ReckonWells
Monthly report · Texas · published 2026-07-17

Texas Drilling Report — June 2026

750
drilling permits issued
1,472
completions filed
+15% vs prior month
3,481
leases changed operators (May 2026)
95
earthquakes ≥ M2.0 (TexNet)

Permits and completions from Railroad Commission of Texas daily filings, counted for calendar June 2026; prior month = May 2026.

Where the permits went

CountyJuneMayΔ
Midland8462+22
Loving5532+23
Martin4322+21
Upton3839−1
Reeves3645−9
La Salle2810+18
De Witt259+16
Dimmit226+16
Pecos2126−5
Karnes1816+2
Crane1724−7
Ward1615+1

Midland County led Texas with 84 permits — see every well on record there. Browse or search the full feed on the live drilling activity page.

Most active operators

OperatorPermits, June
Pioneer Natural Res. USA, Inc.64
EOG Resources, Inc.51
Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC23
Burlington Resources O & G Co LP22
Diamondback E&P LLC21
Admiral Permian Operating LLC20
Continental Resources, Inc.19
Ovintiv USA Inc.19
Marathon Oil Ef LLC16
Discovery Operating, Inc.15

Completions

1,472 completion packets (W-2 oil / G-1 gas) were filed in June 2026 (+15% vs May 2026). Completions turn permits into producing wells — they usually front-run the production data by months.

CountyCompletions
Midland114
Tarrant110
Crane89
Martin83
Loving77
Reeves72
Dimmit57
De Witt49

Operator changes & M&Alatest reliable month: May 2026

3,481 Texas leases changed operators in May 2026, derived from RRC custody filings — including private-to-private deals that never make the trade press. Custody changes surface in production filings with a one-to-two-month lag, so June 2026’s count is still filling in.

OperatorLeases taken / handed off
Burk Royalty Co., Ltd.+2,483
Oxy USA EOR, LLC+416
Occidental Permian EOR, LLC+137
Oxy USA WTP EOR, LLC+134
Diversified Production LLC+131
Scout Energy Management LLC−2,483
Oxy USA Inc.−416
Oxy USA WTP LP−138
Occidental Permian Ltd.−137
Sheridan Production Co III, LLC−131

Full board, searchable, all months: operator changes & net movers.

Beyond Texas9 more states, trailing 3 months

ReckonWells tracks operator changes in ten states — NM, OK, CO, PA, UT, MT, WV, AK and OH alongside Texas. The biggest moves elsewhere:

StateTransferWells / units
NMChevron U S A Inc → Nsp Resources, LLC50
NMTeam Operating, L.L.C. → Lh Operating, LLC48
NMVintage Drilling LLC → Burnett Oil Co Inc23
NMLively Exploration Co → Hilcorp Energy Company22
UTXcl Assetco, LLC → Sm Energy Company13
NMCimarex Energy Co. Of Colorado → Coterra Energy Operating Co.10
MTR3 Operating Corporation → Tomahawk Oil Company, Inc.9
NMRedwolf Production Inc → Dugan Production Corp8

Flaring & ventingreported through March 2026

Texas operators reported 8.6 Bcf of gas vented or flared in March 2026 (+21% vs the prior month). Production reports lag about three months, and late filings revise these numbers — treat the latest month as preliminary.

CountyVented/flared
Reeves1.0 Bcf
Culberson759 MMcf
Midland678 MMcf
Upton552 MMcf
Reagan508 MMcf
Howard505 MMcf
OperatorVented/flared
Diamondback E&P LLC851 MMcf
Capitan Energy, Incorporated692 MMcf
Permian Resources Operating, LLC400 MMcf
Apache Corporation360 MMcf
Crescent Energy Operating, LLC300 MMcf

Seismicity

TexNet recorded 95 earthquakes of M2.0 or greater in June 2026; the strongest was M3.8 (57 km S of Whites City, New Mexico, 2026-06-05).

Orphan wellsas of May 2026

The RRC’s orphan list stands at 12,345 wells whose operator has walked away.

CountyOrphans
Pecos706
Milam528
Frio450
Hutchinson406
Wichita340

About this report

Built from official state records: Railroad Commission of Texas daily W-1 permit and W-2/G-1 completion filings, production-report custody and flaring dispositions, the RRC orphan-well list, and the TexNet seismic catalog. Counts are calendar-month; operator name variants are merged. Numbers revise as late filings post — each section is dated to its own source’s freshness.

Dig deeper, free: live permit & completion feed · operator changes · interactive well map · well lookup with health scores.

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