Texas RRC Pooling-Filing Retrieval Provenance Worksheet

Direct answer

Open an official RRC source and give the search a neutral attempt ID. Record the exact source route, named query or filing system, navigation path, displayed form or record identifiers, access date and timezone, source-stated limit, controlled result-reference location, and only located, not located, or unverified. The worksheet proves the retrieval trail, not what the filing means or whether it affects a private mineral interest.

Key takeaways

• Name the exact RRC route and filing or query system instead of writing only RRC records.
• Copy displayed identifier labels and values separately and preserve the navigation path.
• Record P-12 only when the official source actually displays that form label.
• Use located, not located, or unverified and attach the source-stated limitation.
• Stop before interpreting pooling, ownership, acreage, lease effect, compliance, development, production, value, or a transaction.

Public-record retrieval boundary. This article records a Texas public pooling-filing retrieval trail. It does not interpret pooling, unitization, a certificate, plat, permit, tract table, lease, or any filing contents. It does not establish a property connection, ownership, title, acreage, tract inclusion, lease effect, pooling authority, royalty share, entitlement, legal compliance, completeness, accuracy, privacy, confidentiality, security, reserves, drilling likelihood, development inventory, production, cash flow, value, price, range, offer quality, or a transaction result. It does not provide legal, title, land, tax, accounting, appraisal, engineering, geological, reserve, investment, or financial advice. MRX may have an economic interest in a later transaction; when that applies, the buyer relationship is disclosed in writing before an agreement is signed.

A Texas RRC pooling filing retrieval worksheet answers one narrow question: what exact official path did you use to try to locate one filed record? Record the RRC source route, named query or filing system, navigation path, displayed form and record identifiers, access timestamp, source-stated limitation, controlled result-reference location, and one bounded status.

Use only located, not located, or unverified. Those words describe the retrieval attempt. A located filing does not prove that it applies to your mineral interest or establish what any field, tract, attachment, or filing means.

Start from an official RRC source

The Railroad Commission of Texas Research Queries directory lists separate public routes for drilling permits, wellbores, imaged records, production, operators, fields, and other record classes. Begin from the official route that matches the record family you are trying to locate, then preserve that route in the worksheet.

Do not write only RRC website. A reproducible entry should distinguish among:

• the Research Queries directory;
• the Drilling Permit (W-1) Query;
• the Oil and Gas Imaged Records menu;
• the Oil and Gas Forms library;
• the direct official form file, if you opened one; and
• any detail or document route reached after the initial query.

The Research Queries directory warns that online data is informational, continually updated, non-authoritative, and without legal force. Copy that limitation into the retrieval record. Do not replace it with a statement that the result is official proof of a private right or legal conclusion.

For a broader orientation to Commission systems, use Texas Railroad Commission: How to Use Public Records to Understand Your Mineral Rights. This worksheet owns a smaller job: the provenance trail for one pooling-filing search.

Give each search attempt a neutral ID

Use a stable label such as TX-POOL-RET-01. The ID identifies the search attempt, not a property, owner, legal conclusion, or filing outcome.

At the top of the worksheet, record:

• Attempt ID: a neutral internal label;
• Purpose: public pooling-filing retrieval only;
• Access date and time: when the route was viewed;
• Timezone: the timezone used for the timestamp;
• Prepared by: a role or controlled identifier rather than unnecessary personal data; and
• Worksheet version: the version used for this attempt.

If you repeat the search, create a new attempt row. Do not silently overwrite the earlier route, displayed identifiers, timestamp, result reference, or status. Public interfaces and displayed records can change.

Record one row for every route checked

Use a separate row for each query, menu, record class, or filing route. Keep these fields distinct:

• Official source route: the complete HTTPS address opened.
• System or menu name: the exact name displayed by the RRC.
• Navigation path: each query, results, detail, or document step used.
• Displayed record class: permit, form, imaged record, completion record, correspondence, or another label shown by the source.
• Displayed form label or number: for example, P-12 only when the source displays it.
• Identifier type: filing number, cause number, district, operator, API or well number, lease or unit label, county, field, or another displayed field.
• Identifier value: the displayed or entered value, stored in a controlled reference when appropriate.
• Access date, time, and timezone: when the route or result was viewed.
• Source limitation: the source’s own access, update, coverage, or authority note.
• Result-reference location: a controlled path to an authorized screenshot, PDF, or saved reference.
• Status: located, not located, or unverified.
• Neutral follow-up: the next retrieval question without assuming the answer.

