In Texas, you can own mineral rights separately from the house and yard you are buying, and some neighborhoods sit on land that once had oil or gas wells. Neither is automatically a reason to walk away, but both are worth checking before your option period ends. Read the contract, any mineral addendum or lease, the title commitment, and the survey; look up nearby wells on the state’s map; and ask a Texas real estate attorney about anything that could affect how you use the property.
TL;DR
- Buying a Texas home does not always mean you get the oil, gas, and other minerals under it.
- If the seller is keeping some or all of the minerals, the contract should include TREC’s mineral reservation addendum (TREC No. 44-3).
- Paragraph 4C of the TREC resale contract covers oil and gas and other natural resource leases the seller signed, with a deadline to deliver copies.
- Read the minerals exception in your title commitment, and ask whether the T-19.2 endorsement is available. It has real limits.
- Use the Railroad Commission’s map to screen for old wells, but treat map points as approximate and confirm with your survey and written questions.
Why old Texas oil wells are in the news this fall
On October 21, 2026, a Texas Tribune report, published with Inside Climate News and the San Antonio Express-News, looked at a plugged oil well inside the Preserve at Medina, a subdivision of starter homes in southwest San Antonio. The well was drilled in 1955 and plugged in 2006. The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), the state’s oil and gas regulator, has replugged it several times since construction began around it, yet methane and hydrogen sulfide have kept leaking. The site is now fenced with a flammable gas warning sign, and the RRC and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality are monitoring the area.
The report said Texas has no statewide law regulating construction around plugged oil and gas wells, and developers are not required to disclose old wells to buyers. It found the RRC’s map showed this well about 110 feet from its actual location, and that many plugged wells have no surface marker. An Environmental Defense Fund official quoted in the story said plugged well failures seem to be rare, though no one knows exactly how often they happen, and advised homebuyers to do their own due diligence.
The rules are changing, too. On its Proposed Rules page, the RRC lists amendments to its Rules 3.15 and 3.58 that implement Senate Bill 1150 from the 2025 legislative session. The RRC published the proposal in the Texas Register on October 23, 2026, and accepts public comments until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 13, 2026. In a September 30, 2026 release, the RRC said SB 1150 requires operators to plug wells over 25 years old that have been inactive for at least 15 years. The agency also said operators plug about 86% of oil and gas wells and that it plugged 2,022 orphaned wells in fiscal year 2026.
Surface estate vs. mineral estate: the basics
In Texas, the land can be split into two kinds of ownership. The surface estate is what you use every day: the house, the yard, the driveway, and the ground they sit on. The mineral estate covers what lies beneath the surface and the rights that come with it.
TREC’s mineral addendum gives a useful definition. The “Mineral Estate” includes oil, gas, and other minerals in and under the property, royalties under any existing or future mineral lease, executive rights (including the right to sign a lease), implied rights of ingress and egress, exploration and drilling rights, and mineral lease payments. The form says it does not include water, sand, gravel, limestone, building stone, caliche, surface shale, near-surface lignite, or iron.
Those rights may have been separated from the surface long ago. A past owner may have kept the minerals, passed them to several heirs, or leased them to an energy company. That is not automatically a deal breaker, but do not rely on a listing remark or a verbal answer. TREC’s addendum says a full title examination by an attorney with expertise in this area is the only proper way to determine title to the mineral estate with certainty.
Seller reservations and TREC Addendum 44-3
Paragraph 2E of TREC’s One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), form 20-19, says any reservation for oil, gas, or other minerals, water, timber, or other interests is made in accordance with an attached addendum. For oil, gas, and other minerals, TREC’s form is the Addendum for Reservation of Oil, Gas, and Other Minerals (TREC No. 44-3). It is for use only if the seller reserves all or part of the mineral estate.
Here is what the addendum covers:
- What the seller keeps. The seller checks a box to reserve all or part of the mineral estate they own, or an undivided fraction or percentage of it. Whatever the seller owns and does not reserve is conveyed to you.
- Surface use. The seller checks whether it waives or retains the rights of ingress and egress and reasonable surface use for mining, drilling, and producing minerals. If the seller leaves this section blank, the form treats it as conveying those surface rights.
- Other owners are not affected. The form warns that surface rights held by other mineral owners who are not part of your sale, including existing mineral lessees, are not changed by the seller’s choice.
- Lessee contacts. If the seller does not reserve all of its mineral interest, the seller must give you the current contact information of any existing mineral lessee it knows about within 7 days after the Effective Date.
If you see this addendum, ask a real estate attorney what rights stay with the seller or others, and read it alongside your title commitment.
