Mineral Rights and Surface Rights Can Be Separate

Texas treats the surface estate and the mineral estate as two different bundles of rights. They can be owned by the same person, or they can be split. In Loving County, that split is a serious due-diligence item because oil and gas activity falls under RRC District 8.

When minerals are severed, the mineral estate is dominant. RRC says the mineral owner, or a company with a lease, can use the surface as reasonably needed for oil and gas work. That can include seismic testing, roads, pipelines, and well sites.

RRC regulates oil and gas operations, but it does not settle private surface-owner disputes. Before buying rural land, read the deed records and ask whether the minerals were reserved, leased, or sold.