COUNTIES · PERMIAN BASIN · DISTRICT 08 · CODE 431
Sterling County, Texas
Sterling County has had no new drilling permits in the past 90 days; the most recent permit on record was issued July 10, 2026.
Ike Operating, LLC leads with 2 permits in the past 12 months, one of 2 operators active in the county.
One operator filed a first Sterling County permit in the past year.
Median permitted depth over the past year is 8,500 ft (prior year: 8,390 ft); 67% of the past year's permits are horizontal.
The county has 97 active disposal and injection permits, with 3.94M barrels injected in the 12 months reported through June 2025.
TexNet located 95 earthquakes of magnitude 2 or more in the county's permit footprint over the past two years, the largest M3.4.
3,842 drilling permits have been issued in Sterling County since 1977.
3,842 permits on file since 1977 · last issued Jul 10, 2026
Watch Sterling CountyAlso: every Sterling County well in the statewide list, searchable → · a year of permits on the map →
- 3
- permits issued, 180d
- —
- vs prior 180d (0)
- 2
- operators filing
- 67%
- horizontal
- 8,558
- avg permitted depth, ft
- 321
- operators, all time
WINDOWS ON THE RRC ISSUE DATE · COMPUTED NOV 6, 2026 · WHY ISSUE AND SEEN DATES DIFFER
Permits issued by month
LAST 120 MONTHS · BY ISSUE DATE
Last 12 months 3 · prior 12 6(-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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ike Operating, LLC | 2 | 3 |
| Ampak Oil Company | 1 | 12 |
New entrants, last 12 months
Operators whose first permit in Sterling County came in the last year. 1 in total.
- Ike Operating, LLC2 permitsJul 9, 2026 · active elsewhere first
Formations in completed wells
RRC WELLBORE FILE · ≥10 WELLS
Tops reported on completion filings for wells in Sterling County. A well counts for every formation it reports, so this reads as the county's stratigraphic column. About tops →
| Formation | Wells | Permitted last 3 yrs | Median top, ft | P10–P90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canyon | 1,235 | 0 | 7,604 | 7,002–8,049 |
| Wolfcamp | 1,076 | 4 | 6,340 | 5,206–7,540 |
| Cisco | 1,036 | 1 | 7,343 | 6,755–7,810 |
| San Andres | 531 | 4 | 1,976 | 1,593–2,326 |
| Dean | 434 | 0 | 6,042 | 5,629–6,349 |
| Queen | 386 | 4 | 1,596 | 1,150–1,840 |
| Yates | 371 | 3 | 1,217 | 875–1,396 |
| Clear Fork | 337 | 4 | 2,834 | 2,115–3,777 |
| Seven Rivers | 318 | 4 | 1,300 | 993–1,500 |
| Spraberry | 183 | 0 | 4,754 | 4,471–5,100 |
| Grayburg | 180 | 1 | 1,842 | 1,481–2,080 |
| Coleman Junction | 131 | 3 | 4,078 | 3,150–4,557 |
| Glorieta | 116 | 3 | 2,570 | 1,852–3,177 |
| Strawn | 114 | 2 | 8,121 | 7,215–8,784 |
| Wichita-Albany | 106 | 4 | 4,054 | 3,076–6,064 |
Beyond the permit record
RRC UIC permits · H-10 reported volumes
Disposal and injection
- 97
- active UIC permits of 243
- 230K
- permitted bbl/day, active
- 3.94M
- bbl injected, last 12 reported months
- Jun 2025
- reported through
Every active well, operator, and daily reporter in Sterling County →
Permitted volume is a ceiling, not throughput. How to read it →
TexNet catalog via USGS
Seismicity, last 2 years
- 95
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 916959 | Jul 10, 2026 | Jul 10, 2026 | Ike Operating, LLC | Dana Point #2HH | 8,500 | 43133532 |
| 916958 | Jul 9, 2026 | Jul 9, 2026 | Ike Operating, LLC | San Marino #1HH | 8,500 | 43133531 |
| 915133 | May 19, 2026 | May 19, 2026 | Ampak Oil Company | Parramore #3 | 8,675 | 43131461 |
| 910373 | Sep 18, 2025 | Sep 18, 2025 | Winn Operating, LLC | Reed 'F' #2 U | 7,497 | 43110363 |
| 910105 | Aug 28, 2025 | Aug 28, 2025 | Kek Exploration LLC | Foster 60 #1A | 7,880 | 43133043 |
| 910082 | Aug 28, 2025 | Aug 28, 2025 | Kek Exploration LLC | Spade 18 #5101 | 8,900 | 43133530 |
| 909796 | Aug 12, 2025 | Aug 12, 2025 | Kek Exploration LLC | Axe #1 | 8,900 | 43133529 |
| 909796 | Aug 12, 2025 | Aug 12, 2025 | Kek Exploration LLC | Axe #1 | 8,900 | 43133529 |
| 905433 | Mar 26, 2025 | Mar 26, 2025 | Black River Operating LLC | TXL #20 | 2,500 | 43132819 |
| 901127 | Jul 16, 2024 | Jul 16, 2024 | Ampak Oil Company | Nellie Sellers 'A' #1A | 8,856 | 43133512 |
Questions about Sterling County
How many drilling permits were issued in Sterling County in the last 12 months?
3 permits were issued in Sterling County in the last 12 months, down 50% from 6 in the 12 months before. 67% were for horizontal wells. The most recent was issued Jul 10, 2026. 3,842 are on file since 1977.
Every Sterling County permit →Who is the most active operator in Sterling County?
By drilling permits filed in the last 12 months, Ike Operating, LLC is the most active operator in Sterling County, with 2 of 3, followed by Ampak Oil Company (1). 0 operators filed permits here in the last 90 days.
Operators in Sterling County →How many oil and gas wells are in Sterling County?
3,564 wells are on file in Sterling County: 1,739 active, 1,030 plugged, and 1 permitted and not yet drilled. 55 are horizontal, and 52 operators hold them.
Every well in Sterling County →How much oil and gas does Sterling County produce?
The Railroad Commission files oil and gas production by lease, not by well or by county. Each lease with wells in Sterling County is listed with its reported production on the county's Leases tab.
Leases in Sterling County →How much water is injected in Sterling County?
3.9 million barrels of water were injected in Sterling County in the 12 months through June 2025, reported on form H-10. 97 of the county's 243 disposal and injection permits are active.
Disposal and injection in Sterling County →What formations are drilled in Sterling County?
Completion filings for wells in Sterling County report tops for 15 formations in at least ten wells each. The most reported are the Canyon (1,235 wells, median top 7,604 ft), the Wolfcamp (1,076 wells, median top 6,340 ft), and the Cisco (1,036 wells, median top 7,343 ft).
Formations in Sterling County →What basin is Sterling County in?
Petrora lists Sterling County in the Permian Basin. It is in the Railroad Commission's District 08.
The Permian Basin →Have there been earthquakes in Sterling County?
TexNet located 95 earthquakes of magnitude 2 or more in the area of Sterling County's permitted wells in the last 2 years; the largest was M3.4.
Earthquakes in Sterling 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/sterling?days=180, documented in the API reference.