Oil and gas are extracted primarily from shale formations that span thousands of square miles underground. When these formations are exploited for oil and gas production, they are called "plays." Four of the largest and most important shale plays in the United States are the Eagle Ford Play, which spans much of south and south-central Texas; the Permian Basin, in the Midland area; the Haynesville Play, which is centered around Shreveport, Louisiana and extends into east Texas; and the Barnett Play, which is centered around Fort Worth. The Gulf coast and the Panhandle are also productive regions.
There are many units of measure for natural gas. Worldwide, gas is traded in contracts according to the energy it contains, measured in millions of British Thermal Units, or MMBtu. The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the Texas gas industry, measures gas production by volume in thousands of cubic feet, or Mcf. There are various ways to measure gas volume in metric units, including thousands of cubic meters (kcm), which is not to be confused with cubic kilometers (km3). In our tables, we keep it simple and use cubic meters, or m3.
21 | 100M to 1B Mcf | 22 | 10,000 to 99,999 Mcf | ||
52 | 10M to 100M Mcf | 1 | 1 to 9,999 Mcf | ||
80 | 1M to 10M Mcf | 30 | none | ||
29 | 100,000 to 1M Mcf | 19 | not available | ||
Rank | Name | Oil Produced, 2019 (barrels) | Gas Produced, 2019 (thousands of cf) | Change from 2014 (thousands of cf) | Barrels of Oil Equivalent (BOE) Produced, 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Reeves | 88,839,708 | 789,513,901 | 759,686,618 | 224,962,794 |
2 | Webb | 177,142 | 625,069,515 | 17,420,814 | 107,947,748 |
3 | Midland | 143,039,341 | 341,871,144 | 335,279,909 | 201,982,642 |
4 | Panola | 198,374 | 337,613,789 | -13,885,920 | 58,407,648 |
5 | Tarrant | 0 | 324,865,972 | -357,347,082 | 56,011,374 |
6 | Loving | 64,335,362 | 302,191,416 | 258,498,991 | 116,437,330 |
7 | Karnes | 82,112,283 | 281,666,333 | 156,193,723 | 130,675,444 |
8 | Culberson | 1,561,161 | 280,136,383 | 240,527,036 | 49,860,537 |
9 | DeWitt | 32,526,976 | 216,435,651 | 78,748,039 | 69,843,468 |
10 | Reagan | 39,185,350 | 215,360,923 | 214,100,817 | 76,316,544 |
11 | Dimmit | 30,296,392 | 214,926,183 | 13,943,081 | 67,352,630 |
12 | La Salle | 47,823,264 | 197,811,292 | 83,004,244 | 81,928,659 |
13 | Upton | 54,799,357 | 192,266,096 | 173,604,633 | 87,948,684 |
14 | San Augustine | 13,392 | 181,612,666 | 106,335,721 | 31,325,921 |
15 | Martin | 91,994,475 | 161,874,958 | 161,864,683 | 119,903,951 |
16 | Wise | 140,944 | 152,028,000 | -106,595,853 | 26,352,668 |
17 | Glasscock | 36,089,338 | 136,531,443 | 135,586,363 | 59,629,242 |
18 | Harrison | 263,579 | 135,577,222 | -2,596,339 | 23,638,962 |
19 | Johnson | 0 | 132,900,654 | -193,433,701 | 22,913,906 |
20 | Denton | 16,723 | 130,412,945 | -97,038,287 | 22,501,714 |
21 | Irion | 10,094,276 | 104,938,330 | 102,506,438 | 28,187,092 |
22 | Howard | 59,692,437 | 99,011,166 | 98,748,444 | 76,763,328 |
23 | Ward | 36,107,388 | 94,187,826 | 77,934,557 | 52,346,668 |
24 | Rusk | 1,139,644 | 88,620,857 | -28,540,898 | 16,419,102 |
25 | Pecos | 24,210,542 | 85,991,009 | 4,117,648 | 39,036,578 |
26 | Hemphill | 319,909 | 85,290,738 | -56,708,744 | 15,025,209 |
27 | Crockett | 5,055,710 | 82,449,222 | 23,189,983 | 19,271,093 |
28 | Freestone | 20,526 | 77,217,150 | -78,447,915 | 13,333,828 |
29 | Wheeler | 914,511 | 74,901,714 | -137,420,523 | 13,828,600 |
