BALES GAS UNIT

Operated by MERIT ENERGY COMPANY (P-5 561136) in the BELLE FERGUSON (LO. FRIO CONS.) field. Every figure below is a volume the Railroad Commission published, multiplied by a monthly price you can check.

Gas lease lease 166723District 04Field 069273002 tax incentive programmesCondensateGasSaveExport
Value, all time
$26.8 M
Jun 1997 – May 2026
Value, last 12 filed months
$140 k
at the published price for each month
Months reported
348
no gaps in the span
Streams
2
condensate, gas

The Railroad Commission's own record for the field this lease produces from, including the spacing rule that governs how close together its wells may be drilled.

These are facts about the field, not about this lease. The field holds 15 leases and 15 wells, and the rule below applies to all of them.

Discovered
2000-01-25
as the register files it
Field class
Gas
the register's own label
Between wells
933 ft
minimum
From a lease line
467 ft
minimum

A drilling unit in this field needs at least 40 acres. The field rule took effect on 2000-01-25.

The Commission's schedule remark for this field reads: AOF-1 AND AOF-2 EFFECTIVE 04/01/2000.

Severance-tax incentive filings

Applications the operator filed to have this lease's gas taxed at a reduced state rate. A filing is an application, and this page never calls one a reduction that was granted.

ProgrammeFilingsWith an approval dateDatedDocket
High Cost Gas112003-01-17150152
NGPA1none

This says nothing about a royalty. A severance tax is charged to the operator. Whether a reduced rate reaches a royalty owner depends on the wording of the lease instrument, which is a private contract this site does not hold.

What this lease produced, and what it was worth

Oil and condensate are valued on the volume the state records as disposed of; gas and casinghead gas on the volume produced. They are different columns of different files, and the difference is not cosmetic.

StreamBasisVolumeValue
CondensateDisposition97,421 bbl$3,107,603
GasProduction4,987,865 Mcf$23,669,172
Total$26,776,775

Wells on this lease (1)

Every wellbore the Railroad Commission records against this lease key, with the depth, the last completion and the plug date exactly as filed. A well with no plug date is not stated to be producing — the state files no such flag.

These wells centre on 26.1733, -98.2269. A lease has no coordinate of its own — that point is the mean of its wells, and they span 0.0 miles.

26.17330, -98.22688 · centre of the wells drawn, derived

What these wells add up to

Every figure below is counted over all of this lease's wells, not over the rows listed above. The Railroad Commission files two facts about a well's state — a plug date and a proration-schedule flag — and a well can carry both, so they are published as separate counts and never merged into a status.

On the schedule
0.0%
0 of 1 wells
With a plug date
0.0%
0 of 1 wells
Median depth
11,176 ft
1 wells filed one
Completion to plug
no well filed both dates

What the state filed about each well

On the RRC proration schedule
00.0%
A plug date is filed
00.0%
BothOn the schedule and plugged. Neither fact cancels the other.
00.0%
NeitherNo plug date, and not on the schedule.
1100.0%

A plug date is the date the Commission recorded the wellbore as sealed with cement and abandoned. It is the only end-of-life fact Texas files. There is no "active" flag on a well, so this page does not print one — a well with no plug date is not stated to be producing.

How deep they were drilled

The one well that filed a depth was drilled to 11,176 ft.

1 well

42-21532404411,176 ft

The API number is the state's, prefixed 42 for Texas. A well is matched to this lease by the lease key the Commission files on the wellbore record, so a well that has moved between leases appears under each one it was filed against.

Every month this lease reported (348)

Volume × price = value, one row per cycle. The price columns are the same series published on the prices page — nothing here is modelled.

