An idle well used to be able to sit forever. Now two clocks run against it — fifteen years without production and twenty-five years since completion — and when both run out the well has to be plugged or put back to work. Track every well against both, on your phone, offline.
One-time purchase. No subscription. No account. Works offline.
Fifteen years idle and more than twenty-five years past completion are separate tests, and the deadline lands on whichever finishes last. The app works out that exact date per well so nobody has to count backwards from a completion card again.
Wells crossing inside the next year get their own list, because a plugging job, a workover or an extension filing is not something you start on the day the clock runs out. Past-due wells sort to the top, oldest exposure first.
Every well idle fifteen years or more, with its identifying information, its extension pathway and its latest fluid-level or hydraulic-pressure test result, laid out in one printable document instead of pulled together from four folders each spring.
| Pathway | Level |
|---|---|
| 10% of inactive wells plugged or returned to production | Blanket — operator level |
| Financial security (AFCB-143 / UCC filing) | Blanket — operator level |
| Blanket performance bond or letter of credit | Blanket — operator level |
| Abeyance of plugging report | Individual — per well |
| Enhanced oil recovery project statement | Individual — per well |
| Fluid level or hydraulic pressure test on file | Individual — per well |
| Additional financial security | Individual — per well |
| Escrow deposit | Individual — per well |
Where a well is held by the individual test pathway, the test is the whole basis for keeping it idle — so the app watches its age. Record the date, the method and the reading, and the well is flagged the moment that test passes twelve months old or if no test was ever entered against it. A granted exception is tracked separately and stops a well reading as exposed; a request that has not been granted does not.
Texas Senate Bill 1150 rewrote the inactive-well provisions of Natural Resources Code Chapter 89 with effect from 1 September 2025. Where an idle well previously had no hard deadline, one now exists: a well inactive at least fifteen years and more than twenty-five years past its completion date has to be plugged or returned to active operation, subject to case-by-case exceptions the Commission may grant.
Riding alongside it is a new annual operator report covering wells inactive fifteen years or more, carrying the results of a fluid level or hydraulic pressure test with supporting documentation. The statute has been in force a full year, which means the first wells are reaching the wall now — not at some future date.
From Oil Rigs Now — trusted by oilfield professionals since 2011.
We build practical tools for the people who work in the field, not the office. No subscriptions. No data collection. Everything stays on your device.
No refunds. All sales are final. Instant access on purchase.
This is a recordkeeping and tracking aid, not a legal filing service. It does not submit anything to the Railroad Commission or any other agency, and it does not determine whether a well is compliant. The thresholds it applies are those set out in the inactive-well provisions of Natural Resources Code Chapter 89 as amended with effect from 1 September 2025 — at least fifteen years inactive and more than twenty-five years past completion — and the Commission may grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis. Implementing rules and report formats were still being finalised when this app was built, so confirm the current forms, submission channel and requirements before relying on anything printed from it. It does not replace your own records or professional judgement.