COUNTIES · PERMIAN BASIN · DISTRICT 08 · CODE 109
Culberson County, Texas
Culberson County permitting is running 9.0 permits a month over the trailing 90 days (27 total, up 50% on the prior quarter). 6 were issued in the past week.
Coterra Energy Operating Co. leads with 90 permits in the past 12 months, one of 7 operators active in the county.
2 operators filed a first Culberson County permit in the past year.
Median permitted depth over the past year is 11,000 ft; 93% of the past year's permits are horizontal.
The county has 122 active disposal and injection permits, with 294M barrels injected in the 12 months reported through June 2025.
TexNet located 1,895 earthquakes of magnitude 2 or more in the county's permit footprint over the past two years, the largest M5.4.
4,101 drilling permits have been issued in Culberson County since 1977.
4,101 permits on file since 1977 · last issued Nov 3, 2026
Watch Culberson CountyAlso: every Culberson County well in the statewide list, searchable → · a year of permits on the map →
- 27
- permits issued, 90d
- +50%
- vs prior 90d (18)
- 3
- operators filing
- 74%
- horizontal
- 8,589
- avg permitted depth, ft
- 176
- operators, all time
WINDOWS ON THE RRC ISSUE DATE · COMPUTED NOV 5, 2026 · WHY ISSUE AND SEEN DATES DIFFER
Permits issued by month
LAST 120 MONTHS · BY ISSUE DATE
Last 12 months 114 · prior 12 226(-50%)
Top operators, last 12 months
By permits issued. Wells are the operator’s current inventory here from the RRC wellbore file.
| Operator | Permits | Wells |
|---|---|---|
| Coterra Energy Operating Co. | 90 | 605 |
| Chevron U. S. A. Inc. | 18 | 536 |
| Cimarex Energy Co. | 11 | 18 |
| Capitan Energy, Incorporated | 7 | 98 |
| Covington SWD LP | 7 | 3 |
| Pilot Water Solutions Permianllc | 2 | 0 |
| Solaris Water Midstream, LLC | 1 | 17 |
New entrants, last 12 months
Operators whose first permit in Culberson County came in the last year. 2 in total.
- Covington SWD LP7 permitsOct 22, 2026 · new to Texas permits
- Pilot Water Solutions Permianllc2 permitsMay 13, 2026 · active elsewhere first
Formations in completed wells
RRC WELLBORE FILE · ≥10 WELLS
Tops reported on completion filings for wells in Culberson County. A well counts for every formation it reports, so this reads as the county's stratigraphic column. About tops →
In Culberson County the Devonian is reported in 15 wells, median top 11,600 ft, highlighted below. Back to the formation →
| Formation | Wells | Permitted last 3 yrs | Median top, ft | P10–P90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Canyon | 1,647 | 260 | 3,228 | 2,398–3,482 |
| Bone Spring | 1,592 | 247 | 5,858 | 4,950–6,245 |
| Delaware | 1,321 | 152 | 2,259 | 1,544–2,551 |
| Wolfcamp | 1,184 | 174 | 8,815 | 7,694–9,262 |
| Lamar | 458 | 102 | 2,366 | 1,423–2,547 |
| Bell Canyon | 393 | 85 | 2,149 | 970–2,578 |
| Rustler | 365 | 13 | 386 | 187–585 |
| Brushy Canyon | 300 | 30 | 4,314 | 3,373–4,696 |
| Avalon | 253 | 43 | 6,077 | 5,127–6,350 |
| Castile | 85 | 9 | 545 | 1–1,885 |
| Mississippian | 82 | 0 | 8,900 | 5,903–13,608 |
| Atoka | 31 | 0 | 11,696 | 7,950–13,555 |
| Morrow | 27 | 0 | 11,800 | 7,676–12,917 |
| Strawn | 23 | 0 | 9,493 | 5,512–12,723 |
| Devonian | 15 | 0 | 11,600 | 9,558–14,419 |
Beyond the permit record
RRC UIC permits · H-10 reported volumes
Disposal and injection
- 122
- active UIC permits of 292
- 4.09M
- permitted bbl/day, active
- 294M
- bbl injected, last 12 reported months
- Jun 2025
- reported through
Every active well, operator, and daily reporter in Culberson County →
Permitted volume is a ceiling, not throughput. How to read it →