30 | Angelina | 0 | 73,732,610 | 67,924,663 | 12,712,519 |
31 | Live Oak | 9,533,817 | 71,244,906 | -14,945,843 | 21,817,421 |
32 | McMullen | 24,150,395 | 70,203,028 | -13,585,570 | 36,254,365 |
33 | Nacogdoches | 8,733 | 64,958,039 | -16,204,685 | 11,208,395 |
34 | Shelby | 21,071 | 59,816,007 | -23,972,212 | 10,334,176 |
35 | Zapata | 46,998 | 57,229,466 | -53,239,214 | 9,914,147 |
36 | Andrews | 31,120,138 | 55,270,882 | 54,629,148 | 40,649,600 |
37 | Gonzales | 34,187,567 | 53,421,927 | 52,868,521 | 43,398,244 |
38 | Robertson | 981,687 | 49,028,214 | -68,862,233 | 9,434,827 |
39 | Parker | 692 | 46,194,444 | -54,559,708 | 7,965,251 |
40 | Montague | 793,377 | 44,278,445 | -36,545,667 | 8,427,592 |
41 | Wood | 2,553,532 | 44,045,971 | 41,799,888 | 10,147,665 |
42 | Ector | 16,123,219 | 41,986,405 | 38,051,496 | 23,362,254 |
43 | Washington | 483,335 | 41,403,079 | 33,266,157 | 7,621,797 |
44 | Hidalgo | 42,536 | 41,139,960 | -55,883,750 | 7,135,633 |
45 | Winkler | 16,776,031 | 40,101,020 | 25,784,662 | 23,690,000 |
46 | Lipscomb | 868,587 | 37,461,566 | -6,355,646 | 7,327,478 |
47 | Scurry | 12,606,334 | 33,083,017 | 33,083,017 | 18,310,302 |
48 | Crane | 5,870,110 | 32,922,274 | 26,622,567 | 11,546,364 |
49 | Lavaca | 5,500,786 | 32,130,368 | 5,605,739 | 11,040,505 |
50 | Roberts | 1,230,275 | 30,894,142 | -27,308,345 | 6,556,851 |
51 | Yoakum | 21,576,330 | 29,661,175 | 29,383,947 | 26,690,326 |
52 | Leon | 504,477 | 29,348,590 | -32,274,896 | 5,564,579 |
53 | Starr | 272,053 | 28,520,555 | -25,838,142 | 5,189,390 |
54 | Hood | 0 | 26,351,966 | -21,440,790 | 4,543,442 |
55 | Limestone | 52,366 | 26,010,301 | -25,121,186 | 4,536,901 |
56 | Gregg | 1,117,151 | 25,728,974 | -2,085,812 | 5,553,181 |
57 | Ochiltree | 3,242,829 | 24,941,586 | 8,648,883 | 7,543,102 |
58 | Atascosa | 20,128,982 | 21,957,150 | 18,987,121 | 23,914,698 |
59 | Kenedy | 75,561 | 21,144,682 | -4,428,547 | 3,721,196 |
60 | Polk | 315,442 | 21,144,449 | 1,879,058 | 3,961,037 |
61 | Cherokee | 159,511 | 19,113,519 | -120,229 | 3,454,945 |
62 | Smith | 1,019,449 | 18,973,181 | 2,240,170 | 4,290,687 |
63 | Upshur | 66,069 | 17,553,554 | -7,206,510 | 3,092,544 |
64 | Gaines | 18,092,993 | 17,123,783 | 10,951,255 | 21,045,369 |
65 | Terrell | 24,038 | 16,595,737 | -13,122,836 | 2,885,372 |
66 | Moore | 198,999 | 15,267,815 | -10,623,456 | 2,831,381 |
67 | Sutton | 17,777 | 14,576,962 | -19,351,129 | 2,531,046 |
68 | Fayette | 1,200,534 | 13,968,222 | 3,835,222 | 3,608,848 |
69 | Colorado | 113,163 | 13,433,714 | -2,028,907 | 2,429,321 |
70 | Brooks | 121,419 | 12,364,407 | -19,043,958 | 2,253,213 |
71 | Jack | 681,674 | 12,247,753 | 927,199 | 2,793,356 |
72 | Brazoria | 2,651,189 | 11,060,927 | 1,724,735 | 4,558,245 |
73 | Cooke | 831,652 | 10,771,626 | -10,750,772 | 2,688,829 |
74 | Sherman | 51,082 | 9,365,871 | -7,473,298 | 1,665,887 |
75 | Henderson | 363,931 | 9,035,548 | -1,373,782 | 1,921,784 |
76 | Burleson | 8,295,905 | 8,873,371 | 7,579,552 | 9,825,797 |
77 | Nueces | 135,329 | 8,663,243 | -8,646,783 | 1,628,992 |
78 | Kleberg | 42,167 | 8,041,450 | -6,988,612 | 1,428,624 |
79 | Frio | 5,200,912 | 7,997,500 | 6,234,126 | 6,579,791 |
80 | Jasper | 233,809 | 7,967,900 | -3,614,370 | 1,607,585 |
81 | Bee | 190,696 | 7,670,528 | -11,345,961 | 1,513,201 |
82 | Hill | 0 | 7,625,304 | -7,309,649 | 1,314,708 |
83 | Hockley | 9,352,776 | 7,520,051 | 7,451,214 | 10,649,337 |
84 | Hansford | 207,200 | 7,466,639 | -4,915,708 | 1,494,552 |
