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Texas Oil & Gas Industry Snapshot 2026

The complete live dashboard of the Texas oil and gas industry — top operators, hottest counties, most-active formations, current permit pipeline, DUC stack, recent rig activity, and newly producing wells. One canonical view of the entire state's drilling activity, refreshed monthly from TX RRC well-header records.

Data as of August 2, 2026 Source: Texas Railroad Commission · refreshed monthly

Original Data As of August 2, 2026

As of August 2, 2026, Texas had 100 active oil & gas operators across 268 counties and 33 formations, led by Hilcorp Energy Company with 26,047 wells, with 3,337 drilling permits filed in the last 24 months and 782 drilled-but-uncompleted (DUC) wells in inventory, per Texas Railroad Commission well-header records.

100
Active operators
268
Producing counties
3,337
Permits filed (last 24 mo)
782
DUC wells in inventory
Source: Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) well-header and production filings
Methodology: Aggregated from TX RRC well-header records: operators ranked by well count; counties and formations by activity; drilling permits over a trailing 24-month window; and current DUC (drilled-but-uncompleted) inventory.
Updated: Refreshed monthly — data current as of August 2, 2026
Total Wells (Top 100 Operators)
389,126
Recent Permits
3,337
last 24 months
DUC Inventory
782
drilled, uncompleted
Recent Spuds
650
last 90 days
New Producers
1,099
first prod in last 6 months
Active Counties
268
Active Formations
33
Operators Tracked
100

Top 10 Texas Operators

The 10 largest operators of record in Texas, by total well count. See the full top-100 leaderboard →

#OperatorWellsPermits 24moDUCsTop FormationTop County
1 Hilcorp Energy Company 26,047 119 979 Permian Basin Andrews
2 Oxy 25,687 357 1,572 Permian Basin Yoakum
3 Pioneer Natural Resources 19,351 1,194 988 Permian Basin Midland
4 Diamondback Energy 13,777 1,094 738 Permian Basin Martin
5 Basa Resources 11,671 16 144 Travis Peak Gregg
6 Eog Resources 11,183 524 861 Austin Chalk Gonzales
7 Exxon Mobil 9,899 20 3,817 Gulf Coast Basin (La - TX) Kleberg
8 Apache 9,560 357 948 Permian Basin Reagan
9 Scout Energy Management 8,781 44 150 Thirty-One Carbonate-Chert Crockett
10 Crescent Energy Operating, LLC 8,733 123 170 Permian Basin Andrews

Top 10 Texas Counties (by Drilling Activity)

The 10 most-active oil and gas counties in Texas. See the full county rankings →

CountyTotal WellsPermits 24moSpuds 90dDUCsTop OperatorTop Formation
Wichita 32,946 40 2 1,545 Waggoner Operating,LLC Palo Duro Basin
Andrews 32,094 487 24 1,864 Hilcorp Energy Company Permian Basin
Ector 29,470 257 18 1,432 Oxy Permian Basin
Archer 21,944 88 5 2,048 Pe - Texas, LLC Barnett
Midland 21,774 1,475 27 1,666 Pioneer Natural Resources Permian Basin
Howard 19,181 427 16 1,529 Grayrock Energy Ii LLC Permian Basin
Martin 19,018 1,304 26 1,809 Diamondback Energy Permian Basin
Upton 18,649 955 43 1,236 Pioneer Natural Resources Thirty-One Carbonate-Chert
Young 18,183 25 0 2,522 Just Oil & Gas Barnett
Pecos 17,987 248 1 1,737 Kinder Morgan Production Thirty-One Carbonate-Chert

Top 10 Texas Formations & Plays

The 10 most-active formations and plays in Texas. See all active Texas formations →

FormationWellsActive OperatorsPermits 24mo
Permian Basin 253,454 8,469 10,731
Barnett 156,159 10,392 93
Gulf Coast Basin (La - TX) 101,736 7,109 3,213
Austin Chalk 94,015 6,447 146
Thirty-One Carbonate-Chert 76,706 2,140 290
Travis Peak 41,346 1,976 112
Granite Wash 33,337 1,355 21
Palo Duro Basin 30,829 1,840 125
Ozona Canyon 27,855 1,681 25
Avalon-Bone Spring 21,937 1,022 171

Latest 10 Drilling Permits

Permit DateWellAPICountyFormationOperator
2026-07-28 F Malek L-1893-Koer Sa B 1 4229736590 Live Oak Gulf Coast Basin (La - TX) Burlington Resources Oil Gas Company
2026-07-28 USA Jackson C 12h 4241931943 Shelby East Texas Basin Silver Hill Energy Partners
2026-07-28 Hazlip 3 4218131655 Grayson Atoka Energy LLC
2026-07-28 Brooks-Short 1 4218131657 Grayson Atoka Energy LLC
2026-07-28 Vinson Fee B 7 (Aw) 7h 4249738159 Wise Fort Worth Syncline Bkv North Texas LLC
2026-07-28 Cp #26-132 Cathodic Protection 38 4222742907 Howard Energy Transfer Company
2026-07-28 Hideaway 6305h 4237140508 Pecos Permian Basin Continental
2026-07-28 Cp# 26-140 Cathodic Protection 40 4231747372 Martin Energy Transfer Company
2026-07-28 Perry 1h 4206730982 Cass Rose City Resources LLC
2026-07-27 Apollo 0184cp 2h 4217339590 Glasscock Permian Basin Oxy
View all recent Texas permits →

