Permian Basin Data: Methodology & Sources

Sources

Every number in the Permian dataset traces to a primary public source. New drilling permits are pulled from the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) for Texas counties and the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (OCD) for New Mexico counties. Active rig counts come from published rig-count reports. No figure is modeled or estimated — each is a count of public filings or reported rigs.

The 90-day permit window

Permit counts reflect new drilling permits with a filing date inside the trailing 90 days as of the release date (trailing 90 days (August 3 – November 1, 2026)). A rolling window keeps the picture current: a permit counts once, in the release whose window contains its filing date, and rolls off after 90 days. This measures new activity — it is not a cumulative or all-time permit total.

What counts as an operator

Permits are attributed to the operator of record named on the filing. Where a company files under multiple affiliated entities, permits are reported under the recognized parent operator name; the payor (check-stub) names those wells commonly pay under are listed separately so a mineral owner can match a royalty check to the operator. Operator rankings reflect permit filing activity only — they are not a measure of production, reserves, or valuation, and ARB is an independent buyer not affiliated with any operator listed.

County attribution

Each permit is attributed to the county named on the filing. Counties are mapped to their Permian sub-basin (Midland Basin, Delaware Basin, Central Basin Platform, Eastern Shelf) where applicable; a county that straddles two plays is mapped to both. Coverage extends beyond the Permian to other active U.S. basins, but the headline statistics on this site are Permian-focused.

Known limitations

• A drilling permit is an intent-to-drill signal, not a guarantee a well is drilled, completed, or produced.
• Permit-to-spud timing varies by operator and market, so a 90-day permit count leads production by months to years.
• Regulator data can be amended after filing; a later release may revise an earlier count.
• Operator attribution follows the name on the filing, which can lag corporate mergers, acquisitions, and name changes.

Refresh cadence

The dataset is refreshed on a quarterly cadence. Each release carries an explicit "as of" date (currently November 1, 2026) so a citation can pin the exact vintage. The permit and rig figures are published on the HTML pages only; the payor-name and county-coverage layers are also available as JSON (/api/operators, /api/counties) and CSV (operators.csv, counties.csv), described in the OpenAPI document.

Public-record statement

The underlying permit filings and rig counts are public data and are not claimed as proprietary. What American Royalty Buyers contributes — and what we ask you to attribute — is the dated compilation, the operator and county attribution, and this documentation. See How to Cite for ready-made citations.

State oil & gas law reference

Separate from the Permian activity data, ARB publishes a reference of state oil and gas law for mineral and royalty owners — state regulator, severance tax, forced pooling, dormant minerals, royalty payment deadlines, and default post-production deduction rules — on each state page, in the royalty payment deadlines table, and as JSON and CSV.

• Sources. Every fact is read from the primary statute text or the controlling court opinion and cites it. The source link points to an official copy (a state legislature, court, regulator, or revenue department) where one exists; facts that state there is no statute carry no link rather than a weak one.
• Review dates. Each fact type carries the date it was last verified against its source: state regulator, severance tax, forced pooling, dormant minerals, August 8, 2026; royalty payment deadlines, October 19, 2026; post-production deductions, October 23, 2026 to October 25, 2026. The same date travels with every fact in the API and CSV (lastReviewed).
• Link checks. Every source link is checked weekly. A link that returns “not found” or “gone” is replaced with a current official copy, verified before it ships; links whose servers block automated checkers are reported for manual review instead of being treated as broken.
• Not legal advice. These are general, default rules. Lease language can change them, statutes are amended, and courts interpret them; confirm current law with the linked source or an oil and gas attorney.

Changelog

• November 1, 2026 — Current release: Permian rig count, 90-day drilling-permit counts by county and operator refreshed.
• November 1, 2026 — Method note: the 90-day permit window is now bounded by exact calendar dates over the fixed 26-county core (24 Texas counties plus Lea and Eddy, NM). Permit totals from earlier releases were compiled with a less precise window and are not directly comparable.
• November 1, 2026 — Operator permit rankings and royalty-payor names refreshed.
• October 25, 2026 — State oil & gas law reference added to the data catalog as its own dataset, with this methodology section.
• Ongoing — Quarterly refreshes; each release stamps a new "as of" date. Material methodology changes will be logged here.

Corrections

Found an error in this dataset — a wrong operator, county, or permit count? Report it to [email protected]. We review reported errors against the source filings (Texas RRC, New Mexico OCD) and correct them in the next dated release, with the change noted in the changelog above.