Question about Oil drilled locations - Help Needed! (Houston, Wells: 2013, house)

[Tom_Jerry]

I am in the process of building a house in Northwest cypress and came across some issues with soil analysis so I have a question for the experts here in this forum. Is there a way to find out if the land where my house is being build ever had oil extracted from below? I guess my question is, are there any websites that has a map of areas where historical oil & gas exploration was done. I would greatly appreciate any info on this. Thanks.

[chris_ut]

Texas Railroad Commission keeps all those records. Depending on how old the well is you can check their GIS map and it goes back to at least the 80s I think. Go here and zoom to your house: http://wwwgisp.rrc.state.tx.us/GISViewer2/

[Tom_Jerry]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

Texas Railroad Commission keeps all those records. Depending on how old the well is you can check their GIS map and it goes back to at least the 80s I think. Go here and zoom to your house: RRC Public GIS Viewer

Perfect! Thank you so much Chris_ut, that is exactly what I was looking for. There is a plugged oil well just around the corner of the lot we are building the house. So, the soil analysis confirms our suspicion.
Thanks again for the link and much appreciated!

[lipbalm]

Wow, this is a very nice map. Looks like Riversone is built on top of an old oil patch, wonder if this is disclosed when you buy a house there. To think of it it's right next door to sienna where I live and don't remember this in any paperwork (maybe I should have read all fine print). Maybe it does not matter but who knows what could happen down the road.

[Dopo]

My concern would be dangerous gases coming out of those holes.

Abandoned Oil Wells Raise Fears of Pollution

[chris_ut]

Originally Posted by Dopo

My concern would be dangerous gases coming out of those holes.

Abandoned Oil Wells Raise Fears of Pollution

RRC will also have paperwork on if the well was properly P&Ad (Plugged and Abandoned), if it was then there should be no issues. If not you can contact them and they have a fund to deal with those but as the article mentioned there is a backlog. The guy in the article is a little disingenuous as no way that one little well is effecting 60+ acres and if he really wanted to deal with it he could pay $30,000 and then submit to RRC to be reimbursed.

[slbnoob]

Very interesting map indeed. Thanks chris_ut!

[Tom_Jerry]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

RRC will also have paperwork on if the well was properly P&Ad (Plugged and Abandoned), if it was then there should be no issues. If not you can contact them and they have a fund to deal with those but as the article mentioned there is a backlog. The guy in the article is a little disingenuous as no way that one little well is effecting 60+ acres and if he really wanted to deal with it he could pay $30,000 and then submit to RRC to be reimbursed.

Another question is what red flags should we be looking for in the soil analysis report to ensure the lot is safe to live? I am concerned about the chemical exposure and possible long term consequences. Thanks in advance!

[marksmu]

I dont believe there are any legitimate concerns of chemical exposures if your soil samples do not show actual chemical contamination.

Virtually every neighborhood in Texas is built on or around oil wells. Every master planned community in the Houston area reserved small sections that they may call "parks" or "green areas" that are in actuality past, present, or future drill sites...if you read ALL of the documents you are given at closing it is clear that there are drill sites, past, current, or future scattered throughout.

An unplugged well may seep gas, but its not chemically dangerous...The "contamination" fears of an unplugged well are that the ground water (which most rural areas rely upon for drinking) will get contaminated, and then they have no fresh water to drink.

[Tom_Jerry]

Originally Posted by marksmu

I dont believe there are any legitimate concerns of chemical exposures if your soil samples do not show actual chemical contamination.

Virtually every neighborhood in Texas is built on or around oil wells. Every master planned community in the Houston area reserved small sections that they may call "parks" or "green areas" that are in actuality past, present, or future drill sites...if you read ALL of the documents you are given at closing it is clear that there are drill sites, past, current, or future scattered throughout.

An unplugged well may seep gas, but its not chemically dangerous...The "contamination" fears of an unplugged well are that the ground water (which most rural areas rely upon for drinking) will get contaminated, and then they have no fresh water to drink.

Thank you all for the information and it was very helpful!
Just curious, which master planned community has former drill sites as part of their land? Wouldn't that cause property value to depreciate much faster?