The Railroad Commission, through its Oil and Gas Division, regulates the exploration, production, and transportation of oil and natural gas in Texas. These records are original orders, notices of hearings, postponements of hearings, and special emergency rules of the Oil and Gas Division. The records date from 1928 to 1977. Original orders were issued by the Division to govern the drilling, completion, and operation of wells in the field. They were issued under a general directive for the "conservation and prevention of waste of crude petroleum and natural gas." The Division held hearings conducted by engineers and legal examiners concerning field rules, secondary recovery projects, and maximum efficient rates of production. These hearings, and the original orders that were issued as a result, established the minimum spacing and acreage requirements for an individual oil well and determined the size of a proration unit. The proration units determined the prorated, daily allowance for each oil well in production and set the daily total oil field allowable. Other specific examples of original orders include plugging wells to prevent fresh water pollution, approval of a unitization agreement, adopting a net gas-oil ratio rule for the field, and permitting water flooding and injection operations in a reservoir. These types of original orders were concerned with conservation and prevention of waste and usually affected an entire reservoir or field. Original orders are also listed in the minutes of the Railroad Commission under "Special Orders" (see Railroad Commission of Texas, Minutes, 1891-1996) but are in summary form and do not provide as much information as the actual order itself. Original orders from 1978 forward are maintained by the Railroad Commission of Texas. The Commission also maintains hearing files. This finding aid describes one series of the Railroad Commission of Texas records. See Railroad Commission of Texas: An Overview of Records (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20078/tsl-20078.html) for more records series.
