MASTERSON

Name: MASTERSON lease production and value, Jan 1993 onwards
Creator: Railroad Commission of Texas
License: https://www.rrc.texas.gov/site-policies/

Operated by BURK ROYALTY CO., LTD. (P-5 108799) in the PANHANDLE, WEST (RED CAVE) field. Every figure below is a volume the Railroad Commission published, multiplied by a monthly price you can check.

Gas lease lease 43399District 10Field 68831200Hydrogen sulphide fieldNGPA filingGasSave Export

Value, all time

$366 k

Jan 1993 – May 2026

Value, last 12 filed months

$8 k

at the published price for each month

Months reported

401

no gaps in the span

Streams

gas

The PANHANDLE, WEST (RED CAVE) field

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 666 leases and 666 wells, and the rule below applies to all of them.

Discovered

1960-07-15

as the register files it

Field class

Gas

the register's own label

Between wells

660 ft

minimum

From a lease line

330 ft

minimum

A drilling unit in this field needs at least 160 acres. The field rule took effect on 2019-11-19.

The register flags this field for hydrogen sulphide. That is a poisonous gas that occurs naturally in some formations. The flag is a property of the field as the Commission records it. It is not a measurement taken at this lease, and it is not a statement that gas is escaping anywhere.

The Commission's schedule remark for this field reads: “THE LOCATION OF PERFORATIONS.”

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.

Programme	Filings	With an approval date	Dated	Docket
NGPA	1	none	—	—

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.

Stream	Basis	Volume	Value
Gas	Production	123,481 Mcf	$366,400
Total			$366,400

51,723 Mcf of this lease's gas, across 44 months, carries no value here. No free Texas wellhead gas price exists before 1997, so those months are left out of the total rather than valued at zero. The total above is therefore a floor, not an estimate.

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 35.5577, -101.9095. A lease has no coordinate of its own — that point is the mean of its wells, and they span 0.0 miles.

35.55773, -101.90947 · centre of the wells drawn, derived⌘ or Ctrl + scroll to zoom

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

2,062 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 2,062 ft.

Completions filed

Aug 1967

1 of 1 wells

1 well


42-37500295	24 R	2,062 ft	Aug 1967	—	—

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 (401)

