COUNTIES · BARNETT SHALE AND NORTH TEXAS · DISTRICT 09 · CODE 077
Clay County, Texas
Clay County permitting is running 1.3 permits a month over the trailing 90 days (4 total, versus 4 in the prior quarter). 1 was issued in the past week.
Muirfield Exploration, Ltd. leads with 9 permits in the past 12 months, one of 10 operators active in the county.
One operator filed a first Clay County permit in the past year.
Median permitted depth over the past year is 2,000 ft; 10% of the past year's permits are horizontal.
The county has 192 active disposal and injection permits, with 5.2M barrels injected in the 12 months reported through June 2025.
165 earthquakes of magnitude 2 or more were located in the county's permit footprint over the past two years, the largest M4.3.
5,216 drilling permits have been issued in Clay County since 1977.
5,216 permits on file since 1977 · last issued Nov 2, 2026
Watch Clay CountyAlso: every Clay County well in the statewide list, searchable → · a year of permits on the map →
- 4
- permits issued, 90d
- +0%
- vs prior 90d (4)
- 4
- operators filing
- 0%
- horizontal
- 4,969
- avg permitted depth, ft
- 730
- operators, all time
WINDOWS ON THE RRC ISSUE DATE · COMPUTED NOV 7, 2026 · WHY ISSUE AND SEEN DATES DIFFER
Permits issued by month
LAST 120 MONTHS · BY ISSUE DATE
Last 12 months 19 · prior 12 30(-37%)
Top operators, last 12 months
By permits issued. Wells are the operator’s current inventory here from the RRC wellbore file.
New entrants, last 12 months
Operators whose first permit in Clay County came in the last year. 1 in total.
- B.O.L.D. Oil and Gas, LLC1 permitOct 28, 2026 · active elsewhere first
Permit types, 90d
| Type | Window | Prior | All time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drill | 3 | 2 | 4,564 |
| Reenter | 1 | 0 | 109 |
| Recompletion | 0 | 2 | 276 |
Formations in completed wells
RRC WELLBORE FILE · ≥10 WELLS
Tops reported on completion filings for wells in Clay County. A well counts for every formation it reports, so this reads as the county's stratigraphic column. About tops →
Fewer than ten wells in Clay County report the Simpson, so it is below this table's cutoff. Back to the formation →
| Formation | Wells | Permitted last 3 yrs | Median top, ft | P10–P90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caddo | 404 | 0 | 5,600 | 5,298–6,006 |
| Bryson | 350 | 1 | 4,462 | 4,064–4,849 |
| Thomas Sand | 328 | 2 | 1,122 | 1,059–1,170 |
| Cisco | 294 | 25 | 705 | 171–1,772 |
| Strawn | 204 | 9 | 4,030 | 2,830–5,087 |
| Gunsight | 177 | 5 | 1,260 | 786–1,368 |
| Canyon | 162 | 20 | 1,890 | 1,665–2,508 |
| Ellenburger | 153 | 0 | 6,240 | 5,914–6,524 |
| Barnett | 113 | 1 | 6,100 | 5,788–6,456 |
| Marble Falls | 88 | 0 | 5,874 | 5,587–6,089 |
| Mississippian | 77 | 0 | 5,965 | 5,638–6,258 |
| Palo Pinto | 63 | 0 | 2,500 | 1,295–2,699 |
| Atoka | 42 | 0 | 6,007 | 5,722–6,247 |
| Permian (undifferentiated) | 37 | 0 | 200 | 141–659 |
| Viola | 22 | 1 | 6,174 | 6,090–6,435 |
Beyond the permit record
RRC UIC permits · H-10 reported volumes
Disposal and injection
- 192
- active UIC permits of 1,088
- 96.9K
- permitted bbl/day, active
- 5.2M
- bbl injected, last 12 reported months
- Jun 2025
- reported through
Every active well, operator, and daily reporter in Clay County →
Permitted volume is a ceiling, not throughput. How to read it →
USGS catalog, Texas
Seismicity, last 2 years
- 165
- M2+ events in the area
- M4.3
- largest
Monthly counts, magnitudes, and every recent event in the area →
Events are not tagged with a county; this counts M2+ events inside the bounding box of the county’s located permits, padded 0.1°. About TexNet →
Latest permits
NEWEST FIRST BY ISSUE DATE
