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The New Mexico Oil & Gas Formations & Plays Directory

Stored formation/play groups ranked by recorded well count, with recorded operators and primary counties. Coverage is limited to the groups included below.

Daily refresh scheduled from NMOCD well records. Stored source refresh: 2026-09-16.

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Source dates and reporting coverage

Stored source refresh: 2026-09-16. Formation/play groups require at least 25 recorded wells and a known operator; the directory shows at most 50 groups ranked by well count. Operator counts reflect distinct recorded operator names, not verified current operations. Permit counts use the preceding 24 months at summary refresh. Grouping can represent a formation, play or basin; it is not an inventory of every geological formation. This is a capped directory of stored records, not a complete statewide count.

Compiled from New Mexico Oil Conservation Division records through a commercial well-data aggregator. Scheduled refreshes do not guarantee that new regulator filings are available. Use the source records to check a specific well.

Quick answer: The highest well-count groups listed for New Mexico are the Avalon-Bone Spring, Permian Basin, Pictured Clliffs, Morrow and Nw Shelf Perm-Penn Carbonate, led by the Avalon-Bone Spring with 29,827 wells on record. Ranked by well count across 21 tracked formations from New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (NMOCD) well-header records. Stored source refresh: 2026-09-16. These are limited stored records; reporting windows are evaluated at source refresh.

Original Data

The highest well-count groups listed for New Mexico are the Avalon-Bone Spring, Permian Basin, Pictured Clliffs, Morrow and Nw Shelf Perm-Penn Carbonate, led by the Avalon-Bone Spring with 29,827 wells on record. Ranked by well count across 21 tracked formations from New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (NMOCD) well-header records. Stored source refresh: 2026-09-16. These are limited stored records; reporting windows are evaluated at source refresh.

Avalon-Bone Spring
Most-developed formation
29,827 wells
Wells on record in that formation
21
Formations tracked
Source: New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (NMOCD) well-header records
Methodology: Formations ranked by well count from NMOCD well-header records; recorded operators and recent permits are aggregated per formation.
Updated: Daily refresh scheduled
Active Formations
21
Total Wells
117,168
Total Lateral
38,248 miles
Recent Permits (24mo)
8,348

Avalon-Bone Spring

29,827 wells 656 recorded operators 14,207 miles of lateral 337 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Eog Resources (3,585), Devon Energy Production Company (2,548), Oxy (1,770), Cog Operating (1,754), Mewbourne Oil Company (1,566), Xto Energy (1,253), Matador Production Company (1,063), Coterra Energy INC (927), Chevron (695), Riley Permian Operating (602)

Primary counties: Eddy, Lea, Chaves

Permian Basin

17,835 wells 471 recorded operators 15,645 miles of lateral 6,428 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Eog Resources (2,214), Devon Energy Production Company (1,546), Mewbourne Oil Company (1,373), Permian Resources Operating LLC (1,169), Matador Production Company (1,053), Xto Energy (983), Coterra Energy INC (965), Oxy (905), Chevron (710), Hilcorp Energy Company (568)

Primary counties: Lea, Eddy, Chaves, Roosevelt, De Baca

Pictured Clliffs

16,011 wells 157 recorded operators 352 miles of lateral 27 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Hilcorp Energy Company (7,984), Simcoe LLC (1,629), Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company (968), Morning Star Oil Company (573), Conocophillips Company (496), Enduring Resources (469), Bpx Operating Company (447), Logos Operating (434), High River Resources Operating LLC (279), Djr Operating (223)

Primary counties: San Juan, Rio Arriba, Sandoval

Morrow

15,081 wells 708 recorded operators 527 miles of lateral 463 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Hilcorp Energy Company (850), Oxy (729), Apache (719), Southwest Royalties (715), Fae Ii Operating LLC (559), Empire New Mexico LLC (539), Eog Resources (537), Chevron (483), Mack Energy (368), Cimarex Energy Company (313)

Primary counties: Lea, Chaves, Eddy, Roosevelt, Otero

Nw Shelf Perm-Penn Carbonate

13,493 wells 415 recorded operators 838 miles of lateral 151 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Sep Legacy LLC (1,428), Eog Resources (1,243), Maverick Permian LLC (752), Spur Energy Partners LLC (704), Conocophillips Company (545), Morning Star Oil Company (540), Cog Operating (463), Lh Operating LLC (462), Mack Energy (453), Hilcorp Energy Company (440)

