KARNES County
District 10 · Permian (West) · Permits since 1977-06-08 · Data through 2026-07-24
Karnes County permitting is running 20 permits a month over the trailing 90 days (59 total, up 84% on the prior quarter). 11 were issued in the past week. BURLINGTON RESOURCES O & G CO LP leads with 56 permits in the past 12 months, one of 12 operators active in the county. One operator filed a first Karnes County permit in the past year. Median permitted depth over the past year is 14,000 ft; 98% of the past year's permits are horizontal.
Permits (1yr)
166
vs Prior
-26%
Operators (1yr)
12
Avg Depth (1yr)
14,809
Hz % (1yr)
98%
All Time
9,965
Depth Range: 325 - 27,000 ft
SWD wells in KARNES County → 41 active injection & disposal wells · full UIC inventory
Saltwater disposal in KARNES County → 52 disposal permits · SWD operators, capacity & injected volumes
Earthquakes in KARNES County → 55 M2+ events in 24mo · TexNet
Permit Activity
Permit Types (1yr)
DRILL
156
-47 vs prior
RECOMP
10
-11 vs prior
Top Operators
by permits, trailing 12 mo View All
| OPERATOR | PERMITS 12MO | WELLS |
|---|---|---|
| BURLINGTON RESOURCES O & G CO LP | 56 | 628 |
| MARATHON OIL EF LLC | 26 | 1753 |
| BPX OPERATING COMPANY | 21 | 254 |
| EOG RESOURCES, INC. | 18 | 1127 |
| MAGNOLIA OIL & GAS OPERATING LLC | 15 | 312 |
| REPSOL OIL & GAS USA, LLC | 8 | 381 |
| GULFTEX ENERGY, LLC | 7 | 55 |
| SILVER HILL ENERGY OPERATING LLC | 7 | 24 |
| BAYTEX ENERGY USA, INC. | 3 | 0 |
| 1776 ENERGY OPERATORS, LLC | 2 | 0 |
Recent Permits
View All| PERMIT | LEASE | TYPE | ISSUED |
|---|---|---|---|
| 917246 | MAYER C AC | DRILL | 2026-07-24 |
| 917240 | MAYER C | DRILL | 2026-07-23 |
| 917245 | MAYER C AC | DRILL | 2026-07-23 |
| 917243 | MAYER C | DRILL | 2026-07-22 |
| 917237 | MAYER C | DRILL | 2026-07-22 |
| 917238 | MAYER C | DRILL | 2026-07-22 |
| 917239 | MAYER C | DRILL | 2026-07-22 |
| 917241 | MAYER C | DRILL | 2026-07-22 |
| 917242 | MAYER C | DRILL | 2026-07-22 |
| 917235 | MAYER C | DRILL | 2026-07-21 |
New to KARNES County
first county permit, past 12 mo| OPERATOR | FIRST PERMIT | PERMITS | BACKGROUND |
|---|---|---|---|
| SILVER HILL ENERGY OPERATING LLC | 2026-04-20 | 7 | active elsewhere in TX |
Formations Beneath KARNES County
from RRC completion filings| FORMATION | WELLS | MEDIAN TOP (FT) |
|---|---|---|
| Austin Chalk | 5,620 | 11,210 |
| Eagle Ford | 5,120 | 11,516 |
| Wilcox | 4,335 | 5,158 |
| Queen City | 4,049 | 3,874 |
| Reklaw | 4,017 | 3,960 |
| Carrizo | 3,997 | 4,458 |
| Yegua | 3,567 | 1,944 |
| Anacacho | 1,844 | 10,538 |