| Permit | Seen | Issued | Operator | Lease / well | Depth | API |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 919849 | Nov 4, 2026 | Nov 2, 2026 | Muirfield Exploration, Ltd. | Keeton #35 | 2,000 | 07735430 |
| 919765 | Oct 31, 2026 | Oct 28, 2026 | B.O.L.D. Oil and Gas, LLC | Scaling #1 | 6,500 | 07735429 |
| 919735 | Oct 30, 2026 | Oct 28, 2026 | Bridwell Oil Co. | Halsell, Furd -A- #33 | 4,875 | 07780847 |
| 918532 | Sep 16, 2026 | Sep 14, 2026 | Extech Operating, LLC | Johnny Ringgold #1 | 6,500 | 07735428 |
| 917557 | Aug 7, 2026 | Aug 5, 2026 | Quail Ridge Operating LLC | Bellevue Unit #304 | 6,100 | 07735426 |
| 915654 | Jun 2, 2026 | Jun 2, 2026 | Enterprise Products Operatingllc | SB1-MP 199.571 #1 | 400 | 07735425 |
| 915231 | May 22, 2026 | May 22, 2026 | Quail Ridge Operating LLC | Orton B Unit #2HH | 6,600 | 07735351 |
| 915588 | May 15, 2026 | May 15, 2026 | Dry Creek Operating, LLC | Henderson #1 | 5,660 | 07735339 |
| 915108 | Apr 24, 2026 | Apr 24, 2026 | Muirfield Exploration, Ltd. | Karmichael #1 | 2,000 | 07735424 |
| 914972 | Apr 23, 2026 | Apr 23, 2026 | Felty Drilling Co. Inc | Ross #3 | 5,800 | 07735423 |
Questions about Clay County
How many drilling permits were issued in Clay County in the last 12 months?
20 permits were issued in Clay County in the last 12 months, down 31% from 29 in the 12 months before. 10% were for horizontal wells. The most recent was issued Nov 2, 2026. 5,216 are on file since 1977.
Every Clay County permit →Who is the most active operator in Clay County?
By drilling permits filed in the last 12 months, Muirfield Exploration, Ltd. is the most active operator in Clay County, with 9 of 20, followed by Quail Ridge Operating LLC (3) and Bridwell Oil Co. (1). 4 operators filed permits here in the last 90 days.
Operators in Clay County →How many oil and gas wells are in Clay County?
7,319 wells are on file in Clay County, including 1,003 active, 4,624 plugged, and 12 permitted and not yet drilled. 38 are horizontal. The active wells are under 85 operators.
Every well in Clay County →How much oil and gas does Clay County produce?
The Railroad Commission files oil and gas production by lease, not by well or by county. Each lease with wells in Clay County is listed with its reported production on the county's Leases tab.
Leases in Clay County →How much water is injected in Clay County?
5.2 million barrels of water were injected in Clay County in the 12 months through June 2025, reported on form H-10. 192 of the county's 1,088 disposal and injection permits are active.
Disposal and injection in Clay County →What formations are drilled in Clay County?
Completion filings for wells in Clay County report tops for 15 formations in at least ten wells each. The most reported are the Caddo (404 wells, median top 5,600 ft), the Bryson (350 wells, median top 4,462 ft), and the Thomas Sand (328 wells, median top 1,122 ft).
Formations in Clay County →What basin is Clay County in?
Petrora lists Clay County in the Barnett Shale and North Texas. It is in the Railroad Commission's District 09.
The Barnett Shale and North Texas →Have there been earthquakes in Clay County?
165 earthquakes of magnitude 2 or more were located in the area of Clay County's permitted wells in the last 2 years; the largest was M4.3.
Earthquakes in Clay County →About this data
Drilling permits from the RRC OGA049M master and daily daf420 files, rebuilt nightly into per-county figures; windows are on the date issued. Disposal from UIC permits and H-10 reports at the last settled month; earthquakes from the TexNet catalog inside the county's located-permit footprint.
Developers: this page as JSON is GET /v1/data/counties/tx/clay?days=90, documented in the API reference.