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Royalty Clerk

Texas well watch

Know when a well is permitted, drilled and paying.

Follow an abstract, a lease or an operator. One email a week, only when the Railroad Commission records a new permit, a completion, first production or an operator change, and the date your first check is due.
Watch my abstractWhen is my first check due?

A permit is not a well. Nothing here says you own anything.

  1. Drilling permit issuedA permit is not a well.
  2. Well completedDrilling is done.
  3. First production reportedThe lease's first reported sales.
  4. First royalty check due120 days after the end of that month.
  5. Operator changedPayments may come from someone new.

Start watching

Choose what to follow

Pick your county and abstract and see it on the map, or follow a lease or an operator by name. Free with an account.

What do you want to follow?

Where the land is. Your deed or lease names it.

For example A-1119, or Bush, or T&P 38. Your deed or the tax bill has it.

How a well goes

From permit to first check

The state records each stage on its own schedule. These are the five events the alerts follow.

Drilling permit issued

The Railroad Commission approved the operator's application to drill. It is permission, not a well: many permits are never drilled, and some are amended or dropped.

Well completed

The state has a completion date for the well: drilling and finishing are done and it can be tested.

First production reported

The first month the state's production reports show oil or gas sold from the lease.

First royalty check due

120 days after the end of the month of first sale, under Natural Resources Code 91.402(a). After that, the lease or a written agreement sets the timing. §91.402(a)

Operator changed

A different company began reporting the lease. Payments may come from a new company and a new owner number.

The first check

When is the first check due?

Texas requires the first payment within 120 days after the end of the month of first sale. §91.402(a) Enter the month and see the date.

The first month of production on the state's record is the closest public marker. Pick it, or the month the operator told you.

Pick a month to see the date.

If the date has passed and you have a division order on file, work out the interest a late payment earns, then ask the operator in writing.

What you will see

On your interest, watched, and nearby are kept apart

On your interest

Events on an interest documented in your Mineral File, from a division order, a deed or a lease. Watched with no sign-up.

Watched

Events on the place, lease or operator you chose here. Shown as watched, and never as something you own.

Nearby

Permits within a few miles of your interest. Useful context, and labelled so it is not mistaken for your own well.

By county

Drilling activity by county

Counties where the state recorded the most permits, completions and first production in the last twelve months.
All 126 counties, A to Z

After the alert

What to do when the email comes

  1. Step 1: A permit near you

    Read who the operator is and what the lease is called. Nothing is owed to you yet, and nothing is decided about your land.

  2. Step 2: A completion

    The well is finished. If your land is in its unit, the operator usually sends a division order.

  3. Step 3: First production

    Sales have started. The first check is due within the date this page gives.

  4. Step 4: The first check arrives

    Compare it with the state record. The audit checks the decimal, the volumes and the price.

  5. Step 5: No check by the due date

    Ask the operator in writing, quote the section, and keep a copy.

Related

FAQ

Questions people ask

How do I find out when a well is drilled on my land?

Follow the abstract your land is in. The Railroad Commission records a drilling permit before drilling, a completion after it, and monthly production after that. You get one email a week when something new is recorded for the abstract, the lease or the operator you follow. An abstract number is on your deed, your lease and your tax bill, for example A-1119.

What is an abstract?

Texas land is divided into surveys, and each survey has an abstract number in its county. The state's records locate a well by county and abstract, so that is how this page finds permits near you. If you do not know your abstract, search for the survey's name in your county on this page; the map shows the blocks around it.

Mineral interest finder

Does a drilling permit mean my land is being drilled?

No. A permit is permission from the Railroad Commission to drill. Many permits are amended, moved or never drilled, and a permit near your land does not mean your acreage is in the well. The alerts keep three things apart: what is on an interest documented in your Mineral File, what is on a place you chose to watch, and what is only nearby. None of them says you own anything.

When is the first royalty check due?

Under Natural Resources Code section 91.402(a), payment of proceeds is due on or before 120 days after the end of the month of first sale of production from the well. After that, the lease or a written agreement sets the timing, and if it is silent, payment is due no later than 60 days after the end of the month of oil sales and 90 days after the end of the month of gas sales. The date on this page is worked out from the state's first-production month, so it is the earliest date, not a certainty.

Texas late royalty payment interest

How often will you email me, and can I stop it?

At most one email a week, and only when something new was recorded after you signed up. Older events are not sent. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and you can stop watching anything from this page or from your account.

Can I watch land I do not own?

Yes. A watch is a place, a lease or an operator you choose to follow, and it is shown as watched. It does not add anything to your Mineral File as an interest or suggest you own it.

Where does the information come from?

From the Railroad Commission of Texas: drilling permits, completion records, and the monthly production reports, together with the Commission's survey and abstract map layer. We check the state's files daily. The Commission publishes on its own schedule, so an event can appear days or weeks after it happened.

What does it cost?

Watching is free with an account. Members also get the paid checks, so the first statement can be checked against the state record when it arrives.

Pricing

When the first check comes, check it.

The audit compares the check with what the state says the lease sold.

Check my statementCheck my decimal

Sources

Primary sources, opened on 29 September 2026. Statute text is the current version on statutes.capitol.texas.gov.