Oil and gas leases in Texas
Is your oil lease still in force?
A date is not a verdict.
SAME DATE, TWO RECORDS · AN EXAMPLE
Sells oil after the dashed line, the end of the primary term.
Reports nothing after it. That is a question for the lease's words, not an answer.
The record is half of it. The lease is the other half.
Free, no account
Check your lease against the record
Type the lease name from your stub. Pick it from the list.
2. What does your lease say?
Optional. The lease says. Leave it empty if you do not know.
The record will show here.
Pick your lease, then add the date and the term. You will see the sales month by month with the end of the primary term marked.
Read your lease
What the lease’s own words decide
| If your lease says | What that decides | Source |
|---|---|---|
| “for a term of three years and as long thereafter as oil or gas is produced” | After the primary term the lease lasts while the lease produces. What counts as production, and for how long a pause is allowed, is in the lease. | Anadarko v. Thompson |
| “as long thereafter as gas is or can be produced” | One added word changes the question. In Anadarko v. Thompson the Court held that a well capable of production sustained a lease of this kind even when actual production stopped for longer than the lease's 60-day cessation clause. | Anadarko v. Thompson |
| A cessation-of-production clause | Says how long production may stop before the lease is affected, and often what the lessee may do in that time. | Anadarko v. Thompson |
| A shut-in royalty clause | A payment that keeps the lease in effect when a well capable of producing is not selling. The clause's own words set the payment and the date it is counted from. In BP v. Red Deer that date was when gas was last sold or used. | BP v. Red Deer TRERC, lease extensions |
| A Pugh clause | Without one, production on one tract holds the whole lease. With one, at the end of the primary term the lease continues only on the pooled acreage and ends on the rest. | Mathews v. Sun Oil TRERC, lease extensions |
| A retained-acreage clause | After the primary term or a development period the lease continues only as to the acreage the clause names around each producing well. Two Supreme Court cases in 2018 reached different results because the two clauses read differently. | Endeavor v. Discovery XOG v. Chesapeake |
| A depth clause | Ends the lease below a stated depth after the primary term or a development period. What “formation” means in the clause matters, and the lease usually has to define it. | TRERC, lease extensions |
| An extension or an option | A later agreement, often for a payment, that continues the lease's terms. The words of that agreement decide what it does. | TRERC, lease extensions |
Two leases can look alike and read differently
What the record shows
What the state’s production record can and cannot show
It shows
- The oil and gas a lease sold, month by month, from 1993. RRC, Production Data Query
- Which company reported the lease, and when that changed.
- The status the Railroad Commission lists for the lease.
- Months with no report, marked so you can count them.
It does not show
- Pooled units, or other wells that hold the acreage you do not see on the map.
- Work on a well, or a well that is shut in and capable.
- Shut-in or extension payments the operator made.
- What the lease says, or what the operator relies on.
If they do not fit together
What to do when the record and the calendar disagree
Step 1: Find the clauses in your lease
Look for the habendum clause, and for any cessation, shut-in, Pugh, retained-acreage or depth clause. Note the page.
Step 2: Ask the operator in writing
Send it by certified mail and keep the receipt. Ask what it relies on to hold the lease past the date: production, a shut-in payment, an extension or a pooled unit.
Step 3: Look in the county records
A recorded extension, pooled unit designation or release is on file with the county clerk where the land is.
Step 4: If the lease has ended, ask for a release
A release of lease is a recorded paper in which the lessee gives up its rights. Your Mineral File writes the request from your profile and states the lease date, the term and the state's record.
Step 5: Before you sign anything new
A new lease or an extension is a new set of words. Check the offer first.
Related
Keep going
- Texas dataTexas lease lookupFind your lease by name, RRC number or county.
- HelpUnpaid oil royaltiesWhen a check is due, how late it is, and what to write to the payor.
- HelpRoyalty checks stoppedSeven reasons checks stop, and what to do about each.