Primary counties: Eddy, Lea, Chaves, Lincoln

San Juan Basin

7,341 wells 228 recorded operators 1,557 miles of lateral 312 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Hilcorp Energy Company (1,124), Dugan Production (1,016), Djr Operating (651), Enduring Resources (482), Logos Operating (271), Epic Energy (238), Morning Star Oil Company (223), Simcoe LLC (216), Dominion Production Company (173), Playa Minerals & Energy (162)

Primary counties: San Juan, Rio Arriba, Mckinley, Sandoval, Valencia

Dakota

6,411 wells 129 recorded operators 154 miles of lateral 2 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Hilcorp Energy Company (2,593), Simcoe LLC (550), Logos Operating (485), Bpx Operating Company (341), Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company (341), Dugan Production (270), Xto Energy (243), Morning Star Oil Company (196), Conocophillips Company (152), Epic Energy (92)

Primary counties: San Juan, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Mckinley

Wolfcamp

2,959 wells 73 recorded operators 4,506 miles of lateral 441 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Eog Resources (515), Xto Energy (451), Mewbourne Oil Company (344), Devon Energy Production Company (295), Coterra Energy INC (160), Oxy (157), Matador Production Company (153), Chevron (145), Cog Operating (129), Permian Resources Operating LLC (106)

Primary counties: Eddy, Lea, Chaves, Roosevelt

Abo-Pecos Slope

2,029 wells 81 recorded operators 23 miles of lateral 93 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Eog Resources (446), Iacx Production LLC (401), Solis Partners LLC (400), Desert Mountain Energy CORP (170), Mckay Oil (68), Slayton Resources (62), Hanson Operating (54), M E W Enterprise (50), Llj Ventures LLC Dba Marker Oil & Gas (36), Grizzly Operating (32)

Primary counties: Chaves, Eddy

San Andres

1,276 wells 157 recorded operators 99 miles of lateral 31 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Cano Petro Of New Mexico (211), Ridgeway Arizona Oil (193), Canyon E & P Company (84), Eor Operating Company (64), Dwight A Tipton (49), Kratos Operating LLC (44), Mack Energy (44), Blue Sky NM (42), Petrolia Energy (38), Quatro Osos E And P (37)

Primary counties: Chaves, Roosevelt, Lea, Eddy

Sierra Grande Uplift

1,054 wells 20 recorded operators 6 miles of lateral 0 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Oxy (782), Bpx Operating Company (93), Breitburn Operating (70), Whiting Petroleum CORP (58), Hess (16), Reliant Exploration And Production (8), Co2 (5), Kodiak Petroleum (4), Conley & Associates (4), Beck Producing Company (3)

Primary counties: Harding, Union, Colfax, Eddy

Grayburg

875 wells 54 recorded operators 13 miles of lateral 14 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Oxy (554), Maverick Permian LLC (61), Hilcorp Energy Company (31), Morning Star Oil Company (31), Empire New Mexico LLC (29), Apache (28), Southwest Royalties (21), Rover Operating (15), Conocophillips Company (13), Chevron (12)

Primary counties: Lea, Eddy, Chaves

Mesaverde_

800 wells 57 recorded operators 30 miles of lateral 0 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Logos Operating (148), Hilcorp Energy Company (136), Advanced Wireless Communications (47), Enduring Resources (41), N M & O Operating Company (41), Rim Operating (33), Energen Resources (32), Dugan Production (29), Bensonmontingreer Drilling (27), High River Resources Operating LLC (24)

Primary counties: Rio Arriba, San Juan

Las Vegas - Raton Basin

647 wells 38 recorded operators 11 miles of lateral 0 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

High River Resources Operating LLC (535), Ep Energy E And P Company (20), Pennzenergy Exp & Production (10), Wapiti Operating (9), Odessa Natural (8), Bpx Operating Company (7), Bennett Petroleum (6), Hng Fossil Fuel Company (5), W E Bakke Jr (4), Kelly Bell (3)

Primary counties: Colfax, Mora

Thirty-One Carbonate-Chert

491 wells 47 recorded operators 16 miles of lateral 9 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Scout Energy Management (104), Ram Energy (77), Texaco Exploration And Production (61), Lh Operating LLC (51), Sirgo Operating (31), Oxy (28), Southwest Royalties (17), Legacy Reserves Operating (16), Chevron (12), Conocophillips Company (10)

Primary counties: Lea, Eddy

Glorieta

472 wells 30 recorded operators 186 miles of lateral 0 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Spur Energy Partners LLC (142), Sep Legacy LLC (86), Riley Permian Operating (70), Hilcorp Energy Company (58), Longfellow Energy (26), Burnett Oil (23), Mack Energy (10), Cog Operating (8), Morning Star Oil Company (7), Eog Resources (7)

