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Railroad Commission of Texas · major oil and gas formations

Texas oil and gas plays and basins

  • 5plays
  • 149counties
  • 7,573drilling permits in 12 months
  • 93%of the state's permits

Where Texas drills

Five plays on one map

Night map of Texas with the 149 counties of the five major oil and gas plays outlined in amber and the density of their 421,589 wells as glowing squares.
Wells on the state's map, few to many per 2.5-mile squareA county the Commission lists for a play
Counties: Railroad Commission of Texas, major oil and gas formations, read November 14, 2026. Wells: the Commission's well layer. County lines: US Census Bureau. Towns: GeoNames. Map: Royalty Clerk.
The Railroad Commission of Texas describes five major oil and gas plays and lists 149 counties for them. In the last 12 months those counties had 7,573 drilling permits, 93% of the state's; Permian Basin alone had 5,205.
The five playsTexas well map

By drilling permits

The plays, busiest first

Drilling permits of the last 12 months in each play's counties, and the county with the most.

  1. 1 · Basin · oil and gas

    Permian Basin

    An oil and gas region of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, about 250 miles wide and 300 miles long, with more than 7,000 fields. The Spraberry, Wolfcamp, Bone Spring, San Andres and Clear Fork are among the formations that produce there; the Delaware and Midland basins are parts of it.

    5,205permits in 12 months · 64% of the state's

    61 counties · 245,967 wells on the map · most in Midland County (672)

    Permian Basin: map, counties and operators

  2. 2 · Shale · oil and gas

    Eagle Ford Shale

    A shale that runs from the Mexican border into East Texas, about 50 miles wide and 400 miles long and some 250 feet thick. It gives gas, and more oil than most shale plays.

    1,565permits in 12 months · 19% of the state's

    27 counties · 59,620 wells on the map · most in Webb County (273)

    Eagle Ford Shale: map, counties and operators

  3. 3 · Shale · gas

    Haynesville/Bossier Shale

    A gas shale of East Texas and western Louisiana, more than 10,000 feet below the surface. Texas and Louisiana name its layers differently, so the same rock is called the Haynesville on one side of the line and the Bossier on the other.

    463permits in 12 months · 6% of the state's

    10 counties · 27,093 wells on the map · most in San Augustine County (106)

    Haynesville/Bossier Shale: map, counties and operators

  4. 4 · Shale · gas

    Barnett Shale

    A gas shale that reaches west and south from Dallas over about 5,000 square miles, one of the largest onshore natural gas fields in the United States. The state names its productive part the Newark, East (Barnett Shale) field.

    274permits in 12 months · 3% of the state's

    25 counties · 56,321 wells on the map · most in Archer County (55)

    Barnett Shale: map, counties and operators

  5. 5 · Tight sand · oil and gas

    Granite Wash

    A tight sand play of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma, about 160 miles long and 30 miles wide. It gives oil and gas, and is drilled sideways like the shales.

    66permits in 12 months · 1% of the state's

    26 counties · 32,588 wells on the map · most in Hemphill County (15)

    Granite Wash: map, counties and operators

This week's drilling permits, statewide

FAQ

Questions people ask

What is a play?

A play is an area where companies drill the same rock the same way, such as a shale drilled with long horizontal wells. The Railroad Commission of Texas describes five major ones and lists the counties of each; these pages use exactly those counties.

Why are the Delaware and Midland basins not here?

They are the two halves of the Permian Basin. The Commission's Permian page names them but does not list their counties, so we count them with the Permian Basin rather than guess where one ends.

My county is not on the map. Does it have oil and gas?

Very likely. Most Texas counties have wells, and plenty are outside the five plays. Every county has its own live map of its wells and drilling permits.

Find your county's map

Sources