Existing oil and gas leases: Paragraph 4C
Paragraph 4C of the TREC resale contract deals with “Natural Resource Leases,” meaning existing oil and gas, mineral, geothermal, water, wind, or other natural resource leases affecting the property to which the seller is a party. The seller checks one of two boxes: either the seller has already delivered copies of all of them, or the seller must deliver them within 3 days after the Effective Date. In the second case, you can terminate the contract within the number of days written in the blank after you receive all the leases, and you get your earnest money back. Make sure that blank is filled in.
Notice the limit: Paragraph 4C covers leases the seller signed. A lease signed by someone else who owns minerals under the lot may appear only in the title records, so read the title commitment carefully.
When leases arrive, review the land covered, term, surface use and access language, and any pipelines, roads, or equipment, and have an attorney review anything unclear. Your option period is short, so start early.
The minerals exception and T-19.2 in your title commitment
Paragraph 6A of the TREC resale contract lists the standard exceptions a buyer accepts in the owner’s title policy. One of them is “the exception or exclusion regarding minerals approved by the Texas Department of Insurance.” So even a typical suburban purchase may have a minerals exception in Schedule B of the title commitment. Our guide to title insurance in Texas explains how to read the commitment and its Schedule B exceptions.
Ask the title company what recorded documents sit behind any mineral exception and whether anything else should be reviewed. Then ask about the Minerals and Surface Damage Endorsement. The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) promulgates the T-19.2 endorsement, which insures against loss from damage to improvements on the land caused by the future exercise of a right, existing on the policy date, to use the surface to extract or develop coal, lignite, oil, gas, or other minerals that the policy excepts or excludes.
The endorsement has important limits:
- It does not count crops, landscaping, lawn, shrubbery, or trees as covered improvements.
- It does not cover loss from contamination, explosion, fire, fracturing, vibration, earthquake, flood, or subsidence.
- It does not cover loss from negligence by the person or company exercising the mineral rights.
Under TDI’s title manual (Procedural Rule P-50.1), when the policy includes a minerals exception or exclusion, a title company may issue T-19.2 on request for one-to-four family residential property of one acre or less, if the property meets its underwriting standards. It is not automatic, and it is not coverage for a leaking well. Ask the title company to explain the cost and the coverage for your transaction.
How to check for old wells near a home
Start early, especially if the home is in a newer subdivision on land that was once ranch, farm, or oilfield. A good first step is the RRC’s Public GIS Viewer, which lets anyone view oil, gas, and pipeline data on a map.
Search the address and surrounding blocks, and treat what you find as a lead to follow up on, not proof of an exact location. The Tribune’s reporting reminds us that a mapped well can be more than 100 feet from where it really is, and that a plugged well may have nothing visible above ground.
- Compare with your survey. Check lot lines, easements, and any fenced or empty lots nearby against what the map shows.
- Ask in writing. Ask the seller or builder whether they know of any wells, plugging records, monitoring, or restrictions on or near the lot. The title company, the city’s permitting office, the homeowners association, and the RRC may each hold part of the record.
- Check local rules. The Tribune reported that Fort Worth prohibits building on top of, or within five feet of, an abandoned gas well, and that Midland’s code says structures shall not be built on top of abandoned wells. Rules differ by city, and the report said San Antonio has no ordinance on plugged wells.
New construction vs. resale: who has to disclose what
Resale buyers usually receive a seller’s disclosure notice. Texas Property Code Section 5.008 requires most sellers of a single-dwelling home to give one. But Section 5.008(e)(10) exempts the transfer “of a new residence of not more than one dwelling unit which has not previously been occupied for residential purposes.” In practice, a brand-new home from a builder usually does not come with that notice.
So new construction buyers need to ask. Put your questions to the builder in writing: Is the lot subject to a mineral reservation or lease? Are there known wells, plugged or active, on or near the lot or in the subdivision? Were there any remediation or construction restrictions? Then review the plat, survey, title commitment, and community documents. For the rest of the new-build process, see our guide to buying new construction in Texas.
How wells and mineral rights can affect financing
Loan programs have their own property rules, so it pays to bring up a well or mineral issue early.
- FHA loans. HUD Handbook 4000.1 says that if the property contains any abandoned gas or oil wells, the mortgage company must obtain a letter from the local jurisdiction or appropriate state agency stating that the well was permanently abandoned in a safe manner. Abandoned petroleum product wells require inspection by a qualified petroleum engineer and the state’s concurrence with clearance recommendations. For new construction, a dwelling within 75 feet of an operating oil or gas well must be rejected unless mitigation measures are completed.