348 months

May 2026192,606106.413.05$9,959
Apr 2026142,50798.932.87$8,579
Mar 2026192,62789.753.15$9,979
Feb 2026102,50363.503.75$10,022
Jan 2026182,74559.138.00$23,019
Dec 2025202,86356.664.41$13,769
Nov 2025142,79958.593.93$11,810
Oct 2025192,57859.383.30$9,648
Sep 2025192,55862.743.08$9,063
Aug 2025193,17563.933.01$10,787
Jul 2025133,43666.743.32$12,259
Jun 2025213,21866.483.13$11,464
May 2025263,51660.553.23$12,939
Apr 2025253,54962.363.54$14,134
Mar 2025293,78267.704.27$18,106
Feb 2025303,38970.884.34$16,838
Jan 2025243,78274.324.28$17,966
Dec 2024253,89668.993.12$13,886
Nov 2024203,32169.052.20$8,682
Oct 2024254,00071.372.28$10,910
Sep 2024304,09769.612.36$11,775
Aug 2024314,20375.632.06$11,018
Jul 2024354,29479.932.15$12,015
Jun 2024344,59178.082.63$14,747
May 2024262,29278.812.20$7,088
Apr 2024262,50884.451.66$6,357
Mar 2024242,52880.301.55$5,833
Feb 2024241,89276.091.78$5,201
Jan 2024272,16573.023.30$9,111
Dec 2023332,12671.262.61$7,902
Nov 2023332,19477.892.81$8,730
Oct 2023303,00885.443.09$11,850
Sep 2023212,35189.042.74$8,300
Aug 20230080.522.67$0
Jul 20230074.852.64$0
Jun 20230068.962.26$0
May 20235070.622.23$353
Apr 2023181,22578.122.24$4,147
Mar 2023452,82772.852.39$10,044
Feb 2023852,57275.112.47$12,726
Jan 20231122,65376.533.39$17,559
Dec 2022862,65476.415.73$21,776
Nov 2022862,62585.005.65$22,131
Oct 20221022,71987.185.86$24,836
Sep 2022902,65184.888.16$29,281
Aug 2022252,82894.529.13$28,175
Jul 2022102,757101.587.54$21,809
Jun 2022162,659115.097.98$23,053
May 2022212,951109.378.43$27,183
Apr 2022101,958104.226.84$14,430
Mar 2022193,716108.885.08$20,933
Feb 202283,05591.054.86$15,572
Jan 202282,16481.844.54$10,474
Dec 2021102,59671.323.90$10,835
Nov 2021112,95877.435.24$16,342
Oct 2021123,21079.795.71$19,299
Sep 2021144,01669.865.35$22,467
Aug 2021104,16966.024.22$18,256
Jul 2021184,25170.783.98$18,202
Jun 2021743,98869.493.38$18,624
May 20211124,16063.483.02$19,663
Apr 2021784,40160.362.76$16,848
Mar 2021814,47961.302.72$17,134
Feb 2021813,71157.805.55$25,270
Jan 2021824,13050.412.81$15,740
Dec 20201014,60944.642.68$16,840
Nov 2020814,36138.772.71$14,944
Oct 2020824,59036.972.48$14,408
Sep 2020694,50137.091.99$11,521
Aug 2020364,54839.982.39$12,287
Jul 2020224,53938.371.83$9,128
Jun 2020274,36934.901.69$8,327
May 2020264,58216.921.81$8,755
Apr 2020494,54214.751.80$8,918
Mar 20201054,95430.341.86$12,381
Feb 20201094,58149.881.98$14,510
Jan 20201314,86857.252.09$17,697
Dec 20191144,94859.012.30$18,129
Nov 20191164,70155.302.75$19,346
Oct 20191004,71453.472.42$16,748
Sep 2019834,67655.052.66$16,995
Aug 2019744,88153.112.30$15,178
Jul 2019614,88056.272.46$15,438
Jun 2019744,78052.782.49$15,814
May 2019755,08058.482.74$18,307
Apr 2019584,93362.632.75$17,202
Mar 2019425,39256.803.06$18,896
Feb 201904,81150.852.79$13,433
Jan 201905,36246.033.23$17,310
Dec 201805,63046.594.19$23,564
Nov 201805,88852.934.24$24,949
Oct 201803,87961.443.40$13,181
Sep 201805,31359.543.11$16,513
Aug 2018115,63759.403.07$17,940
Jul 2018495,68065.142.93$19,845
Jun 2018826,02860.183.08$23,482
May 20181215,99465.382.90$25,298
Apr 2018865,91963.842.90$22,660
Mar 20181446,23061.222.79$26,178
Feb 2018626,02061.782.77$20,482
