Railroad Commission of Texas. Oil and Gas Division:

An Inventory of Railroad Commission Oil and Gas Plats: Part I at the Texas State Archives, about 1930-1960, bulk 1941-1954

Agency History

The Railroad Commission of Texas had its origin in the demands of the shipping public in the late 1880s which insisted that railroads be subject to regulation based on public interest. An advocate for governmental regulation, Attorney General James Stephen Hogg ran for Governor in 1890 with the issue of railroad regulation as the focal point of the campaign. Hogg was elected Governor in the general election and the voters also approved an amendment to Article X, Section 2 of the Texas Constitution that empowered the Legislature to enact statutes creating regulatory agencies. These elections paved the way for the Legislature to enact on April 3, 1891 - 'An Act to Establish a Railroad Commission of the State of Texas', that later was placed in the Texas Revised Civil Statutes under article 6444 et seq. (House Bills 1, 3, and 58, 22nd Legislature, Regular Session).

The Commission originally consisted of three members appointed by the Governor for three-year terms. Governor Hogg appointed the first three Commissioners in 1891, including John H. Reagan, who resigned as U.S. Senator from Texas to serve as the first Chairman. The Texas Constitution, Article XIX, Section 30 was amended in 1894 to provide for elective six-year overlapping terms for the Commissioners. That same year John H. Reagan was elected and served until his retirement in 1903.

The Texas Railroad Commission was the first regulatory agency created in the State of Texas and originally had jurisdiction over the rates and operations of railroads, terminals, wharves and express companies. The legal focus was on intrastate passenger and freight activities. Interstate jurisdiction fell under the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission. For the first twenty-five years of its existence, the Railroad Commission was largely concerned with regulating railroads, setting rates, receiving complaints, and making investigations. As other controversies arose where the Legislature deemed that the public interest could best be served by regulation, additional duties were assigned to the Railroad Commission.

The Railroad Commission's authority was broadened beginning in 1917 with the passage of the Pipeline Petroleum Law, Senate Bill 68, 35th Legislature, Regular Session, that declared pipelines to be common carriers like railroads and placed them under the Commission's jurisdiction. This was the first act to designate the Railroad Commission as the agency to administer conservation laws relating to oil and gas.

The Commission's regulatory and enforcement powers in oil and gas were increased by Senate Bill 350 of the 36th Legislature, Regular Session, the Oil and Gas Conservation Law, effective June 18, 1919. This act gave the Railroad Commission jurisdiction to regulate the production of oil and gas. Acting upon this legislation, the Commission adopted in 1919 the first statewide rules regulating the oil and gas industry to promote conservation and safety, including Rule 37. This rule requires minimum distances between wells at drilling sites in order to protect field pressure and correlative rights.

The Railroad Commission regulates the oil and gas industry to prevent the waste of resources and to protect property rights and the environment. It oversees hazardous materials pipelines and natural gas pipelines and distribution systems as well as propane, butane, compressed natural gas, and liquefied natural gas. The Commission licenses and conducts seminars for oil and gas dealers and their employees. It also oversees railroad safety and rail planning; surface mining for coal, uranium, and iron ore gravel; and land reclamation when mining is complete.

The Oil and Gas Division works to prevent the waste of oil, gas, and geothermal resources and to prevent the pollution of fresh water from oil and gas operations. The division holds statewide hearings on market demand and provides for equitable production among operators by establishing monthly production allowables. It issues drilling permits, reviews and approves oil and gas well completions, collects data on oil and gas operations, and promotes public safety. It also protects underground drinking water through regulation of the underground injection of fluids in oil field operations, a program approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. It oversees well plugging operations, site remediation, underground hydrocarbon storage, hazardous waste management, and maintains a large amount of data on wells - their location, production, etc. The division also investigates complaints and conducts other investigations. This division maintains 10 district offices where field enforcement and support personnel monitor oil and gas operations. The commission does not have the authority to set oil and gas prices at the wellhead. The departments within the Oil and Gas Division are: Administration, Permitting/Production Services, Information Management Services, Environmental Services, Compliance, and the Oil Field Cleanup Operations Unit, which includes Site Remediation and Special Response, and Well Plugging.

In 1999, the agency had approximately 848 FTE (full-time equivalent) employees. Legal authority for the Railroad Commission is the Texas Constitution, Art. X, Sec. 2 and Art. XVI, Sec. 30; and the Natural Resources Code, Chapter 81.

(Sources: Guide to Texas State Agencies, 10th edition; legislative statutes and laws; website of the Railroad Commission (as it existed in 2001); and the records themselves.)

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Scope and Contents of the Records

The Railroad Commission of Texas regulates the oil and gas industry to prevent the waste of resources and to protect property rights and the environment. These are plat maps of oil and gas leases or fields and survey maps. The maps and plats were submitted to the RRC by operators and maintained by the Commission because of information they contain about oil and gas wells in the state. Some maps are accompanied by correspondence about the leases, drilling operations, acreage assigned to specific wells or related topics; some have affidavits attached. Also present are notices of change in lease ownership or operators, and in a few files are potential test forms for wells that were filed with the Railroad Commission. Dates covered are about 1930 to 1960, bulk 1941-1954. Correspondence is usually with oil and gas operators or drilling companies. Some of the plat maps are certified, giving the date the plat was drawn, the survey, field name, county, operator, acres shown, and number of acres in the lease. Items shown on the survey and other plat maps are generally oil, gas, and water well locations; oil/gas lease and field boundaries; land and/or lease owners; cities and towns; and rivers and creeks. The maps often contain notes about the wells. Most of the maps were drawn by local surveyors and cover specific leases or oil/gas fields. Size of the fields or leases vary, they could cover several counties or just a small part of one county. The bulk of the material in these records are maps, most being legal size or smaller, a few are larger. The plats/maps were not done by the Railroad Commission but were sent to them by operators with various other records, such as applications for drilling permits. The Commission retained these plats and maps as a source of well data and related information. This series contains files for district 8 (covering west Texas), district 10 (covering the Panhandle), and a few maps for district 4 (covering south Texas). Remaining plat files, if they still exist, are at the Railroad Commission. Drilling permits and applications are on file at the Railroad Commission, in the records section of the Oil and Gas Division.

This series is split into two separate finding aids due to the electronic file size limitations imposed by the online finding aid web site (TARO). If you are reading this electronically, click on the following link to access the finding aid for part II of this series - Railroad Commission oil and gas plats, Part II (District Eight files Ph-Y, District Ten files, and District Four maps). If you are reading this in paper, Part II of this series can be found in a separate divider within this binder.

This finding aid describes a single series of the Railroad Commission of Texas records. See Railroad Commission of Texas: An Overview of Records for more records series.

To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

None.

Restrictions on Use

Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).

Technical Requirements

Some of the maps are too large to photocopy.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item), Railroad Commission oil and gas plats. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession number: 2002/003

These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Railroad Commission of Texas on September 5, 2001.

Processing Information

Laura K. Saegert, August 2005

Appraisal Information

These records were appraised as archival on March 16, 2001 as part of an agency wide appraisal of the Railroad Commission of Texas. This is one of 72 series appraised as archival, 20 of which were old records not found on the agency's records retention schedule, including this series.

Other Formats for the Records

According to staff in the Oil and Gas Division, much, but not all, of the well information is in the Railroad Commission's Computerized Well Location Maps Information System (http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/divisions/og/maps/mapinfo.html). Mapping data sets are taken from the RRC's Geographic Information System. Maps and reports of well information can be ordered online through this system.

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Detailed Description of the Records