If you own mineral rights in the Midland Basin — whether in Midland County, Martin County, Howard County, Glasscock, Upton, or Reagan County — there is a real possibility that your acreage sits on top of one of the most actively drilled oil fields in the United States. The Spraberry Trend Area is one of the largest oil accumulations in the world by total resource size, and the Permian Basin counties above it have become some of the most sought-after mineral rights territory in North America. That matters to you right now, because operators are actively drilling, royalty checks are being cut, and mineral buyers are paying premium prices to acquire exactly what you may already own.
This article will explain what the Spraberry and Wolfberry formations actually are, why Midland Basin acreage commands higher prices than most other places in the country, what the difference is between an old vertical well and a new horizontal one on your property, and — most practically — how you can figure out what your mineral rights might be worth before you make any decision about selling or holding.
You don't need to be a geologist or a petroleum engineer to understand this. You need clear, honest information. That's what you'll find here.
What the Spraberry Trend Area Actually Is
The Spraberry Trend Area is a massive oil and gas producing region located primarily in the Midland Basin, which is the eastern portion of the broader Permian Basin in West Texas. When geologists and landmen (the professionals who work on land and mineral ownership) talk about the Spraberry, they're referring to a set of sedimentary rock formations — layers of sandstone and shale laid down roughly 270 million years ago — that sit at depths ranging from about 6,000 to 11,000 feet below the surface.
The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that the Wolfcamp and Spraberry formations together hold one of the largest continuous oil and gas accumulations ever assessed in the United States — somewhere in the range of 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent, though only a fraction of that is economically recoverable at any given point in time. That number is why every major oil company in America has been competing to acquire acreage and drill wells in this area for the past 15 years.
The key counties in the Spraberry Trend Area are Midland, Martin, Andrews, Dawson, Glasscock, Howard, Upton, and Reagan. If your deed or your property tax statement lists mineral rights in any of these counties, you are in the heart of the action. Midland and Glasscock counties in particular have seen some of the highest per-acre mineral valuations in the state of Texas, with transactions regularly occurring at $10,000 to $30,000 per net mineral acre for producing or proven acreage, and sometimes significantly higher in the core of the play.
The Wolfberry Completion — Why Stacked Pay Changes Everything
You may have heard the term "Wolfberry" and wondered what it means. It's not a separate geological formation — it's a drilling and completion strategy. When operators drill a single horizontal well and complete it (meaning they fracture-stimulate, or "frack," it to allow oil and gas to flow) across both the Wolfcamp and Spraberry formations at the same time, that's called a Wolfberry completion. The name is simply a blend of the two formation names.
Here's why this matters to mineral owners: in older oil fields, a single well might produce from one zone. In the Midland Basin, a skilled operator can drill a horizontal well that targets multiple stacked pay zones — meaning multiple productive layers of rock — within the same wellbore. The Wolfcamp alone has four recognized sub-intervals (called Wolfcamp A, B, C, and D) and the Spraberry has its own productive intervals above it. A single surface location can have as many as eight to twelve different horizontal wells drilled from it, each one targeting a different depth.
For you as a mineral owner, this is significant for one reason: more wells mean more royalty income from the same surface footprint. If you own a 1/8 royalty interest (which means you receive 12.5% of gross production revenue from any well on your acreage, which is a standard older Texas lease term), and an operator drills eight wells instead of one, your royalty income multiplies accordingly — as long as each well is producing economically. Modern leases often negotiate royalties of 20% to 25%, which further increases the income potential.
Vertical Legacy Wells vs. Modern Horizontal Wells — What You Probably Have and What It Means
If you inherited mineral rights in the Midland Basin, there's a reasonable chance that the land was originally developed with vertical wells — wells that drill straight down and produce from a single point in a single formation. Many of these were drilled in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, often by companies that no longer exist or have been acquired. You might be receiving a small royalty check each month — sometimes $50, sometimes a few hundred dollars — from one of these older vertical wells.
Vertical wells in the Spraberry typically produce at much lower rates than modern horizontal wells, and their decline curves (the rate at which production falls over time) are gentler but also lower overall. A vertical Spraberry well from the 1980s might produce 20 to 50 barrels of oil per day in its early life, compared to a new horizontal Wolfcamp well that might come on production at 800 to 1,200 barrels per day. That difference is enormous.
What this means practically: if you own mineral rights that have only ever been developed with vertical wells, there is likely significant undeveloped value underneath your acreage. The old wells may have drained some of the Spraberry at that specific vertical point, but horizontal drilling can access rock that vertical wells never touched. Mineral buyers know this, which is part of why they are willing to pay strong prices for acreage that has old vertical production but hasn't yet seen horizontal development.
To find out what's been drilled on your acreage, you can search the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) GIS Viewer at rrc.texas.gov — it's free and publicly accessible. Search by county and you can see every permitted and producing well, whether it's vertical or horizontal, and who the operator is. If you find that your section (a section is a 640-acre square, which is the standard land measurement unit in Texas) has only old vertical wells, that's important information when evaluating your options.
Key Operators in the Midland Basin and What Their Activity Means for Your Rights
The operators drilling the most aggressively in the Spraberry and Wolfcamp plays right now include Pioneer Natural Resources (now part of ExxonMobil after a 2023 acquisition), Diamondback Energy, Endeavor Energy Resources, ProPetro, and Coterra Energy, among others. ExxonMobil's acquisition of Pioneer for approximately $60 billion was the largest oil and gas deal in decades and was driven almost entirely by Pioneer's Midland Basin acreage position. That deal alone tells you something about the value embedded in this geography.
