# Tensas Parish, Louisiana: Oil and Gas Production and Mineral Law

> Tensas Parish, LA: 2025 production (125,306 bbl oil, 219,384 Mcf gas), the 2021–2025 trend, and Mineral Code rules for owners.

- URL: https://www.buckheadenergy.com/mineral-rights/louisiana/parishes/tensas
- Last updated: 2026-11-02
- Publisher: Buckhead Energy (https://www.buckheadenergy.com/)
- Format: full-content Markdown twin of the page (same content as the HTML; site navigation and footer removed)

Breadcrumb: [Home](https://www.buckheadenergy.com/) › [Louisiana](https://www.buckheadenergy.com/mineral-rights/louisiana) › [Parish production and law](https://www.buckheadenergy.com/mineral-rights/louisiana/parishes) › Tensas Parish

Quick answer — How much oil and gas does Tensas Parish produce?

In 2025, Tensas Parish produced 125,306 barrels of oil and 219,384 Mcf of natural gas from 40 producing wells reported under 8 operator names. Oil was down 6% from 2024; gas was down 15.8% from 2024. By 2025 oil-equivalent volume it ranks No. 44 of the 46 Louisiana parishes with pages here. These figures are Buckhead Energy analysis of public oil and gas data.

## 2025 at a glance

125,306

Oil, 2025 (barrels)

-6% vs prior year

219,384

Natural gas, 2025 (Mcf)

-15.8% vs prior year

40

Producing wells, 2025

8

Operator names reporting, 2025

## Annual production

**Tensas Parish annual oil and gas production, 2021–2025**

| Year | Oil (bbl) | Natural gas (Mcf) | Producing wells | Operator names reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | 125,306 | 219,384 | 40 | 8 |
| 2024 | 133,281 | 260,694 | 40 | 7 |
| 2023 | 126,866 | 238,802 | 47 | 9 |
| 2022 | 121,409 | 242,928 | 51 | 8 |
| 2021 | 131,266 | 206,928 | 53 | 10 |

### How these figures are built

Figures are calendar-year totals of the oil and natural gas volumes reported for wells in each parish. Producing wells are wells that reported oil or gas during the year; operators are the distinct operator names on those production reports.

A total that rests on fewer than 3 wells is withheld and shown as "<3", and so is a count of 1 or 2 wells or operator names. 2025 is the latest complete calendar year; the source data runs through July 2026.

The figures are Buckhead Energy analysis of public oil and gas data. They are reference data, not a valuation, appraisal or investment advice.

A parish has a page when it produced at least 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent in 2025 (oil plus natural gas at 6 Mcf per barrel) from at least 3 producing wells. 46 of Louisiana's 64 parishes meet it; 12 more reported smaller volumes, and 6 reported none in 2025.

## Louisiana mineral law for owners in Tensas Parish

### Mineral servitudes, royalties and prescription of nonuse

Under the Mineral Code, mineral rights are created by a landowner, and both the mineral servitude and the mineral royalty can end through ten years of nonuse.

The Mineral Code names three basic mineral rights a landowner can create: the mineral servitude, the mineral royalty and the mineral lease. Mineral rights are real rights, subject either to ten-year prescription of nonuse or to special rules on how long they last. ([La. R.S. 31:16](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87858))

A mineral servitude is the right to use land belonging to another to explore for and produce minerals and take ownership of them. ([La. R.S. 31:21](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87915))

A mineral servitude ends by prescription resulting from nonuse for ten years. It can also end by confusion, by renunciation, when its term expires or its dissolving condition happens, or when the right of the person who created it ends. ([La. R.S. 31:27](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87935))

The ten-year clock on a mineral servitude starts on the date the servitude is created. ([La. R.S. 31:28](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87936))

Good-faith operations for the discovery and production of minerals interrupt the clock. Good faith means the operations were begun with a reasonable expectation of producing minerals in paying quantities at a particular point or depth, continued at the chosen site to that point or depth, and carried on as a single operation even if drilling is not continuous. ([La. R.S. 31:29](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87937))

A mineral royalty is the right to share in production of minerals from land owned by another, or from land subject to another person's mineral servitude. Unless the parties expressly qualify it, a royalty is a share of gross production free of mining or drilling and production costs. ([La. R.S. 31:80](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87994))

A mineral royalty also ends by prescription resulting from nonuse for ten years, among other ways. When a servitude ends by inheritance or by an act of the servitude owner, a royalty burdening it does not end unless the royalty owner is a party to that act or consents to it expressly and in writing. ([La. R.S. 31:85](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87999))

### When a lessor's royalties are not paid (R.S. 31:137–141)

The Mineral Code sets a notice-first procedure for a mineral lessor whose royalties are late or wrong.

A mineral lessor who seeks relief because the lessee did not pay royalties on time or correctly must first give the lessee written notice of the failure. The notice is a prerequisite to a lawsuit for damages or for dissolution of the lease. ([La. R.S. 31:137](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87829))

The lessee then has thirty days after receiving the notice to pay the royalties due or to state in writing a reasonable cause for not paying. ([La. R.S. 31:138](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87830))

A division order cannot change the lease, and signing one is not a condition of being paid: the lessee may not withhold royalties because the lessor has not signed a division order. If the lessee fails to pay royalties solely because the lessor has not signed one, the court awards double the royalties due, legal interest and reasonable attorney's fees, unless the lessor did not supply a name, address and tax identification number after the lessee asked in writing. ([La. R.S. 31:138.1](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87831))

