COUNTIES · EAST TEXAS · DISTRICT 05 · CODE 293
Limestone County, Texas
Limestone County permitting is running 1.7 permits a month over the trailing 90 days (5 total, versus 1 in the prior quarter).
Hilcorp Energy Company leads with 7 permits in the past 12 months, one of 3 operators active in the county.
One operator filed a first Limestone County permit in the past year.
Median permitted depth over the past year is 13,600 ft (prior year: 13,205 ft); 33% of the past year's permits are horizontal.
The county has 25 active disposal and injection permits, with 2.43M barrels injected in the 12 months reported through June 2025.
TexNet located 2 earthquakes of magnitude 2 or more in the county's permit footprint over the past two years, the largest M3.4.
2,736 drilling permits have been issued in Limestone County since 1977.
2,736 permits on file since 1977 · last issued Oct 1, 2026
Watch Limestone CountyAlso: every Limestone County well in the statewide list, searchable → · a year of permits on the map →
- 5
- permits issued, 90d
- +400%
- vs prior 90d (1)
- 3
- operators filing
- 40%
- horizontal
- 8,992
- avg permitted depth, ft
- 286
- 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 9 · prior 12 3(+200%)
Top operators, last 12 months
By permits issued. Wells are the operator’s current inventory here from the RRC wellbore file.
| Operator | Permits | Wells |
|---|---|---|
| Hilcorp Energy Company | 7 | 612 |
| Southwest Operating, Inc.-Tyler | 1 | 3 |
| Atmos Pipeline - Texas | 1 | 0 |
New entrants, last 12 months
Operators whose first permit in Limestone County came in the last year. 1 in total.
- Atmos Pipeline - Texas1 permitSep 16, 2026 · active elsewhere first
Formations in completed wells
RRC WELLBORE FILE · ≥10 WELLS
Tops reported on completion filings for wells in Limestone County. A well counts for every formation it reports, so this reads as the county's stratigraphic column. About tops →
In Limestone County the Buda is reported in 135 wells, median top 4,473 ft, highlighted below. Back to the formation →
| Formation | Wells | Permitted last 3 yrs | Median top, ft | P10–P90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travis Peak | 1,187 | 9 | 8,086 | 7,042–8,789 |
| Pettit | 1,123 | 9 | 7,873 | 6,847–8,520 |
| Cotton Valley | 831 | 8 | 10,038 | 8,994–11,148 |
| Bossier | 747 | 7 | 11,491 | 10,014–12,416 |
| BMA | 535 | 6 | 7,496 | 6,743–7,835 |
| Rodessa | 334 | 1 | 6,543 | 6,082–7,626 |
| Austin Chalk | 186 | 0 | 3,401 | 2,276–4,063 |
| Glen Rose | 184 | 0 | 5,505 | 5,188–6,248 |
| Woodbine | 148 | 0 | 3,974 | 2,799–4,547 |
| Buda | 135 | 0 | 4,473 | 3,256–4,956 |
| Massive Anhydrite (marker) | 126 | 0 | 7,140 | 6,258–7,630 |
| James Lime | 63 | 0 | 8,035 | 6,950–8,377 |
| Buckner | 62 | 0 | 11,135 | 10,817–11,648 |
| Nacatoch | 52 | 0 | 1,130 | 582–1,604 |
| Sligo | 44 | 0 | 7,252 | 6,686–7,833 |
Beyond the permit record
RRC UIC permits · H-10 reported volumes
Disposal and injection
- 25
- active UIC permits of 104
- 75.8K
- permitted bbl/day, active
- 2.43M
- bbl injected, last 12 reported months
- Jun 2025
- reported through
Every active well, operator, and daily reporter in Limestone County →
Permitted volume is a ceiling, not throughput. How to read it →
TexNet catalog via USGS
Seismicity, last 2 years
- 2
- M2+ events in the area
- M3.4
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 918994 | Oct 3, 2026 | Oct 1, 2026 | Hilcorp Energy Company | Platt Gas Unit No. 1 #4 | 11,950 | 29331691 |