85 | Wharton | 558,264 | 7,327,468 | -16,603,848 | 1,821,621 |
86 | Zavala | 5,715,384 | 7,289,679 | 6,879,246 | 6,972,225 |
87 | Refugio | 1,704,332 | 7,223,077 | 4,284,899 | 2,949,690 |
88 | Stephens | 1,448,934 | 7,167,709 | -2,949,754 | 2,684,746 |
89 | Potter | 533,236 | 7,000,754 | -1,587,953 | 1,740,263 |
90 | Palo Pinto | 84,091 | 6,945,448 | -3,643,737 | 1,281,582 |
91 | Madison | 1,851,650 | 6,879,624 | 3,037,334 | 3,037,792 |
92 | Brazos | 3,944,352 | 6,843,518 | 4,755,076 | 5,124,269 |
93 | Grimes | 310,119 | 6,774,107 | -2,009,695 | 1,478,068 |
94 | Tyler | 319,395 | 6,406,741 | -6,368,490 | 1,424,006 |
95 | Harris | 624,683 | 6,385,448 | -5,896,547 | 1,725,622 |
96 | Gray | 710,382 | 6,167,643 | -684,557 | 1,773,769 |
97 | Liberty | 610,178 | 6,156,506 | -11,538,989 | 1,671,645 |
98 | Carson | 89,312 | 6,092,299 | -5,503,918 | 1,139,708 |
99 | Dallas | 0 | 5,972,070 | -4,157,357 | 1,029,667 |
100 | Sterling | 531,457 | 5,933,118 | 3,009,743 | 1,554,408 |
101 | Kent | 2,676,532 | 5,518,205 | 5,518,205 | 3,627,947 |
102 | Duval | 730,711 | 5,440,043 | -9,784,073 | 1,668,649 |
103 | Goliad | 171,684 | 5,150,050 | -4,633,075 | 1,059,624 |
104 | Schleicher | 206,712 | 5,136,770 | -2,606,700 | 1,092,362 |
105 | Borden | 5,960,620 | 4,995,186 | 4,995,186 | 6,821,859 |
106 | Jim Hogg | 11,630 | 4,974,140 | -2,365,900 | 869,240 |
107 | Fort Bend | 609,846 | 4,882,956 | -3,557,460 | 1,451,735 |
108 | Hutchinson | 394,431 | 4,872,774 | -1,039,050 | 1,234,564 |
109 | San Patricio | 300,650 | 4,787,693 | -6,920,957 | 1,126,114 |
110 | Orange | 352,963 | 4,495,118 | -8,063,974 | 1,127,983 |
111 | Jefferson | 393,036 | 4,277,916 | -13,224,182 | 1,130,608 |
112 | Matagorda | 183,704 | 4,216,065 | -18,484,852 | 910,612 |
113 | Lee | 1,670,660 | 3,659,719 | 2,323,669 | 2,301,646 |
114 | Grayson | 809,321 | 3,655,512 | 1,825,531 | 1,439,582 |
115 | Montgomery | 696,558 | 3,459,357 | -203,321 | 1,292,999 |
116 | Hardin | 750,415 | 3,451,262 | -2,338,430 | 1,345,460 |
117 | Maverick | 862,954 | 3,432,888 | -122,852 | 1,454,831 |
118 | Willacy | 143,021 | 3,163,414 | -5,565,366 | 688,437 |
119 | Somervell | 0 | 3,002,215 | -2,239,564 | 517,623 |
120 | Stonewall | 1,494,779 | 2,885,276 | 2,885,276 | 1,992,240 |
121 | Aransas | 18,958 | 2,868,657 | -6,823,346 | 513,554 |
122 | Chambers | 2,019,541 | 2,772,266 | -3,031,936 | 2,497,518 |
123 | Victoria | 1,107,392 | 2,697,826 | -1,657,224 | 1,572,534 |
124 | Houston | 419,620 | 2,524,579 | -4,851,425 | 854,892 |
125 | Newton | 429,674 | 2,512,765 | -2,476,738 | 862,909 |
126 | Val Verde | 1,164 | 2,419,195 | -4,160,114 | 418,267 |
127 | Tom Green | 401,507 | 2,301,676 | 1,365,483 | 798,348 |
128 | Jackson | 1,859,387 | 2,273,473 | -4,137,960 | 2,251,365 |
129 | Anderson | 470,843 | 2,230,605 | -459,751 | 855,430 |
130 | Cottle | 78,337 | 2,175,037 | -2,005,798 | 453,343 |
131 | Jim Wells | 50,869 | 2,165,894 | -1,692,767 | 424,299 |
132 | Edwards | 829 | 2,085,384 | -5,522,375 | 360,378 |
133 | Austin | 299,927 | 2,045,983 | -1,085,922 | 652,683 |
134 | Coke | 254,776 | 1,975,982 | 1,772,929 | 595,463 |
135 | Ellis | 0 | 1,915,423 | -3,332,352 | 330,245 |
136 | Throckmorton | 546,551 | 1,868,304 | 1,670,828 | 868,672 |
137 | Cochran | 2,165,654 | 1,868,064 | 1,742,346 | 2,487,734 |
138 | Young | 711,737 | 1,863,925 | 663,099 | 1,033,103 |
139 | Erath | 1,161 | 1,820,089 | -2,618,420 | 314,969 |
140 | San Jacinto | 29,529 | 1,715,463 | -3,122,180 | 325,298 |
141 | Van Zandt | 373,050 | 1,692,383 | -2,008,223 | 664,840 |
