Lithium, bromine, iodine, and other dissolved substances in oil and gas produced water — and how Texas SB 1186 affects mineral owner rights.
Quick answer
Oil and gas wells produce more than just hydrocarbons. The water that comes up the wellbore alongside oil and gas — commonly called produced water or formation brine — contains dissolved minerals at concentrations that can in some cases be commercially significant. The most economically important brine minerals being developed today include:
Lithium — particularly in Smackover Formation brines across East Texas, southern Arkansas, north Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama
Bromine — Smackover and other Gulf Coast brines (long-established commercial production in southern Arkansas)
Iodine — Anadarko Basin Morrow brines (northern Oklahoma)
Potash, magnesium, manganese, boron — secondary brine constituents
In 2019, Texas enacted Senate Bill 1186, which addressed ownership of produced water in Texas oil and gas operations. The statute generally provides that produced water — and the dissolved substances within it — belong to the producer (operator), not the mineral owner, unless the underlying lease specifically reserves those rights to the mineral owner.
The practical implication is significant. If your Texas mineral lease was signed before SB 1186 (and most Texas leases were), and the lease does not explicitly reserve rights to dissolved substances or brine minerals, then any future lithium, bromine, or other brine mineral revenue from produced water on your acreage may accrue to the operator, not to you.
This is a legal question that depends on your specific lease language. We strongly recommend that any Texas mineral owner with potential brine mineral exposure — particularly across the East Texas Smackover counties (Cass, Bowie, Marion, Morris, Camp, Upshur, Harrison, Panola) — review their lease with a qualified Texas oil and gas attorney before signing any new lease, ratification, or amendment.
For new Texas mineral leases, mineral owners commonly request language reserving rights to non-hydrocarbon substances. Sample language often includes references to:
Helium, hydrogen, and other noble gases
Lithium, bromine, iodine, potash, magnesium, manganese, boron
Any commercially recoverable substances dissolved in or derived from produced water, formation brine, or any subsurface fluid
Geothermal energy and the heat content of subsurface fluids
Separate royalty rates for non-hydrocarbon substances
This is a matter for negotiation with your operator and review by qualified counsel.
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