| 918728 | Sep 24, 2026 | Sep 22, 2026 | Southwest Operating, Inc.-Tyler | NM 1011 #1 HH | 5,017 | 29332429 |
| 918565 | Sep 18, 2026 | Sep 16, 2026 | Atmos Pipeline - Texas | Cp# 26-152 Cathodic Protection #42 | 550 | 29332428 |
| 918183 | Sep 16, 2026 | Sep 14, 2026 | Hilcorp Energy Company | Carpenter Gas Unit II #20HH | 13,845 | 29332252 |
| 918004 | Aug 27, 2026 | Aug 24, 2026 | Hilcorp Energy Company | Robert Shaw Gas Unit No. 1 #1 | 13,600 | 29330720 |
| 916743 | Jun 26, 2026 | Jun 26, 2026 | Hilcorp Energy Company | W. O. Stone Gas Unit No. 1 #17 | 13,950 | 29331790 |
| 914828 | Apr 20, 2026 | Apr 20, 2026 | Hilcorp Energy Company | Standley Gas Unit No. 1 #5HH | 16,100 | 29332215 |
| 914703 | Apr 16, 2026 | Apr 16, 2026 | Hilcorp Energy Company | Carpenter Gas Unit II #8 | 14,675 | 29331987 |
| 914681 | Apr 9, 2026 | Apr 9, 2026 | Hilcorp Energy Company | Standley Gas Unit No. 1 #4 | 13,510 | 29331604 |
| 910274 | Sep 8, 2025 | Sep 8, 2025 | Hilcorp Energy Company | W.O. Stone Gas Unit No. 1 #18 | 13,955 | 29331783 |
Questions about Limestone County
How many drilling permits were issued in Limestone County in the last 12 months?
9 permits were issued in Limestone County in the last 12 months, up 200% from 3 in the 12 months before. 33% were for horizontal wells. The most recent was issued Oct 1, 2026. 2,736 are on file since 1977.
Every Limestone County permit →Who is the most active operator in Limestone County?
By drilling permits filed in the last 12 months, Hilcorp Energy Company is the most active operator in Limestone County, with 7 of 9, followed by Southwest Operating, Inc.-Tyler (1) and Atmos Pipeline - Texas (1). 3 operators filed permits here in the last 90 days.
Operators in Limestone County →How many oil and gas wells are in Limestone County?
2,297 wells are on file in Limestone County: 1,161 active, 636 plugged, and 3 permitted and not yet drilled. 54 are horizontal, and 25 operators hold them.
Every well in Limestone County →How much oil and gas does Limestone County produce?
The Railroad Commission files oil and gas production by lease, not by well or by county. Each lease with wells in Limestone County is listed with its reported production on the county's Leases tab.
Leases in Limestone County →How much water is injected in Limestone County?
2.4 million barrels of water were injected in Limestone County in the 12 months through June 2025, reported on form H-10. 25 of the county's 104 disposal and injection permits are active.
Disposal and injection in Limestone County →What formations are drilled in Limestone County?
Completion filings for wells in Limestone County report tops for 15 formations in at least ten wells each. The most reported are the Travis Peak (1,187 wells, median top 8,086 ft), the Pettit (1,123 wells, median top 7,873 ft), and the Cotton Valley (831 wells, median top 10,038 ft).
Formations in Limestone County →What basin is Limestone County in?
Petrora lists Limestone County in the East Texas. It is in the Railroad Commission's District 05.
The East Texas →Have there been earthquakes in Limestone County?
TexNet located 2 earthquakes of magnitude 2 or more in the area of Limestone County's permitted wells in the last 2 years; the largest was M3.4.
Earthquakes in Limestone 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/limestone?days=90, documented in the API reference.