Source records stay close
Public filings, documents, production rows, location rows, permits, and well records are treated as evidence. The product should make it easier to reach the underlying record, not hide it.
This page explains the difference between source records and derived signals, how records are linked, and where users should verify before relying on a conclusion.
Public filings, documents, production rows, location rows, permits, and well records are treated as evidence. The product should make it easier to reach the underlying record, not hide it.
Statuses, activity events, map-ready cards, nearby summaries, and confidence labels are derived from source records. They are navigation aids, not official determinations.
When a lease, well number, location, or document can map to multiple wells, the system favors leaving the record unlinked or lower-confidence instead of pretending certainty.
Non-zero oil or gas production can indicate a producing signal. Water-only rows are kept as production reports, but they are not treated as producing by themselves.
FutureWells Texas separates public evidence from product-generated summaries. Source data is the record. Derived data is the interpretation, normalization, grouping, or event label built from that record.
Original or near-original public records: RRC forms, completion documents, drilling permits, P-4 records, production rows, GIS/location records, directional survey files, and indexed document metadata.
FutureWells summaries built from those records: normalized API keys, map cards, event labels, activity timelines, watch-area hits, county/operator/field rollups, production classifications, and match confidence.
Most useful oil and gas research depends on connecting records that use slightly different identifiers. The system normalizes those identifiers, then applies conservative matching rules.
API identifiers are normalized by removing separators and preserving the Texas county/sequence structure. Ten-digit API values are preferred where available; eight-digit values are used when the source only provides county plus sequence.
County names and FIPS-like clues are normalized to a common county identity so Gregg, GREGG, and county-coded API prefixes can be compared consistently.
Operator names are normalized for case, punctuation, suffixes, and common spacing differences, but the original source name remains visible where useful.
Field names are normalized for comparison while retaining official-looking display names, including parenthetical field descriptors when present.
Lease names, lease IDs, RRC identifiers, and well numbers are combined when possible. A lease-name fallback is only trusted when it produces one clear candidate well.
Production rows are evidence, but not every production row proves that a well is producing oil or gas. FutureWells Texas distinguishes non-zero oil/gas signals from report filings and water-only rows.
A well can receive a producing signal when linked production evidence includes non-zero oil or gas, or when a first-production style event is present.
A Form PR or monthly production row can be shown as a report filing even when it does not prove active oil or gas production.
Rows with water volume but zero oil and zero gas are preserved because they matter for context, but they are not producing oil/gas signals by themselves.
Rows with zero oil and zero gas can show reporting activity, shut-in context, disposal/injection context, or administrative continuity. They are not treated as producing without stronger evidence.
Activity events are derived labels used to organize lifecycle clues. They should be read with the source form and document context.
Drilling permit activity, permit amendments, horizontal permit signals, and permit-linked map context.
Oil and gas completion reports, recompletion signals, completed-well context, and lifecycle updates.
Operator, lease, gatherer, purchaser, or responsibility-change signals tied to a lease or well where the identifiers support it.
Plugging records, plugging notices, and plugging-related lifecycle signals.
Electric log status documents that can support technical/lifecycle context and, when identifiers are sufficient, well linkage.
Directional survey availability and wellbore-path context, especially for horizontal wells where the surface point is not the whole story.
Monthly production and water reports used for production summaries, producing signals, and production-report activity.
Confidence describes how strongly a source record appears linked to a well or event. It is not a legal, engineering, title, or regulatory opinion.
Highest confidence for non-API records when district/county, lease or RRC identifier, and well number point to one well.
High confidence when the source carries a normalized API number but the report still needs lifecycle interpretation or later source verification.
Medium confidence when a document or event can be tied to a permit number, especially before a final API-linked completion exists.
Low confidence when the relationship is inferred from names, nearby locations, operator/field context, or partial identifiers. These are useful leads, not conclusions.
Use FutureWells Texas to find records faster, then verify the important facts directly.
Open the source document or record attached to the event, well card, operator page, or county page.
Compare API, permit number, district, county, lease name, lease ID, well number, operator, and field against the original source.
For horizontal wells, inspect directional surveys, plats, W-1/W-2/G-1 details, and completion context before relying on a surface point.
Treat permits, completions, operator changes, plugging records, status reports, and production rows as different kinds of evidence.
Use official RRC systems, source filings, county records, and qualified professionals for legal, title, mineral ownership, investment, engineering, or regulatory decisions.
Future Wells Texas uses public and derived data. Estimated areas are generated from known well/location records and are not official parcel, survey, mineral, title, or legal boundaries. This platform does not provide legal, financial, investment, mineral ownership, or land title advice.
FutureWells Texas is currently in beta. Data coverage, search tools, and map layers are actively being expanded and verified.