142 | Walker | 51,809 | 1,601,687 | 655,347 | 327,962 |
143 | Nolan | 852,090 | 1,545,604 | 1,237,555 | 1,118,573 |
144 | Eastland | 112,250 | 1,449,929 | -1,011,066 | 362,238 |
145 | Terry | 2,425,250 | 1,367,528 | 1,309,846 | 2,661,031 |
146 | Calhoun | 108,594 | 1,281,316 | -3,796,517 | 329,511 |
147 | Clay | 345,504 | 1,244,961 | 1,146,806 | 560,152 |
148 | Hale | 759,067 | 1,191,118 | 1,191,118 | 964,432 |
149 | Marion | 305,371 | 1,170,235 | -1,071,709 | 507,136 |
150 | Franklin | 336,499 | 1,133,298 | -598,191 | 531,895 |
151 | Waller | 124,637 | 1,073,824 | -2,265,991 | 309,779 |
152 | Shackelford | 279,095 | 1,057,075 | -343,457 | 461,349 |
153 | Dawson | 2,578,254 | 1,037,883 | 1,037,883 | 2,757,199 |
154 | Wilson | 1,607,811 | 940,179 | 931,242 | 1,769,911 |
155 | Fisher | 891,632 | 827,256 | 762,721 | 1,034,262 |
156 | Sabine | 1,013 | 719,456 | -1,018,965 | 125,057 |
157 | Runnels | 264,854 | 707,037 | 457,838 | 386,757 |
158 | Collingsworth | 3,669 | 698,166 | -379,257 | 124,042 |
159 | Hartley | 185,170 | 662,403 | -683,040 | 299,377 |
160 | Mitchell | 2,009,767 | 620,646 | 620,646 | 2,116,775 |
161 | Brown | 64,222 | 603,764 | -156,069 | 168,319 |
162 | Galveston | 132,577 | 563,409 | -8,433,652 | 229,716 |
163 | Coleman | 153,458 | 555,002 | -41,184 | 249,148 |
164 | Oldham | 233,021 | 548,201 | 476,191 | 327,538 |
165 | Milam | 1,172,171 | 495,675 | 459,034 | 1,257,632 |
166 | Haskell | 689,483 | 474,477 | 474,477 | 771,289 |
167 | Navarro | 106,272 | 397,668 | -29,876 | 174,835 |
168 | Garza | 1,788,516 | 383,094 | 383,094 | 1,854,567 |
169 | Concho | 226,389 | 348,663 | 28,819 | 286,503 |
170 | Callahan | 88,978 | 348,264 | -215,897 | 149,024 |
171 | King | 1,507,358 | 341,586 | -82,624 | 1,566,252 |
172 | Comanche | 42,824 | 335,150 | -169,336 | 100,608 |
173 | Cass | 315,915 | 327,827 | -218,040 | 372,437 |
174 | Camp | 65,575 | 294,957 | -260,564 | 116,430 |
175 | Archer | 726,002 | 278,053 | 268,614 | 773,942 |
176 | Wichita | 1,220,854 | 236,227 | 236,227 | 1,261,583 |
177 | Hardeman | 651,079 | 228,519 | 228,519 | 690,479 |
178 | Jones | 320,548 | 170,455 | 141,107 | 349,937 |
179 | Lamb | 161,860 | 155,978 | 155,978 | 188,753 |
180 | Taylor | 275,817 | 137,924 | 104,188 | 299,597 |
181 | Trinity | 16,495 | 122,994 | -74,643 | 37,701 |
182 | Hopkins | 121,356 | 113,349 | -50,094 | 140,899 |
183 | Lynn | 232,838 | 97,143 | 97,143 | 249,587 |
184 | Knox | 135,207 | 86,381 | 86,381 | 150,100 |
185 | Wilbarger | 593,749 | 79,131 | 79,131 | 607,392 |
186 | Bastrop | 78,066 | 70,357 | -22,050 | 90,197 |
187 | Lubbock | 780,804 | 56,313 | 56,313 | 790,513 |
188 | Foard | 62,351 | 55,186 | -39,160 | 71,866 |
189 | Crosby | 777,454 | 54,305 | 54,305 | 786,817 |
190 | Hamilton | 24 | 49,026 | -48,354 | 8,477 |
191 | Caldwell | 896,557 | 28,830 | 19,094 | 901,528 |
192 | Cameron | 0 | 26,846 | -250,054 | 4,629 |
193 | Real | 811 | 26,460 | 1,803 | 5,373 |
194 | Kaufman | 46,306 | 22,886 | 22,886 | 50,252 |
195 | Morris | 21,245 | 22,489 | 22,489 | 25,122 |
196 | Dickens | 362,816 | 13,932 | 13,932 | 365,218 |
197 | Menard | 76,801 | 13,467 | -31,079 | 79,123 |
198 | Baylor | 51,710 | 7,272 | 7,272 | 52,964 |
199 | Bandera | 1,288 | 5,711 | -16,404 | 2,273 |
200 | Donley | 0 | 5,192 | -5,576 | 895 |
201 | Medina | 77,345 | 4,569 | -16,162 | 78,133 |
202 | Motley | 32,314 | 4,225 | 4,225 | 33,042 |
203 | Mills | 0 | 2,806 | -1,607 | 484 |
204 | Titus | 335,798 | 1,076 | 1,076 | 335,984 |