Latest 10 Spudded Wells

Spud DateDays AgoWellOperatorCountyFormation
2026-07-25 7 Still Tippin Unit 4103h Greenlake Energy Operating LLC Reeves Permian Basin
2026-07-24 8 Cheyenne Lse 3701hm Continental Resources Glasscock Permian Basin
2026-07-24 8 Boss B 3h Silver Hill Energy Partners Shelby East Texas Basin
2026-07-24 8 West Cross Bar Ranch-B 1892op Oxy Martin Permian Basin
2026-07-24 8 Las Islitas F 3h Lewis Petro Properties Webb Gulf Coast Basin (La - TX)
2026-07-24 8 Blakeway Unit I Dim 4h Ineos USA Oil & Gas LLC Dimmit Gulf Coast Basin (La - TX)
2026-07-24 8 St Kitts 76 2833 307h Xto Energy Loving Permian Basin
2026-07-24 8 Link Vj Ranch 26-23 N 753h Eog Resources Loving Permian Basin
2026-07-24 8 Big Whiskey State A 332h Permian Resources Operating LLC Reeves Permian Basin
2026-07-24 8 Charlin 39-46 C 1wa Diamondback Energy Ector Permian Basin
View all recently spudded Texas wells →

Latest 10 Newly Producing Wells

First ProdDays ProducingWellOperatorCountyFormation
2026-05-01 92 State Mint A Unit 712h Eog Resources Reeves Permian Basin
2026-05-01 92 Reeves 'A' Sl 3h Tgnr East Texas Ii LLC Panola Travis Peak
2026-05-01 92 Srh H 1449hm Apache Reagan Permian Basin
2026-05-01 92 Warrior B 2h Verdun Oil Ef Ii LLC La Salle Gulf Coast Basin (La - TX)
2026-05-01 92 Warrior A 1h Verdun Oil Ef Ii LLC La Salle Gulf Coast Basin (La - TX)
2026-05-01 92 Waha E610h Vtx Energy Operating LLC Reeves Permian Basin
2026-05-01 92 Wc Tollway Mipa Unit A 1h Tep Barnett Dallas Ouachita Folded Belt
2026-05-01 92 Mcc Hz Unit 1106jh Cog Operating Midland Permian Basin
2026-05-01 92 Morgan-Carleton 24e 105h Pioneer Natural Resources Upton Permian Basin
2026-05-01 92 Scharbauer, C. 2131us Chevron Midland Permian Basin
View all newly producing Texas wells →

10 Most-Recent Texas DUCs

Spud DateDays WaitingWellOperatorCountyFormation
2026-07-25 7 Still Tippin Unit 4103h Greenlake Energy Operating LLC Reeves Permian Basin
2026-07-24 8 Lhn Tomahawk 37-25 E 1022wb Chevron Midland Permian Basin
2026-07-24 8 G14b Gretel Bn 2hh Tgnr Panola LLC Panola East Texas Basin
2026-07-24 8 Sallie B 48-12 M 4jm Diamondback Energy Ector Permian Basin
2026-07-24 8 Rowdy Yates 596-585 1xh Riley Permian Operating Yoakum Permian Basin
2026-07-24 8 Balboa Five H 05bb Magnolia Oil & Gas Operating Fayette Gulf Coast Basin (La - TX)
2026-07-24 8 Tom Hanks Ef 36 Verdun Oil & Gas La Salle Gulf Coast Basin (La - TX)
2026-07-24 8 Threetree 1 Mud Creek Operating LLC Cherokee East Texas Basin
2026-07-24 8 Triple Hop V 1op Oxyrock Operating, LLC Midland Permian Basin
2026-07-24 8 Michelin Man 1/3 D F101mp Mewbourne Oil Company Reeves Permian Basin
View the full Texas DUC inventory →

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About This Dashboard

Source: Texas Railroad Commission well-header and production filings.

Refresh cadence: Monthly. Data current as of August 2, 2026.

What's tracked: Permits filed in the last 24 months, wells spudded in the last 90 days, wells with first production in the last 6 months, drilled-uncompleted (DUC) wells, top operators by total well count, top counties by activity, and active formations/plays.

Disclaimer: Data is provided as a public-service reference. Buckhead Energy is not affiliated with the operators listed unless explicitly stated.

Cite this data

The operator, county, and formation figures above are compiled from our openly-licensed well-header dataset, permanently archived on Zenodo (CERN) under CC BY 4.0 — free to reproduce and adapt with credit to Buckhead Energy.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21442884 · View on Zenodo

Texas Oil & Gas Snapshot FAQ

Who are the largest oil and gas operators in Texas?

As of August 2, 2026, this dashboard tracks 100 active Texas operators ranked by well count, led by Hilcorp Energy Company, Oxy, Pioneer Natural Resources. See the Top 100 Texas Operators leaderboard for the full ranking.

How many drilling permits have been filed in Texas recently?

About 3,337 Texas drilling permits were filed in the trailing 24 months, per Texas Railroad Commission records (as of August 2, 2026).

What is a DUC well, and how many are there in Texas?

A DUC is a "drilled but uncompleted" well — drilled but not yet hydraulically fractured or put on production. As of August 2, 2026, Texas had about 782 DUC wells in inventory. DUCs are a leading indicator of near-term completion and production activity.

How much of Texas does this oil and gas snapshot cover?

It spans roughly 268 producing counties and 33 active formations and plays statewide — from the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford to legacy East Texas — aggregated from TX RRC well-header records.

How often is this Texas oil and gas snapshot updated?

It is refreshed monthly from Texas Railroad Commission well-header and production filings. The current data is as of August 2, 2026.

I own Texas mineral rights — how do I find my operator and what they are worth?

Look up your operator in the operator directory to see their activity, then request a free written offer based on your specific tract, operator, formation, and decimal interest.

Quick Stats

State: Texas

Operators: 100

Counties: 268

Formations: 33

Permits 24mo: 3,337

DUCs: 782

Data as of: August 2, 2026

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