I recall there being some discussion about the Whitaker 1H well potentially beginning frac operations. Do you know if it is producing as of today? I checked the Texas Railroad Commission website but wasn’t able to find any updated information.
Mitsui doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to get their wells producing. There may be some strategy to it, but it’s not clear.
You can watch the status of the fracs at www.fracfocus.org. It usually posts there many weeks before the RRC.
The 01 disposition code indicates the gas was used on site.
We have not received a division order and have interest in this well. Hopefully soon this will happen. I understand they are testing the well and still working on it.
Usually takes four to five months from first sales to get the Division Order.
Ms Barnes, I appreciate your response and your expertise.
Regarding the timeline; I assume the testing and prep of the well is ongoing. If I understand you correctly, once there is a productive yield that is for the purpose of sale, the division order is then issued, and only at that point the royalty payment is then prepared to be issued 120 days after the division order is received.
So perhaps a few months of testing and preparation and then the division order. Then the 120 day period to await payment. Does this make sense?
I was also wondering if first payment was for the entire 120 days of production that comes thereafter the division order being issued.
Thank you for your guidance.
In Texas, you cannot get paid unless you turn in a DO.
Under Texas Natural Resources Code § 91.402, initial oil and gas royalty payments are generally due on or before 120 days after the end of the month of first sale of production from the well. Subsequent payments are due within 60 days for oil and 90 days for gas after the end of the calendar month of sale. The idea is for the operators to get the DO out as soon as possible and get it back, but the royalty payment date is set by the end of the month of the first sale, not the day the DO gets back. Your first payment will be for the accrued value up until that date, so approximately four months of both oil and gas. Then they will be every month after that (if you have met the minimum royalty), generally oil paid a month after sales and gas two months later. You will see the timing on the statements.
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This is incredibly useful information. Thank you for your contribution here.
Probably a redundant question from a “newbie,” is there a general timeline from the initial drilling date to actually producing a royalty check to a lessee? There are apparently many variables I have come across in reading through this forum; from company preferences, well depth, frac times, regulatory deadlines, etc. Any ‘ballpark’ guesses, or as I remember them being called “SWAGs” (Scientific Wild *ss Guesses)?
A huge SWAG would be a year from spud to bank-give or take a few months. If the well is a standalone horizontal well, may be a bit less. If part of a bulk drill, then longer because they will drill all of them first and each one may take several weeks to several months and then they will frac them all at the same time. Long laterals that go across several sections will need more title time to get the deck ready for all of the owners.
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Thanks so much Ms. Barnes. I have learned a lot from all of your posts.
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March 2026 production was just posted on the RRC site. Here are the Whitaker production figures so far:
January 2026: 1,349 MCF
February: 194,260
March: 306,941
These are mediocre results compared to a typical Comstock well (often 600,000 to 900,000 MCF in the first full month of production).
However, we don’t know what Mitsui is doing with this well. They could be holding production back because of pipeline constraints or to test methods for lengthening the well’s productive life. More months of production are needed to form an opinion about the relative success of this well.
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Thank you Alan! I was just looking into this. 
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Alan
Thank you as always. We have been awaiting these recordings. I myself have yet to access CONG. I appreciate you posting.
Here are some small-time observations from a person who knows very little about these things…
It seems that everything Mitsu does is slow and methodical. I seem to remember them backing out and rerouting the Baker well. I could be mistaken, but I thought that was the case.
Comstock on the other hand, seems to work quickly and poke a lot more holes in the ground and at a good pace.
Like with any thing else, there’s may be no one right way, especially when we don’t totally understand the methods and goals involved here.
I understand Mitsu’s exploration and yield to be a long-term project based around the need for natural gas in Japan.
It would not surprise me if they continue to go very carefully and seemingly slow. These extreme depths may yield high sulphuric gas that needs treatment. As you said pipeline connections may be under capacity at this stage
I have done business with the Japanese many years ago for over a decade, and I found them to be very methodical, intentional, and measured in their approach.
Not sure if that has anything to do with the way Mitsui operates in Leon in Freestone County, but seemed familiar to me.
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Keep in mind that Comstock had plenty of experience with relatively deep gas wells in the legacy Haynesville area. Mitsui is just beginning to build their knowledge base of how to drill and successfully complete these even deeper gas wells in the Western Haynesville. It’s going to take some time.
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Makes sense. Great to see they are producing. Eagerly awaiting further results.
Someone involved in Freestone/Leon minerals told me before the March report was released that this well was pulling about 10,000 MCF a day. This March report proves them right. They also say this well has encountered a lot of hydrogen sulfide, which is bad.
Alan
any update on April production numbers?
we await the DO on this well.
thanks. Anthony