Jan 2018866,62562.874.01$31,969
Dec 2017856,57557.272.92$24,077
Nov 2017856,41655.423.12$24,718
Oct 2017926,61349.292.98$24,266
Sep 2017695,74447.523.09$21,012
Aug 2017464,41545.373.00$15,351
Jul 2017734,58743.873.09$17,364
Jun 2017842,91042.493.09$12,553
May 2017847,08345.373.26$26,926
Apr 2017935,22547.933.21$21,238
Mar 2017915,51146.772.98$20,699
Feb 20171954,98550.452.95$24,556
Jan 20173465,59149.413.42$36,210
Dec 20162805,41948.763.72$33,827
Nov 20163155,41742.492.64$27,709
Oct 20163055,71546.193.09$31,749
Sep 20162534,65941.553.10$24,958
Aug 20163215,62041.442.92$29,737
Jul 20162555,55041.622.92$26,843
Jun 20161694,85945.352.69$20,715
May 20161405,86342.521.99$17,626
Apr 20161395,37936.561.99$15,792
Mar 20161325,33433.011.79$13,927
Feb 20161585,57326.472.06$15,683
Jan 20161206,05727.352.36$17,603
Dec 2015506,05432.362.00$13,735
Nov 2015815,63938.792.17$15,364
Oct 2015696,04143.552.43$17,664
Sep 2015495,73542.992.76$17,926
Aug 2015596,26340.162.87$20,360
Jul 2015666,57948.152.95$22,554
Jun 2015746,70156.152.88$23,473
May 2015837,03655.212.96$25,377
Apr 2015816,38549.822.71$21,317
Mar 20151257,76242.892.93$28,140
Feb 20151087,05844.662.98$25,829
Jan 20151357,47443.433.10$29,037
Dec 2014647,05854.693.59$28,848
Nov 2014437,47670.464.25$34,817
Oct 2014467,45078.303.90$32,664
Sep 2014347,09486.164.05$31,628
Aug 2014367,54489.394.04$33,659
Jul 2014357,57296.564.18$35,028
Jun 2014377,62598.164.74$39,751
May 2014447,85394.734.73$41,286
Apr 2014407,88195.944.81$41,738
Mar 2014438,73595.895.06$48,294
Feb 2014408,33597.406.19$55,506
Jan 2014549,38190.404.86$50,480
Dec 2013539,01691.824.35$44,126
Nov 2013378,92888.853.74$36,663
Oct 2013489,82897.423.78$41,820
Sep 2013429,509104.113.72$39,725
Aug 2013409,586104.253.52$37,938
Jul 2013459,749102.523.72$40,858
Jun 2013439,28294.403.93$40,569
May 20135110,01494.834.15$46,385
Apr 2013539,86693.964.28$47,232
Mar 20135910,54893.623.91$46,797
Feb 20135410,03391.233.42$39,238
Jan 20136611,16391.603.42$44,222
Dec 20126211,39086.773.42$44,335
Nov 20126511,37886.953.62$46,897
Oct 20127411,98889.383.40$47,369
Sep 20125711,68494.672.92$39,495
Aug 20127112,44592.662.91$42,771
Jul 20125913,09985.133.02$44,592
Jun 20125812,86479.822.52$37,034
May 20126213,79991.612.49$40,016
Apr 20127013,752101.652.00$34,575
Mar 20125514,535105.052.22$38,076
Feb 20128114,284101.102.57$44,902
Jan 20128115,01898.092.73$49,006
Dec 20119215,48096.873.24$59,063
Nov 20119515,84395.723.31$61,554
Oct 20119318,35784.983.65$74,879
Sep 20119019,14583.623.99$83,834
Aug 20119920,50183.404.15$93,322
Jul 201111022,26394.144.52$110,923
Jun 20119219,84792.904.64$100,635
May 201115318,77398.134.40$97,706
Apr 201154516,891105.964.33$130,942
Mar 201172518,29996.364.06$144,106
Feb 201174717,41785.644.18$136,776
Jan 201182219,04386.504.59$158,487
Dec 20101,08921,51485.734.35$186,897
Nov 20101,28524,19580.843.80$195,707
Oct 20101,41427,80378.103.51$207,991
Sep 2010753,72972.633.98$20,287
Aug 20101067,14073.684.42$39,364
Jul 2010226,42672.554.74$32,033
Jun 2010228,58970.364.91$43,723
May 2010358,87271.124.24$40,064
Apr 2010378,36981.694.12$37,525
Mar 2010439,14478.394.39$43,501
Feb 2010659,05873.585.44$54,080
Jan 2010809,85574.365.96$64,725
