A profile of DARA Operating Company — the legacy Electra-Burkburnett-trend operator that holds 7 of the top 13 producing units in Wichita County, Texas, including 1912 and 1918 family-name leases.
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Operator: DARA Operating Company
Primary county: Wichita County, Texas
Primary play: Legacy Electra-Burkburnett trend
Active era: deep tenure on family-name leases dating back over a century
Top-25 unit count: 7 (positions #2, #7, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, plus #18)
Recovery method: Primary + secondary; long-life mature
Operational profile: Stable, deep tenure, family-name lease specialist
Mineral-owner risk: Low
DARA Operating Company holds one of the deepest operator-tenure positions in all of north Texas. Its concentration on legacy family-name leases on the historic Electra-Burkburnett trend means DARA operates wells that have produced continuously since the 1910s and 1920s.
All DARA-operated units in the top 25 file under the Wichita County Regular RRC field designation — the catch-all for legacy production not assigned to a named modern field. This designation is the modern-administrative footprint of the original 1912-1920 Electra-Burkburnett discovery wave.
DARA’s operating model emphasizes steady stewardship of mature waterflood positions with consistent maintenance and predictable production rather than aggressive infill drilling. For long-life family-name leases producing into their second century, this approach has clearly worked.
DARA operates 7 of the top 13 producing units in Wichita County by Feb 2026 oil production:
#2. S.M.A. Unit -B- — the largest DARA position
#7. Second Bywaters — 1912 lease, still producing 113+ years later
#9. Stringer, J. W. — 1918 lease
#10. Allen — legacy Electra-Burkburnett family-name lease
#11. Bywaters — original Burkburnett family-name lease, Gunsight pay
#12. Honaker — legacy Electra-Burkburnett
#13. Reilly — 1939 lease
#18. Reilly NCT-2 — satellite Reilly position
If your mineral interest is operated by DARA Operating Company, three things follow:
Operator-side risk is low. DARA’s deep tenure on legacy positions — some over a century of continuous operation — is among the strongest in north Texas.
Reserve life is unusually long. If a lease has produced continuously for 100+ years (Second Bywaters, Bywaters, Stringer), the actuarial expectation is many more years of production ahead.
Title work may be complex. 4-6 generations of probate, divorce, and out-of-state migration on 1912-1920-era leases creates fragmented ownership chains. Suspense balances and unclaimed-funds situations are common.
If your mineral interest is operated by DARA Operating Company — on the S.M.A. Unit -B-, Second Bywaters, Stringer J.W., Allen, Bywaters, Honaker, or Reilly leases — Buckhead Energy can value the future cash flow stream and provide a free written offer with no obligation.
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