{
  "state": {
    "name": "Oklahoma",
    "abbreviation": "OK",
    "slug": "oklahoma"
  },
  "county": {
    "name": "Stephens",
    "slug": "stephens",
    "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/oklahoma/stephens",
    "basinSlug": "scoop",
    "description": "American Royalty Buyers purchases mineral rights and royalties in Stephens County, Oklahoma. Known for its historic oil fields, we provide expert valuations.",
    "overview": "Stephens County, around Duncan in south-central Oklahoma, is one of the state's oldest and most prolific oil counties — home to the Velma, Loco, and Sho-Vel-Tum fields that have produced since the early 20th century. It carries an enormous legacy footprint: roughly 21,800 wells on record, about 7,839 still active, spread across more than 1,000 operators. Most of that is long-life conventional oil, with a modern SCOOP horizontal program (Woodford and Springer) layered on the northern part of the county. For mineral owners it is above all a legacy-royalty county with a very large base of small and inherited interests.",
    "geology": "Stephens County's production is led by the legacy conventional oil reservoirs of the Ardmore-basin margin — the Permian sands, the Loco, Deese, Sims, Tussy, Hoxbar, and Pontotoc that built the county's giant fields. The modern layer is the Woodford shale and the Springer, the SCOOP targets developed with horizontal wells across the northern county. So Stephens is two stories at once: century-old conventional oil that still pays, and newer horizontal SCOOP drilling.",
    "activity": "The producing base is dominated by legacy oil operators — Citation Oil & Gas is by far the largest at roughly 1,813 wells (about 1,205 active), with Wild Outdoors Oil, Stephens Johnson Operating, Wildhorse Operating, and ConocoPhillips also holding large conventional and waterflood positions. Modern horizontal drilling is modest and led by Kodiak Oil & Gas (6 spuds in the trailing twelve months) and Continental Resources (5). Because so many legacy wells changed hands over the decades, the payor name on a Stephens County royalty check frequently differs from the company that originally drilled the well.",
    "keyFormations": [
      "Permian sands",
      "Loco",
      "Deese",
      "Woodford (SCOOP overlay)",
      "Springer"
    ],
    "stats": [
      {
        "label": "Basin",
        "value": "Ardmore-margin legacy oil / SCOOP overlay (north)"
      },
      {
        "label": "Wells on Record",
        "value": "~21,800 (~7,839 active)"
      },
      {
        "label": "Primary Play",
        "value": "Legacy conventional oil + Woodford/Springer horizontal"
      },
      {
        "label": "Most Active Driller",
        "value": "Kodiak Oil & Gas (6 spuds, trailing 12 mo)"
      }
    ],
    "faqs": [
      {
        "q": "Is Stephens County, Oklahoma a SCOOP county?",
        "a": "Partly, but that is not its main story. The SCOOP extends into northern Stephens County, where Kodiak Oil & Gas and Continental Resources drill horizontal Woodford and Springer wells — but the county's real depth is legacy Ardmore-margin conventional oil. The Velma, Loco, and Sho-Vel-Tum fields have produced since the early 1900s, and Citation Oil & Gas alone operates roughly 1,205 active wells. Valuing a Stephens County interest means knowing which of the two you own — a modern horizontal unit or a long-life legacy oil well."
      },
      {
        "q": "Who operates the wells in Stephens County, Oklahoma?",
        "a": "The legacy oil base is dominated by Citation Oil & Gas (roughly 1,813 wells, about 1,205 active), with Wild Outdoors Oil, Stephens Johnson Operating, Wildhorse Operating, and ConocoPhillips holding large conventional and waterflood positions. Modern SCOOP horizontal drilling is led by Kodiak Oil & Gas and Continental Resources. Because these wells changed hands repeatedly over a century, the payor name on your check may differ from whoever originally drilled the well — that is normal here and does not change what you own."
      },
      {
        "q": "I inherited a small oil royalty in Stephens County — is it worth anything, and can I sell it?",
        "a": "Yes on both counts. Legacy Stephens County oil royalties are long-life and often still paying decades after the well was drilled, and ARB buys them directly with no fee or commission — including small and fractional inherited interests. Because Stephens County interests are frequently small and fragmented, a single unsolicited offer is not always a reliable gauge of the market. Confirm your net mineral acres and current operator, then get a free, written valuation to measure any offer against."
      }
    ]
  }
}