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

401 months


May 2026	0	106.41	3.05	$0
Apr 2026	190	98.93	2.87	$545
Mar 2026	224	89.75	3.15	$705
Feb 2026	101	63.50	3.75	$379
Jan 2026	186	59.13	8.00	$1,488
Dec 2025	206	56.66	4.41	$909
Nov 2025	229	58.59	3.93	$899
Oct 2025	210	59.38	3.30	$694
Sep 2025	202	62.74	3.08	$622
Aug 2025	227	63.93	3.01	$684
Jul 2025	182	66.74	3.32	$603
Jun 2025	206	66.48	3.13	$645
May 2025	231	60.55	3.23	$747
Apr 2025	210	62.36	3.54	$744
Mar 2025	204	67.70	4.27	$871
Feb 2025	228	70.88	4.34	$990
Jan 2025	277	74.32	4.28	$1,185
Dec 2024	272	68.99	3.12	$849
Nov 2024	306	69.05	2.20	$673
Oct 2024	170	71.37	2.28	$388
Sep 2024	281	69.61	2.36	$664
Aug 2024	346	75.63	2.06	$714
Jul 2024	170	79.93	2.15	$365
Jun 2024	0	78.08	2.63	$0
May 2024	0	78.81	2.20	$0
Apr 2024	0	84.45	1.66	$0
Mar 2024	0	80.30	1.55	$0
Feb 2024	0	76.09	1.78	$0
Jan 2024	145	73.02	3.30	$478
Dec 2023	311	71.26	2.61	$812
Nov 2023	276	77.89	2.81	$775
Oct 2023	222	85.44	3.09	$685
Sep 2023	219	89.04	2.74	$599
Aug 2023	194	80.52	2.67	$519
Jul 2023	44	74.85	2.64	$116
Jun 2023	178	68.96	2.26	$402
May 2023	183	70.62	2.23	$408
Apr 2023	211	78.12	2.24	$472
Mar 2023	142	72.85	2.39	$340
Feb 2023	192	75.11	2.47	$473
Jan 2023	213	76.53	3.39	$722
Dec 2022	209	76.41	5.73	$1,197
Nov 2022	191	85.00	5.65	$1,078
Oct 2022	233	87.18	5.86	$1,366
Sep 2022	263	84.88	8.16	$2,147
Aug 2022	278	94.52	9.13	$2,537
Jul 2022	355	101.58	7.54	$2,677
Jun 2022	222	115.09	7.98	$1,771
May 2022	188	109.37	8.43	$1,585
Apr 2022	112	104.22	6.84	$766
Mar 2022	296	108.88	5.08	$1,503
Feb 2022	128	91.05	4.86	$622
Jan 2022	245	81.84	4.54	$1,112
Dec 2021	287	71.32	3.90	$1,119
Nov 2021	228	77.43	5.24	$1,194
Oct 2021	264	79.79	5.71	$1,508
Sep 2021	321	69.86	5.35	$1,718
Aug 2021	446	66.02	4.22	$1,882
Jul 2021	177	70.78	3.98	$705
Jun 2021	188	69.49	3.38	$636
May 2021	248	63.48	3.02	$748
Apr 2021	41	60.36	2.76	$113
Mar 2021	134	61.30	2.72	$364
Feb 2021	124	57.80	5.55	$688
Jan 2021	262	50.41	2.81	$736
Dec 2020	223	44.64	2.68	$597
Nov 2020	127	38.77	2.71	$344
Oct 2020	208	36.97	2.48	$516
Sep 2020	274	37.09	1.99	$546
Aug 2020	86	39.98	2.39	$205
Jul 2020	360	38.37	1.83	$657
Jun 2020	292	34.90	1.69	$494
May 2020	238	16.92	1.81	$432
Apr 2020	221	14.75	1.80	$399
Mar 2020	160	30.34	1.86	$297
Feb 2020	222	49.88	1.98	$440
Jan 2020	245	57.25	2.09	$513
Dec 2019	266	59.01	2.30	$613
Nov 2019	16	55.30	2.75	$44
Oct 2019	258	53.47	2.42	$624
Sep 2019	46	55.05	2.66	$122
Aug 2019	125	53.11	2.30	$288
Jul 2019	104	56.27	2.46	$256
Jun 2019	55	52.78	2.49	$137
May 2019	114	58.48	2.74	$312
Apr 2019	31	62.63	2.75	$85
Mar 2019	11	56.80	3.06	$34
Feb 2019	55	50.85	2.79	$154
Jan 2019	170	46.03	3.23	$549
Dec 2018	0	46.59	4.19	$0
Nov 2018	0	52.93	4.24	$0
Oct 2018	213	61.44	3.40	$724
Sep 2018	196	59.54	3.11	$609
Aug 2018	130	59.40	3.07	$399
Jul 2018	108	65.14	2.93	$317
Jun 2018	97	60.18	3.08	$298
May 2018	192	65.38	2.90	$557
Apr 2018	71	63.84	2.90	$206
Mar 2018	2	61.22	2.79	$6
