Karnes County, Texas
Karnes County lease offers: what is on record
State land, so a reference and not a price.
The record
Bonus, royalty and term in Karnes County
There are no public lease figures for Karnes County yet. The General Land Office sells leases on State land only, and most Texas mineral acres are private. Owners who share offers they received fill this in once three or more from three different people are in.
Figures are for Karnes County. State figures come from the General Land Office's past bid sales. Shared offers are moderated and shown only as a range of at least three offers from at least three people. The State leases State land, so its prices are a reference, not what a private owner will be offered.
Compare an offer
Where does your Karnes County offer fall?
Two or three offers
Bigger bonus or bigger royalty?
Your land
The same land for every offer. Then fill in each offer below.
County
Karnes County, Texas
Your share of the tract's mineral acres. Half the minerals under 20 acres is 10.
We start at 1,280. Use the size in the offer or a division order if you know it.
OFFERA
Paid once, when you sign.
As the offer writes it: 1/4, 3/16, 25% or 0.25.
How long the lease lasts if nothing is drilled.
- BONUS AT SIGNING
- $50,000(most up front)$5,000 × 10 net acres
- YOUR SHARE OF THE UNIT
- 0.0014648418.75% royalty × 10 ÷ 1,280 unit acres
- TERM
- 3 years.
OFFERB
Paid once, when you sign.
As the offer writes it: 1/4, 3/16, 25% or 0.25.
How long the lease lasts if nothing is drilled.
- BONUS AT SIGNING
- $40,000$4,000 × 10 net acres
- YOUR SHARE OF THE UNIT
- 0.00195313(highest royalty)25% royalty × 10 ÷ 1,280 unit acres
- TERM
- 3 years, plus 2 more if the company uses its option ($10,000, left out).
Have a third offer?
Option payments
Left out: we do not assume the company extends the lease. The company decides whether to use an option, so leaving it out is the cautious comparison.
A worked example. Put in the offers you have.
The break-even
Offer A pays $10,000 more up front, but offer B pays you more once the wells in the unit sell over $20.5 million of oil and gas in all.
That is about 270,000 barrels of oil at $75.87, the average WTI price of the last 12 months (through August 2026).
Offer B catches up at $20.5 million of sales.
Middle half of new leases in Karnes CountyMedianBreak-evenEstimate, not a prediction for your land
THE WORKING
- Bonus, offer A$5,000 × 10 net acres
- $50,000
- Bonus, offer B$4,000 × 10 net acres
- $40,000
- Bonus difference, B minus AOffer A pays more up front
- −$10,000
- Your share, offer A
- 0.00146484
- Your share, offer B
- 0.00195313
- Share difference, B minus A
- +0.00048828
- Break-even gross sales$10,000 ÷ 0.00048828
- $20,480,000
- Average WTI oil price, last 12 monthsThrough August 2026
- $75.87
- The break-even in barrels of oilBreak-even ÷ average price
- 269,938 bbl
What this comparison assumes
- Both offers cover the same land in the same unit, so the same wells and the same sales.
- A dollar of royalty in ten years counts the same as a dollar of bonus today.
- Royalty is figured on gross sales, before severance tax and any costs the lease lets the company take out.
- Option payments are left out: we do not assume the company extends the lease.
- The first term is shown but not used. It does not tell us when, or whether, a well is drilled.
- Your net acres do not move the break-even. The unit’s size does: a unit twice as big doubles it.
Estimate · about the county, not your land
What new leases in Karnes County sold
The gross value of the oil and gas that Railroad Commission leases in Karnes County sold in their first 12, 24 and 36 months of production, for leases that started producing in the last six years. It tells you about leases in the county. It is not a prediction for your land or for when, or whether, a well is drilled on it.
- The median new lease in Karnes County had sold $19.7 million by 36 months, less than the $20.5 million it takes here. That is the longest period in the record, and we do not guess past it.
| Months since first production | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|
| 12 months878 leases | $13.3M | $9.4M to $19.0M |
| 24 months704 leases | $17.3M | $12.7M to $24.0M |
| 36 months571 leases | $19.7M | $14.4M to $27.1M |
M means million dollars. The middle half runs from the lower quarter to the upper quarter: a quarter of the leases sold less, a quarter sold more. Half sold more than the median and half less.
