Railroad Commission Launches New Interactive Statewide Maps

Provides Oil & Gas Production Data & Plugged Abandoned Well Locations

AUSTIN – The Railroad Commission of Texas this week launches its first-ever interactive data maps providing oil and gas production and the locations of abandoned wells plugged by the Commission statewide and by individual counties. The data is available 24-hours a day, seven days a week beginning with Calendar Year 2018. From January 2019 forward, the maps will be updated each month with year-to-date statistics. 

“Instead of having to create spreadsheets and conduct other extensive analysis, users can now quickly determine which county produced the most oil or natural gas in a year,” said Wei Wang, RRC’s Executive Director. “These are the first of several interactive data visualization tools we are planning to release in the upcoming months to better inform the public about the state’s energy production and our agency’s regulation.” 

The Texas Oil & Gas Production Chart is available here

The map includes the following features: 

• Total statewide oil (excludes condensate production, which is the liquid hydrocarbons produced from a gas well) and natural gas production (includes gas well gas and excludes casinghead gas, which is gas produced from an oil well);
• Two bar graphs showing the top 10 crude oil and natural gas production counties; and
• Individual county pop-up graphics showing county name, crude oil and natural gas production. 

Each month the Commission posts Texas oil and gas production statistics on its website and distributes a news release. This production data reflects preliminary totals reported to the Commission by oil and gas operators. Due to filing of corrected and late reports by the industry, significant changes to the preliminary production figures will occur in decreasing amounts for approximately six to eight months. 

The Interactive State Managed Plugging Well Locations and County Data Map is available here. 

Most operators plug their own wells when the wells are no longer productive. To protect land and water resources, the Commission uses industry fees paid into the Oil & Gas Regulation and Cleanup Fund to plug abandoned wells.