TexNet catalog via USGS
Seismicity, last 2 years
- 1,895
- M2+ events in the area
- M5.4
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 919323 | Nov 5, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 | Chevron U. S. A. Inc. | Hay Ian 17 Unit #0012WCH | 12,544 | 10934648 |
| 919322 | Nov 5, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 | Chevron U. S. A. Inc. | Hay Ian 17 Unit #0011WCH | 12,544 | 10934647 |
| 919464 | Nov 4, 2026 | Nov 2, 2026 | Chevron U. S. A. Inc. | Hay Carter 17/29 Unit #0016SBH | 9,079 | 10934638 |
| 919463 | Nov 4, 2026 | Nov 2, 2026 | Chevron U. S. A. Inc. | Hay Carter 17/29 Unit #0015SBH | 9,079 | 10934637 |
| 919462 | Nov 4, 2026 | Nov 2, 2026 | Chevron U. S. A. Inc. | Hay Carter 17/29 Unit #0014SBH | 9,079 | 10934636 |
| 919461 | Nov 4, 2026 | Nov 2, 2026 | Chevron U. S. A. Inc. | Hay Carter 17/29 Unit #0013SBH | 9,079 | 10934635 |
| 919502 | Oct 28, 2026 | Oct 26, 2026 | Covington SWD LP | Adios SWD G #7 | 3,500 | 10934646 |
| 919500 | Oct 28, 2026 | Oct 26, 2026 | Covington SWD LP | Adios SWD F #6 | 3,500 | 10934645 |
| 919499 | Oct 28, 2026 | Oct 26, 2026 | Covington SWD LP | Adios SWD E #5 | 3,500 | 10934644 |
| 919496 | Oct 28, 2026 | Oct 26, 2026 | Covington SWD LP | Adios SWD D #4 | 3,500 | 10934643 |
Questions about Culberson County
How many drilling permits were issued in Culberson County in the last 12 months?
136 permits were issued in Culberson County in the last 12 months, down 36% from 212 in the 12 months before. 93% were for horizontal wells. The most recent was issued Nov 3, 2026. 4,101 are on file since 1977.
Every Culberson County permit →Who is the most active operator in Culberson County?
By drilling permits filed in the last 12 months, Coterra Energy Operating Co. is the most active operator in Culberson County, with 90 of 136, followed by Chevron U. S. A. Inc. (18) and Cimarex Energy Co. (11). 3 operators filed permits here in the last 90 days.
Operators in Culberson County →How many oil and gas wells are in Culberson County?
3,526 wells are on file in Culberson County: 1,493 active, 1,021 plugged, and 54 permitted and not yet drilled. 1,749 are horizontal, and 26 operators hold them.
Every well in Culberson County →How much oil and gas does Culberson County produce?
The Railroad Commission files oil and gas production by lease, not by well or by county. Each lease with wells in Culberson County is listed with its reported production on the county's Leases tab.
Leases in Culberson County →How much water is injected in Culberson County?
294 million barrels of water were injected in Culberson County in the 12 months through June 2025, reported on form H-10. 122 of the county's 292 disposal and injection permits are active.
Disposal and injection in Culberson County →What formations are drilled in Culberson County?
Completion filings for wells in Culberson County report tops for 15 formations in at least ten wells each. The most reported are the Cherry Canyon (1,647 wells, median top 3,228 ft), the Bone Spring (1,592 wells, median top 5,858 ft), and the Delaware (1,321 wells, median top 2,259 ft).
Formations in Culberson County →What basin is Culberson County in?
Petrora lists Culberson County in the Permian Basin. It is in the Railroad Commission's District 08.
The Permian Basin →Have there been earthquakes in Culberson County?
TexNet located 1,895 earthquakes of magnitude 2 or more in the area of Culberson County's permitted wells in the last 2 years; the largest was M5.4.
Earthquakes in Culberson 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/culberson?days=90, documented in the API reference.