How this estimate is made
- A Railroad Commission lease stands in for a unit. It is not your unit, and its wells are not your wells.
- Months count from the first month the lease shows production in the record we hold, which may not be its very first.
- A lease counts only when every month of the period was reported.
- Volumes the operator reported moving, priced at each month's WTI oil and Henry Hub gas prices. Some of those volumes are not sales, so this is a gross value, not money anyone received.
- One Mcf of gas is counted as one MMBtu.
- Before taxes and costs, with no discounting.
- Between 12, 24 and 36 months we draw a straight line from one median to the next.
- The leases counted at 12, 24 and 36 months are not all the same leases.
- We say nothing about when drilling starts or when a well first produces.
SourceRailroad Commission production reports, priced at the EIA’s monthly WTI and Henry Hub averages; worked out Oct 4, 2026.
Each offer against Karnes County’s lease record
There are no public lease figures for Karnes County to set the bonus, royalty or term against. The General Land Office publishes State land only, and private leases are not in any public data set. What is on record for Karnes County.
Drilling
New drilling permits in Karnes County
338 permits, 333 horizontal.
- Oct 20262
- Sep 202615
- Aug 20268
- Jul 202615
- Jun 202618
- May 202616
- Apr 202621
- Mar 20264
- Feb 20269
- Jan 20263
- Dec 20253
- Nov 202511
| Issued | Operator, lease and type |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-01 | Marathon Oil Ef LLCHAUS-JAU-CHRIS SA B · Horizontal |
| 2026-10-01 | Marathon Oil Ef LLCHAUS QUAD SA A · Horizontal |
| 2026-09-16 | Verdun Oil & Gas LLCLOCHNAGAR F · Horizontal |
| 2026-09-16 | Verdun Oil & Gas LLCLOCHNAGAR E · Horizontal |
| 2026-09-16 | Verdun Oil & Gas LLCLOCHNAGAR D · Horizontal |
| 2026-09-16 | Verdun Oil & Gas LLCLOCHNAGAR C · Horizontal |
| 2026-09-16 | Verdun Oil & Gas LLCLOCHNAGAR B · Horizontal |
| 2026-09-16 | Verdun Oil & Gas LLCLOCHNAGAR A · Horizontal |
| 2026-09-15 | Silver Hill Energy Operating LLCCHRISTINE · Horizontal |
| 2026-09-10 | Marathon Oil Ef LLCHAUS-CHRIS SA D · Horizontal |
Other counties
Lease figures in other counties
Related
Related
- ToolIs this lease offer good?Bonus and royalty against the county, and a scan of the lease's clauses.
- ToolIs this buyout offer fair?The offer as months of your income, what the acres mean, and the questions to ask.
- ToolTexas well watchPermit, completion, first production and when the first check is due.
- ToolRoyalty calculatorVolume, price and decimal to an estimated check.
- Texas dataTexas lease lookupFind your lease by name, RRC number or county.
- Texas dataTexas oil and gas atlas254 counties, every lease, operator and field.
FAQ
Questions people ask
What do oil and gas leases pay per acre in Karnes County, Texas?
There are no public lease figures for Karnes County yet. The General Land Office publishes results for State land only, and private leases are recorded in the county clerk's files rather than in any public data set. Owners who share the offers they receive fill this in once three or more from three different people are in.
What royalty do Karnes County leases have?
The State's lease records for Karnes County do not give a royalty we can report. A private lease sets its own royalty, negotiated with the company.
Is drilling active in Karnes County?
The Railroad Commission issued 338 drilling permits in Karnes County in the last 24 months, 333 of them for horizontal wells. A permit is permission to drill, not a well.
How do I know if my offer is good?
Compare its bonus, royalty and first term with the figures on this page, then scan the lease itself for the clauses that decide what you are paid: how costs are treated, what land is released after the first term, and any option to extend. The offer check on this page does the first part with no account.
Got a lease in front of you?
The scan quotes the sentence of your lease behind every flag.
Sources
Primary sources, opened on 29 September 2026. Statute text is the current version on statutes.capitol.texas.gov.