Use not stated when the official source does not display a field. Use not applicable to this route when the field truly does not apply. A blank can be mistaken for an omission.

Keep identifier labels attached to values

The RRC page About Oil and Gas Data Queries describes query fields that can include API numbers, districts, lease or gas IDs, counties, fields, operators, and permit identifiers. These are search labels. They do not, by themselves, establish a relationship to a private mineral interest.

Preserve the displayed label alongside the value:

• API number: [controlled value];
• district: [displayed value];
• operator: [displayed value];
• permit or filing identifier: [displayed value];
• lease or unit label: [displayed value]; and
• county or field: [displayed value].

Do not merge two identifiers merely because they look alike. If a W-1 query and an imaged-record result show similar names or numbers, preserve both routes and use unverified for any supposed relationship. The worksheet does not perform the separate property-connection work described in Offset Activity Property-Connection Cross-Check.

Record Form P-12 as a displayed filing label

The current RRC Oil and Gas Forms library lists P-12 as the Certificate of Pooling Authority. The official blank Form P-12 displays fields for items such as field name, lease or ID number, district, operator name and P-5 number, well number, pooled-unit name, API number, filing purpose, county, total acres, and a tract-description table.

Those labels can help locate or distinguish a document. They are not instructions to interpret a completed filing. A retrieval row may say:

• Displayed form label: P-12;
• Displayed record class: [copied exactly from the route];
• Displayed identifiers: [types and controlled values];
• Result-reference location: [controlled path]; and
• Status: located.

It may not say my acreage is pooled, pooling authority confirmed, tract included, royalty share established, or lease effect verified. Those are conclusions the retrieval fact does not establish.

Preserve the W-1 query path

The official Drilling Permit (W-1) Query provides a public entry route with displayed search fields. If a search moves from the query screen to a result list, detail page, current W-1 view, or linked document, record every step in order.

A path field might use this neutral structure:

official W-1 query entry → search fields used → result list → displayed detail route → displayed document link

Record only steps that actually occurred. Do not invent a missing link or treat a visible document label as proof about legal effect. If the interface stops, changes, times out, or does not expose the expected reference, preserve that event and use not located or unverified as appropriate.

Distinguish a form template from a filed record

The forms library and blank P-12 file show a current official form label and its displayed fields. They do not show that a particular operator submitted that form for a particular well, lease, unit, or tract.

Keep separate rows for:

• the official forms-library entry;
• the blank form template;
• the query route used to search for a filed record;
• the displayed result or document route; and
• the retained authorized result reference.

Label the first two as reference route or blank form template, not filed record. If you cannot locate a specific filing, say not located for the recorded attempt. Do not translate that into no filing exists.

Use imaged-record coverage as a source note

The Oil and Gas Imaged Records Menu describes multiple record classes, available periods, and routes for online or historical research. Copy the relevant class and coverage description into the worksheet when it applies.

Coverage information is a retrieval limitation. It does not prove that an expected document should exist, was filed correctly, is complete, is absent, or has a particular legal effect. A bounded row can state record class and stated coverage recorded; filing relationship unverified.

If the needed period or class is outside the displayed online coverage, the next question can be Which official historical-record route covers the stated period? That is a retrieval question, not a conclusion about the property or filing.

Tie the result reference to the attempt

The live interface and the retained object are different things. A page can change after the access date. For every authorized retained reference, record:

• the attempt ID;
• official source route;
• navigation path;
• displayed record and identifier labels;
• access timestamp and timezone;
• controlled file or screenshot location;
• file hash when your records process uses one; and
• handling note for any sensitive information.

Do not publish owner names, addresses, signatures, legal descriptions, account information, private correspondence, or actual property identifiers in a reusable example. Use the Mineral Rights Document Redaction Checklist Before Sharing Records before transmitting an authorized copy. This worksheet makes no guarantee of privacy, confidentiality, security, or sufficient redaction.

