Recently I was blessed with some large checks from some horizontal wells in Martin County. My question is how long can I count on getting these checks. Maybe I’m asking what is the life of a horizontal wells. Sorry if it’s a dumb question.
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@Suzanne_Thomas, not a dumb question at all.
Of course the story varies, but you can expect
your monthly checks to decline to maybe 30%
of their initial value after a year, and to maybe
10% after two years. Again, as noted, this
can vary depending on the particular well.
Also, first checks are often several months
combined, which makes them deceptively
large. If you want to try your hand at Decline
Curve Analysis, maybe you can make better
predictions for your particular wells.
My first 2 checks were pretty large, $15000 and then $5000. That was because of about a year of backlog where oil was being withdrawn but royalties hadn’t been made. Then it settled down to about $400 in a good month and $250 in a not-so-good month. That was the pattern for about two years. It dropped below $100 so I didn’t get checks monthly. Only got a check when the accumulated royalties exceeded $100. That went on for about a year. Now in 2026 I got a check in Feb and haven’t gotten another since. This is 3 wells, 1 vertical and 2 horizontal, in Eddy County in New Mexico.
Not a dumb question at all. However, I hope you are fully aware of your ownership. Diamondback has made some really big errors in Martin Co. My siblings and I own mineral interests in Martin Co and one sister received a very nice check. We all own the same percentage but none of the rest of us received a check. Effort was made to correct the error because we knew we didn’t have the mineral interest they were paying on, but they continued to pay for several months. Eventually money was returned but their research on title in my opinion is pathetic.
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Depletion is hyperbolic, rapid decrease first 2 years, then production stabilizes into a slow decline. Oil depletes faster than gas, thus old saying “oil wells become gas wells over time”. Many TX counties outsource annual ad valorem tax assessments to Capitol Appraisal Group Inc (CAGI), Austin. I register on CAGI.com, and each year in March or April they update each of my wells, showing past production both oil & gas, with future years production estimated 40 years into the future using their decline curve formula in their assessment spreadsheet. They update the future forecast every year. I don’t think anybody is sure how long shale wells will produce economically because the Shale Revolution is nascent, but CAGI forecasts production for approx 40 years.
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I can confirm a similar situation for my family in Martin in relation to Diamondback, I’m still waiting for some corrections to be made to some title on some wells almost a year later.
Definitely know your title, and know how to translate that into a royalty decimal.