Platform Operators List, Texas Panhandle Operators List.
A new horizontal permit on or adjacent to your section typically increases the fair market value of your mineral interest. The increase depends on your interest type, the well's expected economics, and your existing lease terms. If you've received an offer recently and a new permit has just landed on your section, ask for an updated valuation that explicitly reflects the new permit.
Free written valuation grounded in the latest OCC and Texas RRC permit + rig data.
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