205 | Bexar | 62,429 | 21 | 21 | 62,433 |
206 | Armstrong | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
207 | Bell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
208 | Blanco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
209 | Bosque | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
210 | Bowie | 18,834 | 0 | -138,568 | 18,834 |
211 | Brewster | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
212 | Briscoe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
213 | Childress | 4,276 | 0 | 0 | 4,276 |
214 | Coryell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
215 | Dallam | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
216 | Falls | 808 | 0 | 0 | 808 |
217 | Fannin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
218 | Floyd | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
219 | Guadalupe | 587,311 | 0 | 0 | 587,311 |
220 | Hays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
221 | Hudspeth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
222 | Hunt | 203 | 0 | 0 | 203 |
223 | Jeff Davis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
224 | Kerr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
225 | Kimble | 215 | 0 | -27,914 | 215 |
226 | Kinney | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
227 | Lampasas | 0 | 0 | -8,875 | 0 |
228 | McCulloch | 35,928 | 0 | 0 | 35,928 |
229 | McLennan | 691 | 0 | 0 | 691 |
230 | Rains | 0 | 0 | -2,647,198 | 0 |
231 | Red River | 59,190 | 0 | 0 | 59,190 |
232 | Swisher | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
233 | Travis | 3,585 | 0 | 0 | 3,585 |
234 | Uvalde | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
235 | Williamson | 5,877 | 0 | 0 | 5,877 |
236 | Bailey | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
237 | Burnet | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
238 | Castro | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
239 | Collin | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
240 | Comal | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
241 | Deaf Smith | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
242 | Delta | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
243 | El Paso | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
244 | Gillespie | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
245 | Hall | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
246 | Kendall | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
247 | Lamar | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
248 | Llano | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
249 | Mason | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
250 | Parmer | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
251 | Presidio | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
252 | Randall | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
253 | Rockwall | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
254 | San Saba | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 |
Total | 1,187,767,228 | 7,968,247,503 | 1,676,454,480 | 2,561,603,003 |
The Texas Railroad Commission does not include every county in its tables. Omitted counties are indicated as "N/A" (not available) above. It is probably safe to assume that N/A means zero in most cases, and we make this assumption when computing the "oil equivalent" column. Our "Gas Produced" column is the sum of two values reported by TRCC: gas from gas wells and casinghead gas, which is extracted from oil wells.