Feb 2018	11	61.78	2.77	$30
Jan 2018	175	62.87	4.01	$702
Dec 2017	302	57.27	2.92	$882
Nov 2017	249	55.42	3.12	$776
Oct 2017	126	49.29	2.98	$376
Sep 2017	64	47.52	3.09	$198
Aug 2017	79	45.37	3.00	$237
Jul 2017	37	43.87	3.09	$114
Jun 2017	183	42.49	3.09	$565
May 2017	285	45.37	3.26	$930
Apr 2017	133	47.93	3.21	$427
Mar 2017	174	46.77	2.98	$519
Feb 2017	193	50.45	2.95	$570
Jan 2017	194	49.41	3.42	$663
Dec 2016	153	48.76	3.72	$570
Nov 2016	264	42.49	2.64	$698
Oct 2016	147	46.19	3.09	$454
Sep 2016	102	41.55	3.10	$316
Aug 2016	201	41.44	2.92	$588
Jul 2016	229	41.62	2.92	$670
Jun 2016	249	45.35	2.69	$669
May 2016	309	42.52	1.99	$615
Apr 2016	263	36.56	1.99	$524
Mar 2016	296	33.01	1.79	$531
Feb 2016	313	26.47	2.06	$646
Jan 2016	411	27.35	2.36	$972
Dec 2015	404	32.36	2.00	$809
Nov 2015	153	38.79	2.17	$332
Oct 2015	210	43.55	2.43	$510
Sep 2015	138	42.99	2.76	$381
Aug 2015	91	40.16	2.87	$261
Jul 2015	89	48.15	2.95	$262
Jun 2015	88	56.15	2.88	$254
May 2015	168	55.21	2.96	$497
Apr 2015	267	49.82	2.71	$723
Mar 2015	148	42.89	2.93	$434
Feb 2015	245	44.66	2.98	$729
Jan 2015	286	43.43	3.10	$887
Dec 2014	274	54.69	3.59	$984
Nov 2014	141	70.46	4.25	$600
Oct 2014	264	78.30	3.90	$1,030
Sep 2014	150	86.16	4.05	$607
Aug 2014	145	89.39	4.04	$585
Jul 2014	149	96.56	4.18	$623
Jun 2014	227	98.16	4.74	$1,075
May 2014	298	94.73	4.73	$1,409
Apr 2014	173	95.94	4.81	$832
Mar 2014	196	95.89	5.06	$991
Feb 2014	191	97.40	6.19	$1,183
Jan 2014	235	90.40	4.86	$1,142
Dec 2013	182	91.82	4.35	$793
Nov 2013	234	88.85	3.74	$875
Oct 2013	210	97.42	3.78	$794
Sep 2013	236	104.11	3.72	$877
Aug 2013	278	104.25	3.52	$979
Jul 2013	234	102.52	3.72	$870
Jun 2013	284	94.40	3.93	$1,117
May 2013	167	94.83	4.15	$693
Apr 2013	270	93.96	4.28	$1,156
Mar 2013	236	93.62	3.91	$923
Feb 2013	281	91.23	3.42	$961
Jan 2013	279	91.60	3.42	$954
Dec 2012	236	86.77	3.42	$807
Nov 2012	249	86.95	3.62	$903
Oct 2012	241	89.38	3.40	$819
Sep 2012	233	94.67	2.92	$680
Aug 2012	216	92.66	2.91	$628
Jul 2012	253	85.13	3.02	$764
Jun 2012	271	79.82	2.52	$683
May 2012	252	91.61	2.49	$627
Apr 2012	236	101.65	2.00	$471
Mar 2012	220	105.05	2.22	$489
Feb 2012	199	101.10	2.57	$511
Jan 2012	225	98.09	2.73	$615
Dec 2011	240	96.87	3.24	$778
Nov 2011	234	95.72	3.31	$775
Oct 2011	235	84.98	3.65	$857
Sep 2011	260	83.62	3.99	$1,036
Aug 2011	209	83.40	4.15	$867
Jul 2011	267	94.14	4.52	$1,206
Jun 2011	276	92.90	4.64	$1,281
May 2011	314	98.13	4.40	$1,383
Apr 2011	333	105.96	4.33	$1,443
Mar 2011	330	96.36	4.06	$1,339
Feb 2011	271	85.64	4.18	$1,133
Jan 2011	367	86.50	4.59	$1,684
Dec 2010	325	85.73	4.35	$1,413
Nov 2010	390	80.84	3.80	$1,480
Oct 2010	316	78.10	3.51	$1,109
Sep 2010	298	72.63	3.98	$1,186
Aug 2010	285	73.68	4.42	$1,260
Jul 2010	218	72.55	4.74	$1,033
Jun 2010	178	70.36	4.91	$874
May 2010	166	71.12	4.24	$703
Apr 2010	281	81.69	4.12	$1,158
Mar 2010	293	78.39	4.39	$1,286
Feb 2010	318	73.58	5.44	$1,731
Jan 2010	360	74.36	5.96	$2,147
Dec 2009	385	71.44	5.48	$2,111
Nov 2009	309	74.59	3.75	$1,159