As a mineral owner, the identity of the operator matters for a few reasons. First, well-capitalized, technically sophisticated operators tend to drill better wells and manage production more efficiently, which means higher royalties over time. Second, operators file their well permits, completion reports, and production data with the Texas Railroad Commission, which you can review. Third, if an operator contacts you about signing a new lease, or if you're already under an existing lease, knowing who the operator is helps you evaluate the seriousness of their development plans.
If you are currently unleased — meaning no oil company has a lease on your mineral rights — that is a position of significant leverage. An unleased mineral owner in a core area of the Midland Basin can negotiate lease terms, including bonus payments (upfront cash paid per acre when a lease is signed) and royalty rates, from a position of real market demand. Bonuses in core Midland Basin counties have ranged from $2,000 to $10,000 per acre in recent years, with royalty rates at 22% to 25% for well-positioned acreage. If someone approaches you about signing a lease, you should not accept the first offer without at least understanding what comparable deals look like.
Why Midland Basin Minerals Command Premium Valuations — and What Yours Might Be Worth
Mineral rights are valued based on a combination of factors: current production, proven undeveloped locations (meaning locations where an operator is likely to drill in the future), operator activity, commodity prices, and the specific county and geological position of the acreage. The Midland Basin checks nearly every box.
Here's a practical framework for thinking about value:
Producing minerals — If you are already receiving royalty checks, a rough starting point for valuation is 4 to 6 times your annualized royalty income, though this varies significantly based on how new the wells are, how many undeveloped locations remain, and current oil prices. A mineral owner receiving $2,000 per month in royalties from a recently completed Wolfcamp horizontal well in Glasscock County might be looking at a value range of $120,000 to $180,000 or more for that specific production stream, plus additional value for any undeveloped potential.
Non-producing minerals in core counties — Acreage that has no current production but sits in a heavily drilled area (such as central Midland County or northern Glasscock County) can still command $5,000 to $20,000 per net mineral acre depending on proximity to active wells and how many productive formations are believed to underlie the acreage. "Net mineral acres" (NMA) is a term you'll hear — it refers to the actual fractional interest you own, not the surface acreage. If you own a 1/4 interest in 160 acres, you own 40 net mineral acres.
How to find comparables — Texas does not publicly disclose real estate sale prices the way some other states do, which makes it harder to find comparable mineral transactions. However, companies that buy minerals are required to file deeds of conveyance, and those deeds sometimes include consideration amounts. You can search county deed records through the county appraisal district websites for Midland, Howard, and Glasscock counties. It's imperfect, but it gives you a data point.
Texas also has no state income tax, which simplifies the tax picture compared to states like New Mexico or Colorado. However, federal taxes still apply to mineral sale proceeds. If you've held the minerals for more than a year, the gain from a sale is generally taxed at long-term capital gains rates — 15% or 20% for most people, depending on your total income. Your cost basis matters here: if you inherited the minerals, your basis is typically the fair market value at the time of inheritance (called a stepped-up basis), which can significantly reduce your taxable gain. Before selling, a conversation with a CPA who understands mineral property taxation is worth your time.
How to Evaluate Whether Selling Makes Sense for You
This is the decision most mineral owners in the Midland Basin are wrestling with, and there's no universal right answer. But there are questions that help clarify it.
How many wells have already been drilled on your acreage? If operators have already drilled 6 of the 8 productive horizons on your section, there's less future upside. If your acreage is mostly undeveloped, you're holding something that may appreciate further as drilling continues.
What do you need the money for? A lump-sum sale converts a future income stream into present cash. For someone in their 60s or 70s who wants to settle their estate, pay off debt, fund retirement, or distribute assets to family members, that certainty has real value. For someone who doesn't need the capital and wants to pass on an income-producing asset to heirs, holding may make more sense — especially given the stepped-up basis advantage at death.
What are commodity prices doing? West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price is the benchmark for Permian Basin production. When oil is above $75 to $80 per barrel, mineral buyers pay stronger prices because their projections are more favorable. Timing a sale to coincide with high commodity prices, if possible, meaningfully affects what you receive.
What's your mineral acreage position? If you own 200 net mineral acres in a core county, you have more negotiating leverage than someone who owns 5 net mineral acres. Smaller positions are harder to sell at premium prices because buyers prefer scale. However, there are buyers who specifically acquire smaller positions, and even small Midland Basin interests have real value.
A few things to avoid: don't sign anything without reading it fully. Don't accept a verbal offer as final. Don't assume the first written offer you receive reflects full market value — buyers make low initial offers as standard practice. And don't let urgency pressure you. A legitimate mineral buyer will not disappear if you ask for a week to think it over.
If you want a starting point for understanding your acreage's value without any commitment, pull your deed (available from the county clerk's office in the county where the land is located), identify the legal description of the property (it will reference a section, block, township, or survey — standard Texas land description language), and then look up that section on the Texas RRC GIS Viewer to see what wells are present. That information — your ownership interest and what's been drilled — is the foundation of any serious valuation conversation.
If you'd like to talk through what you have, reach out through this site. A real person — not an automated system — will call you back, usually within one business day. You'll get a straightforward conversation about what your acreage might be worth in the current market, with no obligation to sell. Bring your deed if you have it, and any royalty check stubs you've received. That's genuinely all you need to start.