Tarrant County Sits on the Barnett Shale Natural Gas Formation

The Barnett Shale runs under at least 18 North Texas counties, including Tarrant. The Railroad Commission calls it one of the nation's largest gas fields on land. The rock took its name from Barnett Stream. Early in the 1900s, geologists found a thick, dark shale outcrop near that stream.

This helps explain the wells and pad sites tucked into a busy county. For one address, use the Railroad Commission's Public GIS Viewer. An old map may miss later work. Mineral rights are a separate title question. The state map shows oil and gas records, but it does not say who owns every mineral interest.