Oct 2009	310	72.54	4.11	$1,274
Sep 2009	261	65.54	3.06	$800
Aug 2009	307	67.42	3.22	$988
Jul 2009	279	61.13	3.46	$967
Jun 2009	277	66.16	3.90	$1,079
May 2009	316	54.74	3.93	$1,241
Apr 2009	284	46.77	3.59	$1,019
Mar 2009	376	42.14	4.06	$1,526
Feb 2009	348	32.81	4.63	$1,612
Jan 2009	400	35.86	5.37	$2,148
Dec 2008	342	37.10	5.98	$2,044
Nov 2008	335	55.49	6.86	$2,298
Oct 2008	292	75.24	6.92	$2,021
Sep 2008	285	101.76	7.88	$2,245
Aug 2008	322	114.22	8.48	$2,732
Jul 2008	288	131.08	11.39	$3,280
Jun 2008	234	131.33	13.03	$3,050
May 2008	237	123.17	11.57	$2,743
Apr 2008	281	110.31	10.45	$2,938
Mar 2008	152	101.90	9.66	$1,469
Feb 2008	818	92.53	8.77	$7,174
Jan 2008	312	90.38	8.21	$2,560
Dec 2007	465	88.33	7.30	$3,395
Nov 2007	483	91.67	7.29	$3,522
Oct 2007	461	82.85	6.92	$3,191
Sep 2007	447	75.84	6.24	$2,791
Aug 2007	385	69.06	6.39	$2,459
Jul 2007	354	70.90	6.39	$2,261
Jun 2007	384	62.00	7.55	$2,899
May 2007	452	58.74	7.85	$3,547
Apr 2007	321	59.61	7.81	$2,505
Mar 2007	345	56.92	7.30	$2,519
Feb 2007	344	55.10	8.22	$2,826
Jan 2007	448	50.30	6.73	$3,014
Dec 2006	484	56.65	6.92	$3,349
Nov 2006	347	54.20	7.62	$2,643
Oct 2006	405	54.90	6.01	$2,436
Sep 2006	326	60.08	5.04	$1,642
Aug 2006	320	68.71	7.34	$2,349
Jul 2006	419	69.37	6.34	$2,658
Jun 2006	427	66.28	6.38	$2,726
May 2006	404	66.01	6.42	$2,596
Apr 2006	385	64.39	7.36	$2,834
Mar 2006	345	56.70	7.08	$2,444
Feb 2006	359	57.59	7.75	$2,783
Jan 2006	476	60.59	8.93	$4,252
Dec 2005	609	54.94	13.42	$8,170
Nov 2005	520	54.69	10.59	$5,506
Oct 2005	536	58.34	13.80	$7,395
Sep 2005	398	61.45	12.08	$4,807
Aug 2005	485	61.51	9.80	$4,751
Jul 2005	399	55.69	7.84	$3,130
Jun 2005	0	52.33	7.38	$0
May 2005	206	45.22	6.65	$1,370
Apr 2005	447	49.20	7.36	$3,290
Mar 2005	423	50.37	7.15	$3,027
Feb 2005	391	45.22	6.31	$2,468
Jan 2005	577	43.16	6.32	$3,648
Dec 2004	599	39.86	6.75	$4,044
Nov 2004	745	45.28	6.33	$4,716
Oct 2004	582	49.70	6.52	$3,792
Sep 2004	671	43.24	5.28	$3,546
Aug 2004	539	42.37	5.55	$2,992
Jul 2004	592	38.28	6.08	$3,602
Jun 2004	777	36.10	6.43	$4,998
May 2004	517	37.48	6.49	$3,358
Apr 2004	694	34.47	5.86	$4,066
Mar 2004	736	34.36	5.53	$4,070
Feb 2004	1,045	32.45	5.51	$5,758
Jan 2004	1,832	32.03	6.30	$11,541
Dec 2003	0	30.26	6.30	$0
Nov 2003	0	28.80	4.60	$0
Oct 2003	0	28.17	4.76	$0
Sep 2003	0	26.31	4.75	$0
Aug 2003	0	29.76	5.13	$0
Jul 2003	0	29.41	5.17	$0
Jun 2003	0	28.56	5.98	$0
May 2003	0	26.59	5.97	$0
Apr 2003	0	26.67	5.41	$0
Mar 2003	0	31.14	6.10	$0
Feb 2003	0	33.48	7.93	$0
Jan 2003	0	30.31	5.58	$0
Dec 2002	0	26.91	4.85	$0
Nov 2002	0	24.66	4.14	$0
Oct 2002	0	26.46	4.23	$0
Sep 2002	0	27.44	3.64	$0
Aug 2002	0	25.96	3.16	$0
Jul 2002	0	24.58	3.06	$0
Jun 2002	0	23.73	3.34	$0
May 2002	0	24.66	3.58	$0
Apr 2002	0	23.65	3.51	$0
Mar 2002	0	22.00	3.10	$0
Feb 2002	0	18.22	2.38	$0
Jan 2002	0	17.17	2.38	$0
Dec 2001	0	16.93	2.36	$0
Nov 2001	0	18.07	2.41	$0
Oct 2001	0	19.78	2.53	$0
Sep 2001	0	24.26	2.25	$0
Aug 2001	0	24.87	3.05	$0
Jul 2001	0	23.93	3.20	$0