Dec 2009010,66371.445.48$58,473
Nov 200909,13074.593.75$34,251
Oct 200907,96472.544.11$32,734
Sep 200908,32365.543.06$25,508
Aug 2009810,01867.423.22$32,782
Jul 200913210,19561.133.46$43,390
Jun 20091509,64366.163.90$47,483
May 20091429,71254.743.93$45,900
Apr 200925910,30246.773.59$49,072
Mar 200926010,25642.144.06$52,586
Feb 20092179,72532.814.63$52,176
Jan 200929213,73535.865.37$84,242
Dec 200826911,43137.105.98$78,305
Nov 200826211,35855.496.86$92,458
Oct 200829212,00875.246.92$105,089
Sep 2008012,123101.767.88$95,494
Aug 2008010,902114.228.48$92,482
Jul 2008010,671131.0811.39$121,537
Jun 2008012,802131.3313.03$166,844
May 2008013,333123.1711.57$154,320
Apr 2008013,021110.3110.45$136,133
Mar 2008014,078101.909.66$136,051
Feb 2008013,47992.538.77$118,219
Jan 2008014,99290.388.21$123,020
Dec 2007015,58488.337.30$113,794
Nov 2007014,28891.677.29$104,184
Oct 2007013,43682.856.92$93,004
Sep 200773,89475.846.24$24,846
Aug 20073214,53669.066.39$95,065
Jul 20072914,82770.906.39$96,770
Jun 20073014,73062.007.55$113,049
May 20073015,11758.747.85$120,374
Apr 20077714,87859.617.81$120,716
Mar 200723915,21956.927.30$124,733
Feb 200724313,94755.108.22$127,978
Jan 200727916,30750.306.73$123,728
Dec 200630517,65556.656.92$139,423
Nov 200636417,27254.207.62$151,298
Oct 200640217,97354.906.01$130,156
Sep 200632917,33960.085.04$107,106
Aug 200632620,15468.717.34$170,328
Jul 200637119,68669.376.34$150,600
Jun 200645320,27866.286.38$159,477
May 200638521,93566.016.42$166,346
Apr 200639721,58264.397.36$184,417
Mar 200627723,03056.707.08$178,826
Feb 200619422,14457.597.75$182,813
Jan 200622624,88060.598.93$235,954
Dec 200523425,96554.9413.42$361,187
Nov 200521426,37254.6910.59$290,941
Oct 200523826,45958.3413.80$378,907
Sep 200518028,84561.4512.08$359,480
Aug 200521528,96361.519.80$296,971
Jul 200527633,83955.697.84$280,791
Jun 200526836,23652.337.38$281,484
May 200549140,62645.226.65$292,413
Apr 200562041,34649.207.36$334,830
Mar 200558342,66050.377.15$334,593
Feb 200535139,26945.226.31$263,735
Jan 20052745,46043.166.32$288,573
Dec 2004248,16639.866.75$325,252
Nov 20041049,75945.286.33$315,448
Oct 20043155,42749.706.52$362,653
Sep 200410057,77543.245.28$309,601
Aug 200425464,64542.375.55$369,584
Jul 200429470,32838.286.08$439,143
Jun 20045170,62036.106.43$456,141
May 200414781,53137.486.49$535,019
Apr 200446287,42634.475.86$528,107
Mar 2004547100,12134.365.53$572,478
Feb 200453698,09432.455.51$557,854
Jan 2004739118,07532.036.30$767,500
Dec 200346969,96430.266.30$455,080
Nov 200310611,96028.804.60$58,011
Oct 20031238,00728.174.76$41,575
Sep 20031017,77026.314.75$39,560
Aug 20031078,17829.765.13$45,135
Jul 20031128,27329.415.17$46,072
Jun 2003947,89928.565.98$49,944
May 2003628,03326.595.97$49,627
Apr 2003667,60226.675.41$42,866
Mar 2003987,88231.146.10$51,101
Feb 2003367,22233.487.93$58,446
Jan 20031087,79430.315.58$46,780
Dec 20021068,11026.914.85$42,216
Nov 20021318,05224.664.14$36,541
Oct 20021448,42326.464.23$39,432
Sep 20021838,04127.443.64$34,252
Aug 20021768,53025.963.16$31,559
Jul 20021888,60424.583.06$30,964
Jun 20021768,42123.733.34$32,288
May 20022148,67824.663.58$36,379
Apr 20021868,75623.653.51$35,153
Mar 20022258,63422.003.10$31,739