If the lessee pays in response to the notice, the lease cannot be dissolved unless the original failure to pay was fraudulent. Double royalties, interest and a reasonable attorney's fee are available only if the original failure was fraudulent or willful and without reasonable grounds; otherwise damages are limited to interest from the date due, plus a reasonable attorney's fee if that interest is not paid within thirty days of a written demand. ([La. R.S. 31:139](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87832))

If the lessee fails to pay the royalties due, or fails to tell the lessor of a reasonable cause for not paying, in response to the notice, the court may award double the royalties due, interest from the date due and a reasonable attorney's fee whatever caused the original failure, and it may also dissolve the lease. ([La. R.S. 31:140](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87834))

Where notice is required, a court should dissolve the lease only if the lessee's conduct makes damages an inadequate remedy. ([La. R.S. 31:141](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87835))

### Unleased owners in a pooled unit (R.S. 30:10)

R.S. 30:10, in Title 30 of the Revised Statutes rather than the Mineral Code, sets the rules for pooling separately owned tracts in a drilling unit, including tracts that are not under lease.

When the owners of separately owned tracts in a drilling unit have not agreed to pool, the secretary requires them to pool and develop their lands as a unit if that is necessary to prevent waste or to avoid drilling unnecessary wells. Every order requiring pooling is made after notice and a hearing. ([La. R.S. 30:10(A)(2)](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=86885))

An owner drilling a unit well may send the other owners a "risk charge notice" with a cost estimate (an AFE). An owner who wants to participate must elect in writing within thirty days after receiving it. From an owner who does not, the drilling owner recovers the tract's share of well costs out of the tract's production, plus a risk charge of 200 percent of the tract's share of drilling, testing and completing costs for a unit well (100 percent for an alternate unit well). ([La. R.S. 30:10(A)(3)](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=86885))

The risk charge does not apply to an unleased interest, meaning one not subject to an oil, gas and mineral lease. ([La. R.S. 30:10(A)(3)(e)(i)](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=86885))

When a unit includes an unleased interest whose owner has not arranged to sell its share of production separately, and the unit operator sells the unit's production, the operator must pay that owner the tract's pro rata share of the sale proceeds within 180 days of the sale. ([La. R.S. 30:10(A)(4)](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=86885))

Educational only — not legal advice; statutes change, so confirm the current version and consult a qualified attorney for your situation.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much oil and gas did Tensas Parish produce in 2025?

In 2025, Tensas Parish produced 125,306 barrels of oil and 219,384 Mcf of natural gas from 40 producing wells reported under 8 operator names. Oil was down 6% from 2024; gas was down 15.8% from 2024. The figures are Buckhead Energy analysis of public oil and gas data. They are reference data, not a valuation, appraisal or investment advice.

### How many wells produced oil or gas in Tensas Parish in 2025?

40 wells reported oil or gas production in Tensas Parish in 2025. A well counts once however many months it reported. These figures are Buckhead Energy analysis of public oil and gas data.

### Can a Louisiana mineral servitude expire?

Yes. A mineral servitude ends by prescription resulting from nonuse for ten years. It can also end by confusion, by renunciation, when its term expires or its dissolving condition happens, or when the right of the person who created it ends. The ten-year clock on a mineral servitude starts on the date the servitude is created. Good-faith operations for the discovery and production of minerals interrupt the clock. Good faith means the operations were begun with a reasonable expectation of producing minerals in paying quantities at a particular point or depth, continued at the chosen site to that point or depth, and carried on as a single operation even if drilling is not continuous. (La. R.S. 31:27, 31:28 and 31:29.)

### What can a Louisiana mineral lessor do when royalties are not paid?

A mineral lessor who seeks relief because the lessee did not pay royalties on time or correctly must first give the lessee written notice of the failure. The notice is a prerequisite to a lawsuit for damages or for dissolution of the lease. The lessee then has thirty days after receiving the notice to pay the royalties due or to state in writing a reasonable cause for not paying. (La. R.S. 31:137 and 31:138; the remedies that follow are in 31:139 to 31:141.)

### Does an unleased owner in a Louisiana drilling unit pay a risk charge?

No. The risk charge does not apply to an unleased interest, meaning one not subject to an oil, gas and mineral lease. When a unit includes an unleased interest whose owner has not arranged to sell its share of production separately, and the unit operator sells the unit's production, the operator must pay that owner the tract's pro rata share of the sale proceeds within 180 days of the sale. (La. R.S. 30:10.)

## More on Tensas Parish

[Tensas Parish monthly oil and gas production](https://www.buckheadenergy.com/data/louisiana/tensas)

[Louisiana mineral rights](https://www.buckheadenergy.com/mineral-rights/louisiana)

[All Louisiana parish production and law pages](https://www.buckheadenergy.com/mineral-rights/louisiana/parishes)

### Get a Free Written Offer

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[Start Your Free Written Offer](https://www.buckheadenergy.com/sell)

## Sources

Production figures: Buckhead Energy analysis of public oil and gas data (built 2026-11-02).

[Louisiana parishes — official list, State of Louisiana (la.gov)](https://www.la.gov/local-louisiana/) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[Louisiana Revised Statutes, list of titles (Title 31 Mineral Code; Title 30) — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Laws_Toc.aspx?folder=75&level=Parent) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:16 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87858) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:21 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87915) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:27 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87935) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:28 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87936) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:29 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87937) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:80 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87994) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:85 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87999) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:137 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87829) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:138 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87830) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:138.1 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87831) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:139 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87832) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:140 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87834) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 31:141 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87835) (fetched 2026-11-02)

[La. R.S. 30:10 — Louisiana State Legislature](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=86885) (fetched 2026-11-02)

## About Buckhead Energy
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