Jun 2001	0	24.56	3.82	$0
May 2001	0	25.52	4.31	$0
Apr 2001	0	24.68	5.34	$0
Mar 2001	0	24.54	5.38	$0
Feb 2001	0	27.75	5.77	$0
Jan 2001	0	27.47	8.40	$0
Dec 2000	0	26.88	9.12	$0
Nov 2000	0	32.21	5.66	$0
Oct 2000	0	31.23	5.15	$0
Sep 2000	0	31.87	5.19	$0
Aug 2000	0	29.64	4.54	$0
Jul 2000	0	28.53	4.09	$0
Jun 2000	0	29.30	4.40	$0
May 2000	0	27.26	3.68	$0
Apr 2000	0	24.51	3.12	$0
Mar 2000	0	28.42	2.86	$0
Feb 2000	0	27.62	2.73	$0
Jan 2000	0	25.27	2.48	$0
Dec 1999	0	24.28	2.42	$0
Nov 1999	0	23.19	2.43	$0
Oct 1999	0	20.98	2.80	$0
Sep 1999	0	21.75	2.62	$0
Aug 1999	0	19.26	2.88	$0
Jul 1999	0	17.89	2.37	$0
Jun 1999	0	15.94	2.36	$0
May 1999	0	15.79	2.32	$0
Apr 1999	0	15.10	2.21	$0
Mar 1999	0	12.47	1.84	$0
Feb 1999	0	9.98	1.82	$0
Jan 1999	0	10.38	1.90	$0
Dec 1998	0	9.20	1.77	$0
Nov 1998	0	10.89	2.19	$0
Oct 1998	0	12.42	1.97	$0
Sep 1998	0	12.59	2.08	$0
Aug 1998	0	11.30	1.91	$0
Jul 1998	0	11.74	2.24	$0
Jun 1998	0	11.24	2.24	$0
May 1998	0	12.62	2.21	$0
Apr 1998	0	13.04	2.51	$0
Mar 1998	0	12.80	2.31	$0
Feb 1998	0	13.95	2.30	$0
Jan 1998	0	14.70	2.15	$0
Dec 1997	0	16.32	2.41	$0
Nov 1997	0	18.19	3.09	$0
Oct 1997	0	19.25	3.15	$0
Sep 1997	0	17.74	2.95	$0
Aug 1997	0	17.86	2.55	$0
Jul 1997	0	17.58	2.25	$0
Jun 1997	0	17.24	2.26	$0
May 1997	0	18.97	2.31	$0
Apr 1997	0	17.88	2.08	$0
Mar 1997	0	18.95	1.94	$0
Feb 1997	0	20.49	2.21	$0
Jan 1997	0	23.48	3.54	$0
Dec 1996	0	23.32	—	$0
Nov 1996	0	21.97	—	$0
Oct 1996	0	23.31	—	$0
Sep 1996	0	22.22	—	$0
Aug 1996	253	20.26	—	$0
Jul 1996	1,144	19.55	—	$0
Jun 1996	1,240	18.73	—	$0
May 1996	1,192	19.43	—	$0
Apr 1996	1,153	21.51	—	$0
Mar 1996	1,047	19.38	—	$0
Feb 1996	1,159	16.98	—	$0
Jan 1996	1,250	17.07	—	$0
Dec 1995	1,364	17.19	—	$0
Nov 1995	1,304	16.00	—	$0
Oct 1995	1,441	15.43	—	$0
Sep 1995	1,071	16.18	—	$0
Aug 1995	773	15.92	—	$0
Jul 1995	862	15.24	—	$0
Jun 1995	1,083	16.41	—	$0
May 1995	924	17.56	—	$0
Apr 1995	1,245	17.73	—	$0
Mar 1995	1,035	16.44	—	$0
Feb 1995	759	16.58	—	$0
Jan 1995	935	15.92	—	$0
Dec 1994	1,073	15.03	—	$0
Nov 1994	1,075	15.90	—	$0
Oct 1994	1,442	15.58	—	$0
Sep 1994	1,268	15.29	—	$0
Aug 1994	1,223	16.13	—	$0
Jul 1994	1,340	17.56	—	$0
Jun 1994	1,018	17.09	—	$0
May 1994	952	15.88	—	$0
Apr 1994	1,103	14.14	—	$0
Mar 1994	1,143	12.46	—	$0
Feb 1994	1,196	12.50	—	$0
Jan 1994	1,386	12.66	—	$0
Dec 1993	1,452	12.33	—	$0
Nov 1993	1,337	14.49	—	$0
Oct 1993	1,243	15.85	—	$0
Sep 1993	1,289	15.03	—	$0
Aug 1993	1,357	15.66	—	$0
Jul 1993	1,320	15.46	—	$0
Jun 1993	1,257	16.79	—	$0
May 1993	1,394	17.68	—	$0
Apr 1993	1,395	18.05	—	$0
Mar 1993	1,326	18.14	—	$0
Feb 1993	1,372	17.90	—	$0
Jan 1993	1,528	16.93	—	$0

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.

Apr 2026 — as filed, then multipliedworked

Gas                  190 Mcf  × $  2.87 =       $545

────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Month total                                     $545

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. 10/G/43399 is the state's own key, not one this site invented.