Primary counties: Eddy, Lea

Pierre -Niobrara

326 wells 4 recorded operators 1 miles of lateral 0 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

High River Resources Operating LLC (315), Ep Energy E And P Company (7), Pennzenergy Exp & Production (3), Wapiti Operating (1)

Primary counties: Colfax

Palo Duro Basin

119 wells 40 recorded operators 0 miles of lateral 0 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Enercap (18), Public Lands Exploration (15), Ckg Energy (9), Transpecos Resources (7), Shell Oil Company (6), Eog Resources (6), Moranlavaca LLC (4), Mcclellan Oil (4), Sonoma Energy (4), Alta Mesa Services (3)

Primary counties: Guadalupe, De Baca, Quay, Curry, San Miguel

Spraberry

47 wells 5 recorded operators 71 miles of lateral 39 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Permian Resources Operating LLC (30), Novo Oil & Gas Texas (9), Mewbourne Oil Company (6), Devon Energy Production Company (1), Eog Resources (1)

Primary counties: Eddy

Basin - And - Range Province

43 wells 16 recorded operators 2 miles of lateral 0 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Kinder Morgan Production (12), Ridgeway Arizona Oil (7), Transocean Oil (4), Shell Oil Company (3), Metano Resources (3), A N Spanel W O Heinze (2), Djr Operating (2), Reeves Brothers Petroleum (2), Black Oil Company (1), Imperial Oil Properties (1)

Primary counties: Catron, Luna, Grant, Rio Arriba, San Juan

Orogrande Basin

31 wells 16 recorded operators 3 miles of lateral 1 permits (24mo)

Top Operators:

Twining Drilling (7), Chaparral Energy (4), Threshold Development Company (3), Jalapeno (3), Primero Operating (2), Heyco Development (2), David V Alcorn (1), Mack Energy (1), Harvey E Yates Company (1), Cibola Energy (1)

Primary counties: Otero, Lincoln, Socorro, Sierra, Dona Ana

About This Data

Source: New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (NMOCD) well-header records, aggregated by primary play / interpreted formation / basin.

Threshold: Groups require at least 25 recorded wells and a known operator. The directory shows up to 50 groups by well count; omitted groups are not evidence of no activity.

Owner context: These formation summaries describe reported activity. They do not establish ownership, payment entitlement or a value for an individual tract.

Refresh cadence: Daily refresh scheduled. Stored source refresh: 2026-09-16.

Download: CSV · JSON — free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.

Frequently Asked Questions

What oil and gas formations are targeted in New Mexico?

The highest well-count formation/play groups listed for New Mexico are the Avalon-Bone Spring, Permian Basin, Pictured Clliffs, Morrow and Nw Shelf Perm-Penn Carbonate, among others. This directory tracks 21 recorded formation/play groups ranked by well count, per New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (NMOCD) records. Stored source refresh: 2026-09-16. These are limited stored records; reporting windows are evaluated at source refresh.

Which formation has the most wells in New Mexico?

The Avalon-Bone Spring has the most wells among the listed New Mexico groups — 29,827 wells, worked by 656 recorded operators, per NMOCD well-header data. This is a well-count ranking, not a reserves or value ranking. Stored source refresh: 2026-09-16. These are limited stored records; reporting windows are evaluated at source refresh.

Who operates in the Avalon-Bone Spring in New Mexico?

The operators with the most wells on record in the Avalon-Bone Spring are EOG Resources, Devon Energy Production Company, Oxy, COG Operating, Mewbourne Oil Company. Each formation card below lists its top operators by well count. Stored source refresh: 2026-09-16. These are limited stored records; reporting windows are evaluated at source refresh.

How many drilling permits were filed across New Mexico formations in the last 24 months?

About 8,348 drilling permits were filed across the tracked New Mexico formations in the 24-month window at source refresh, per NMOCD records — a rough measure of where new activity is concentrated. Stored source refresh: 2026-09-16. These are limited stored records; reporting windows are evaluated at source refresh.

How do I find out if I own minerals in a New Mexico formation?

Your deed and county records determine which formations your mineral rights cover; a tract can own multiple stacked formations. This directory is informational only, not a valuation. Stored source refresh: 2026-09-16. These are limited stored records; reporting windows are evaluated at source refresh.

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Quick Stats

State: New Mexico

Active formations: 21

Total wells: 117,168

Recent permits: 8,348

Last refresh: 2026-09-16

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