- HelpRoyalties in suspenseRead the operator's letter: the reason, the papers, the balance and the date.
- Texas dataTexas operator changesWho took over whose leases in the last 24 months.
- GuideDisposition codes explainedWhere your gas went, code by code.
FAQ
Questions people ask
How do I know if my oil and gas lease is still in force in Texas?
The words of the lease decide, and the state's production record is the first evidence to set beside them. Look for the habendum clause, which gives the primary term and what continues the lease after it, and for any cessation, shut-in, Pugh or retained-acreage clause. Then look at whether the lease reports sales month by month. If the two do not fit together, ask the operator in writing what it relies on.
What happens when the primary term ends?
The primary term is a date. A typical lease then continues for as long as oil or gas is produced, or, in the wording in Anadarko v. Thompson, as long as it "is or can be produced". The lease says what counts, and for how long a pause is allowed. The end date alone does not tell you the lease is over or that it continues.
Does a pause in production end a lease?
It depends on the cessation clause and the habendum wording. In Anadarko v. Thompson the lease ran as long as gas "is or can be produced" and had a 60-day cessation clause, and the Court held that a well capable of production sustained the lease even though actual production stopped for longer than 60 days. A lease that says only "is produced" asks a different question.
What is a shut-in royalty?
A payment, set by the lease, that keeps the lease in effect when a well that can produce is not selling. In BP v. Red Deer the Court held that the clause's own wording set the operative date: the date gas was last sold or used, not the date the payment was made or the valve closed. Shut-in royalties are also mineral proceeds under Property Code section 75.001, which matters for unclaimed property.
How do I check whether a well is still producing?
The Railroad Commission publishes monthly production for every lease, back to 1993. The check above reads that record for the lease you pick and shows the last 36 months. A month with no report is not the same as an expired lease: it can be a shut-in well, a reporting delay, work on the well, or a well that is pooled with others.
What is a Pugh clause?
A clause that divides pooled acreage from acreage that is not pooled. At the end of the primary term, or the end of continuous drilling if the lease has that, the lease continues only on the pooled acreage and ends on the rest. Without one, the default rule stated in Mathews v. Sun Oil is that, absent anything in the lease to the contrary, production on one tract keeps the lease alive as to all the tracts it covers.
Can I ask the operator to release my lease?
You can ask in writing. A release of lease is a signed paper, recorded in the county records, in which the lessee gives up its rights under the lease. Whether the lease has ended is a question about its words and the facts. Your Mineral File writes the request from your profile, states the lease date, the primary term and the state's record, and asks the lessee what it relies on.
Where are oil and gas leases recorded?
In the real property records of the county clerk where the land is. A lease, an extension, a pooled unit designation and a release are each recorded there. Ask the clerk for the instruments filed under the lessor's name for your land.
Keep your lease terms with your file.
Add the lease and its dates. We watch the record, remind you before the primary term ends and write the release request.
Sources
Primary sources, opened on 29 September 2026. Statute text is the current version on statutes.capitol.texas.gov.
- Anadarko Petroleum Corp. v. Thompson, 94 S.W.3d 550 (Tex. 2002), a lease that lasts as long as gas "is or can be produced"
- BP America Production Co. v. Red Deer Resources, LLC, 526 S.W.3d 389 (Tex. 2017), a shut-in royalty clause
- Mathews v. Sun Oil Co., 425 S.W.2d 330 (Tex. 1968), production on one tract and the whole lease
- Endeavor Energy Resources, L.P. v. Discovery Operating, Inc., 554 S.W.3d 586 (Tex. 2018), retained-acreage clauses
- XOG Operating, LLC v. Chesapeake Exploration Ltd. Partnership, 554 S.W.3d 607 (Tex. 2018), retained-acreage clauses
- Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, Oil and Gas Lease Extensions (2015)
- Railroad Commission of Texas, Production Data Query
- Texas Property Code §75.001, what counts as mineral proceeds