Use only bounded retrieval statuses

Keep the status vocabulary small:

• Located: the recorded official route exposed an identified result reference.
• Not located: the recorded attempt did not expose the sought result.
• Unverified: a label, identifier, result, or relationship appeared, but the narrow retrieval fact or connection was not established.

Located does not mean applicable, connected, complete, accurate, current, legally effective, compliant, or sufficient. Not located does not mean nonexistent. Unverified preserves the unresolved boundary without alleging an error or defect.

Turn gaps into neutral retrieval questions:

• Which official record class could display the filing label shown in the private reference?
• What search field produced the displayed identifier?
• Does the result page expose a direct document route?
• What access or coverage limitation does the source state?
• Which authorized retained file corresponds to this attempt?
• Does a different official route display the same identifier type?

Do not convert those questions into statements about ownership, acreage, lease effect, pooling authority, compliance, development, production, or value.

Blank provenance worksheet

• Attempt ID: __________
• Purpose: public pooling-filing retrieval only
• Official source route: __________
• System or menu name: __________
• Navigation path: __________
• Displayed record class: __________
• Displayed form label or number: __________
• Identifier type: __________
• Identifier value or controlled reference: __________
• Access date, time, and timezone: __________
• Source-stated limitation: __________
• Result-reference location: __________
• Retrieval status: located / not located / unverified
• Neutral follow-up question: __________

Keep one attempt per row. If a later qualified review interprets filing contents, connects the record to a private instrument, or uses it for another purpose, preserve that work as a separate output with its own author, date, sources, assumptions, and scope.

Final quality check

Before closing the worksheet, confirm that:

• every row names the exact official RRC route and system;
• the navigation path records only steps that occurred;
• form labels, record classes, identifier types, and values remain separate;
• a blank form template is not mislabeled as a filed record;
• the access timestamp, source limitation, and controlled result reference are attached;
• every status is only located, not located, or unverified;
• private identifiers and retained copies are controlled;
• no row interprets a certificate, permit, plat, filing, tract table, or attachment;
• no row establishes property connection, ownership, title, acreage, lease effect, pooling authority, royalty share, entitlement, compliance, completeness, accuracy, privacy, confidentiality, or security; and
• no row infers reserves, drilling likelihood, development inventory, production, cash flow, value, price, range, offer quality, or a transaction result.

A good provenance worksheet is intentionally narrow. It shows how an authorized reviewer can attempt the same official route and find the same displayed reference. It does not decide what the filing means.

Frequently asked questions

Does a located P-12 prove that my acreage was pooled?

No. Located means only that the recorded official route exposed a result reference displaying that form label. The worksheet does not establish a property connection, tract inclusion, ownership, lease effect, pooling authority, royalty share, or entitlement.

Should I copy every field from a completed filing into the worksheet?

No. Record only the displayed locator identifiers needed to reproduce the search and keep actual values in a controlled reference. Do not republish signatures, addresses, legal descriptions, private correspondence, or unnecessary personal information.

Can a W-1 permit-query result confirm what a pooling filing means?

No. The query can supply a retrieval route and displayed identifiers. Interpreting a permit, certificate, plat, tract table, or its legal or property effect is outside this worksheet.

What status should I use when identifiers appear to match?

Use unverified unless the narrow retrieval fact itself is established. Similar names, numbers, locations, or labels do not prove that a filing connects to a private mineral interest.

Does this worksheet support a mineral-rights valuation or drilling forecast?

No. It records filing-retrieval provenance only. It does not establish reserves, drilling likelihood, development inventory, production, cash flow, value, price, range, offer quality, or a transaction result.

Sources

• Railroad Commission of Texas, Research Queries (accessed 2026-08-23)
• Railroad Commission of Texas, About Oil and Gas Data Queries (accessed 2026-08-23)
• Railroad Commission of Texas, Oil and Gas Forms (accessed 2026-08-23)
• Railroad Commission of Texas, Form P-12 Certificate of Pooling Authority (accessed 2026-08-23)
• Railroad Commission of Texas, Oil and Gas Imaged Records Menu (accessed 2026-08-23)
• Railroad Commission of Texas, Drilling Permit W-1 Query (accessed 2026-08-23)