- Conventional loans. Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide (B7-2-05) treats outstanding oil, water, or mineral rights as a minor title impediment for conventional loans when they are customarily waived in the market and do not materially alter the contour of the property or impair its value or usefulness for its intended purposes. That is a property-by-property test, not a blanket answer for every exception, lease, or well.
If you learn about a well, a mineral reservation, a lease, or an unusual title exception, tell your mortgage broker right away so the company funding your loan has time to request any needed documents.
Mineral rights and old wells: do’s and don’ts
Do
- Read every mineral reservation, lease, easement, and exception in the contract and title commitment.
- Use the RRC map as a first screen, then compare it with your survey and property records.
- Ask the seller or builder in writing about known wells, leases, plugging records, and site restrictions.
- Ask the title company whether a T-19.2 endorsement is available for your property.
- Have a Texas real estate attorney review mineral and title questions that could affect how you use the home.
Avoid
- Assuming your purchase includes all the oil, gas, and mineral rights.
- Assuming a map point is exact, or that no point means no well.
- Waiting until the last day of your option or lease review period to read lease documents.
- Treating a title endorsement as coverage for contamination, leaks, or explosions.
- Assuming new construction means there is no land history to check.
FAQ: mineral rights in Texas
Do I own the minerals when I buy a house in Texas?
Not necessarily. The minerals may have been separated from the surface in an earlier sale, or the seller may reserve them in your contract. Your contract, any mineral addendum, and your title commitment show what is being conveyed, and an attorney can confirm mineral title.
Can a seller keep the mineral rights?
Yes. A seller can reserve all or part of the mineral estate it owns, and TREC Addendum 44-3 is the form for that. Have a Texas real estate attorney review what the reservation and any surface use rights mean for you.
What should I do if the RRC map shows a well near the lot?
Do not assume the map point is exact. Compare it with the survey, ask the seller or builder for well records and status, check city rules, and raise it with your attorney and your mortgage broker before your option period ends.
Does a plugged well rule out an FHA or conventional loan?
Not automatically. FHA requires a letter from the local jurisdiction or appropriate state agency stating that an abandoned well on the property was safely and permanently abandoned, and conventional loans look at how a title issue affects the property. We review each file based on its facts, so share documents early.
Does the T-19.2 endorsement cover every mineral or well risk?
No. It covers certain damage to improvements from future surface use under mineral rights that exist on the policy date. It excludes contamination, explosion, fire, fracturing, vibration, earthquake, flood, subsidence, and negligence. Ask the title company to explain the coverage for your transaction.
Plan your Texas purchase with a mortgage broker
Mineral reservations, leases, and well records take time to sort out, so keep your financing on the same timeline. The Texas Mortgage Pros is a mortgage broker. We can help you compare home purchase loan options from the wholesale mortgage companies we work with, subject to qualification and program availability, and tell you early what documents a property issue may require. Buying for the first time? Start with our first-time homebuyer loans page.
Questions about mineral rights in Texas and your home loan? Call (877) 280-4833, apply online, or contact us.
Official sources
- The Texas Tribune, with Inside Climate News and the San Antonio Express-News: Abandoned oil wells pose hidden risks for Texas homebuyers (October 21, 2026) (linked above)
- Railroad Commission of Texas: Proposed Rules, amendments to Rules 3.15 and 3.58 re: Senate Bill 1150 (Texas Register, October 23, 2026; comments due November 13, 2026) (linked above)
- Railroad Commission of Texas: fiscal year 2026 orphaned well plugging release (September 30, 2026) (rrc.texas.gov)
- Railroad Commission of Texas: Public GIS Viewer (linked above)
- Texas Real Estate Commission: Addendum for Reservation of Oil, Gas, and Other Minerals, TREC No. 44-3 (linked above)
- Texas Real Estate Commission: One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), TREC No. 20-19 (form dated 05-04-2026), Paragraphs 2E, 4C and 6A (trec.texas.gov)
- Texas Department of Insurance: Minerals and Surface Damage Endorsement, Form T-19.2 (linked above), and Basic Manual of Title Insurance, Procedural Rule P-50.1 (tdi.texas.gov)
- Texas Property Code Section 5.008, Seller’s Disclosure of Property Condition (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B7-2-05, Title Exceptions and Impediments (linked above)
- HUD Handbook 4000.1, FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook, Section II.A.3, Abandoned Gas and Oil Well (hud.gov)
Wikipedy is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Railroad Commission of Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Real Estate Commission, the Texas Department of Insurance, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae, or The Texas Tribune, and this is not a government document.
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