News
Agency News Items - 2025
January
RRC Preparations for Winter 2025
January 06, 2025
AUSTIN – For more than a month the Railroad Commission of Texas has taken important steps to help ensure adequate natural gas supply for winter weather, including this week’s wintry conditions. Starting in the first week of December, RRC’s Critical Infrastructure Division (CID) began weatherization inspections of critical natural gas facilities in the state’s electricity supply chain.
CID has conducted more than 1,200 inspections, including all of what are known as Tier One facilities which are major components of gas supply – oil and gas leases that produce more than 5 million cubic feet of gas per day, gas processing plants, underground gas storage facilities, and natural gas pipelines that directly connect to electricity generation plants.
Natural gas that is stored underground is also an important resource that can be withdrawn and utilized during weather emergencies. There was 522.4 billion cubic feet of working natural gas in underground storage in Texas as of the end of November 2024, which is the highest monthly total in the 25 years the RRC has tracked storage volumes.
“As we have done in past cycles, we will continue to stay on top of bad winter weather with inspections and calls with oil and gas operators,” said Danny Sorrells, RRC Deputy Executive Director. “We take every step we can to make sure gas flows to power plants and for home heating, and we want to reassure Texans that the agency takes an all-hands-on deck approach to protect residents in weather emergencies.”
The RRC’s winter weatherization inspections of critical natural gas facilities last through the end of March.
Texas Drilling Permit and Completion Statistics for December 2024
January 03, 2025
AUSTIN – The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 630 original drilling permits in December 2024. The total includes 580 to drill new oil or gas wells, 13 to re-enter plugged wellbores, 5 field transfers, and 32 for re-completions.
The breakdown of well types for total original drilling permits in December 2024 is: 126 oil, 44 gas, 445 oil and gas, 10 injection, 1 service and 4 other permits.
In December 2024, Commission staff processed 1,431 oil, 248 gas, and 670 injection completions.
Detailed data on drilling permits and well completions for the month can be found at this link:
TABLE 1 – DECEMBER 2024 TEXAS OIL AND GAS NEW DRILLING PERMITS AND COMPLETIONS BY RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS DISTRICT*
DISTRICT
PERMITS TO DRILL NEW OIL/GAS HOLES
NEW OIL COMPLETIONS
NEW GAS COMPLETIONS
(1) SAN ANTONIO AREA
68
45
30
(2) REFUGIO AREA
65
20
24
(3) SOUTHEAST TEXAS
11
5
14
(4) DEEP SOUTH TEXAS
6
0
9
(5) EAST CENTRAL TX
5
0
3
(6) EAST TEXAS
26
8
27
(7B) WEST CENTRAL TX
7
3
0
(7C) SAN ANGELO AREA
43
68
0
(8) MIDLAND
304
459
41
(8A) LUBBOCK AREA
14
21
0
(9) NORTH TEXAS
26
23
9
(10) PANHANDLE
3
0
0
TOTAL
580
652
157