Feb 20021557,81318.222.38$21,385
Jan 20021688,91917.172.38$24,073
Dec 20011299,01916.932.36$23,508
Nov 200108,57318.072.41$20,623
Oct 200108,66819.782.53$21,920
Sep 200109,40124.262.25$21,165
Aug 200109,61624.873.05$29,359
Jul 2001010,40023.933.20$33,250
Jun 200109,85424.563.82$37,683
May 2001010,46925.524.31$45,093
Apr 2001010,54524.685.34$56,261
Mar 2001011,07024.545.38$59,517
Feb 2001010,16127.755.77$58,599
Jan 2001011,93727.478.40$100,256
Dec 2000011,60426.889.12$105,857
Nov 2000911,64132.215.66$66,155
Oct 2000012,34931.235.15$63,542
Sep 2000112,28331.875.19$63,738
Aug 2000212,58929.644.54$57,223
Jul 20001712,83328.534.09$52,969
Jun 2000012,61529.304.40$55,471
May 2000013,36227.263.68$49,169
Apr 2000012,75824.513.12$39,754
Mar 2000012,49528.422.86$35,733
Feb 2000012,54227.622.73$34,196
Jan 2000013,64325.272.48$33,841
Dec 1999014,48624.282.42$35,110
Nov 1999014,68823.192.43$35,750
Oct 1999015,15520.982.80$42,490
Sep 1999015,46821.752.62$40,508
Aug 1999017,42219.262.88$50,099
Jul 1999018,18017.892.37$43,130
Jun 1999017,22315.942.36$40,682
May 1999020,04415.792.32$46,523
Apr 1999020,80615.102.21$45,941
Mar 1999021,96012.471.84$40,370
Feb 19991720,7449.981.82$37,878
Jan 19991025,45710.381.90$48,471
Dec 199815636,5939.201.77$66,326
Nov 199883537,00010.892.19$89,965
Oct 19982,90839,41712.421.97$113,738
Sep 19981,47635,27912.592.08$92,056
Aug 19982,33488,33111.301.91$194,852
Jul 19981,14212,43611.742.24$41,230
Jun 19982,02424,50011.242.24$77,563
May 19982,49230,65512.622.21$99,084
Apr 19982,42129,58013.042.51$105,678
Mar 19983,01033,09612.802.31$114,961
Feb 19983,53034,61213.952.30$128,821
Jan 19984,15344,07014.702.15$156,011
Dec 19975,12052,15116.322.41$209,300
Nov 19975,09264,68118.193.09$292,375
Oct 19976,38785,27219.253.15$391,541
Sep 19977,764116,89717.742.95$483,150
Aug 19974,95386,87217.862.55$310,396
Jul 19973,71646,62717.582.25$170,095
Jun 199790521,24017.242.26$63,545

How to read this page

The arithmetic is one multiplication per stream per month. Here it is, worked, on a real row from the table above.

May 2026 — as filed, then multipliedworked
Condensate            19 bbl  × $106.41 =     $2,022
Gas                2,606 Mcf  × $  3.05 =     $7,937

────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Month total                                   $9,959

The volumes are the state's, unchanged

Every barrel and every Mcf on this page is a number the Railroad Commission of Texas published in its monthly production query. Nothing is modelled, estimated or filled in.

The dollars are a multiplication, not a valuation

Volume × a published monthly price. It is not what the operator was paid: it takes no account of a contract, a differential, a transportation deduction, or the share any one owner holds.

Oil and gas are priced differently

Oil is a Texas realisation — the crude oil first purchase price. Gas is a benchmark, because no free Texas wellhead gas series exists at any date. The prices page publishes the difference rather than correcting it away.

A lease is not a well

The state reports oil on lease and gas on well, and this page is the lease grain. 04/G/166723 is the state's own key, not one this site invented.