{"id":259277,"date":"2026-04-21T09:47:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/259277\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T09:47:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:47:33","slug":"low-producing-oil-wells-cause-headaches-for-texas-landowners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/259277\/","title":{"rendered":"Low-producing oil wells cause headaches for Texas landowners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

TOM GREEN COUNTY \u2014 Some Texas oil wells gush hundreds of barrels of oil a day. But many are like the wells on Jackie Chesnutt\u2019s ranch in West Texas that only trickle out a couple barrels a month.<\/p>\n

Chesnutt, a retired engineer, claims the five wells operating on her ranch are out of compliance with state rules and should be shut down. The company, CORE Petro, says that it\u2019s struggling to break even, let alone pay to plug the wells. But it says that all its wells are in compliance. <\/p>\n

There are thousands of oil and gas wells around Texas like these: low-producing wells leased by companies operating on a shoestring. About two-thirds of the active oil wells in Texas, or 99,000 wells, produce less than 10 barrels of oil a day, according to the state regulator. To remain active, oil wells in Texas must produce at least five barrels for three consecutive months or at least one barrel for 12 consecutive months. <\/p>\n

Companies will often maintain a minimal amount of oil production instead of plugging a well, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Landowners like Chesnutt argue that this pattern can lead to pollution and burdensome equipment on their land. <\/p>\n

Oil industry analysts and environmental advocates say they have heard claims that companies report the bare minimum of oil production to avoid plugging wells. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe wells on the lease are all producing,\u201d said Railroad Commission spokesperson Bryce Dubee.<\/p>\n

Advocates of reforming the oil and gas industry say that stricter rules are needed to ensure companies plug wells in a timely manner and assume the costs so that it does not fall to the state.<\/p>\n

\"JackieJackie Chesnutt on her property in Tom Green County. She has documented pollution from oil wells and filed complaints with state regulators. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

In a 2022 report<\/a> on Texas\u2019 orphan well problem, the nonprofit organization Commission Shift wrote companies should not be able to \u201cindefinitely \u2018produce\u2019 a teaspoon of crude or a cubic foot of gas simply to avoid paying for decommissioning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas has more than 159,000 inactive wells<\/a>. If the operator of an inactive well goes out of business, the unplugged well eventually becomes an orphan. Texas is facing a record-high backlog of more than 11,000 orphan wells. <\/p>\n

Chesnutt is the rare landowner who is fighting back against this broken system. The 69-year-old and her now-deceased husband bought the 375-acre property outside San Angelo in 1998. After retiring from a career working at a pharmaceutical company in San Angelo, she now tends goats and sheep on the ranch.<\/p>\n

Her complaints to the Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas, have gone nowhere, she said. She has resorted to shutting off power to CORE Petro\u2019s wells because she says they are out of compliance with state production rules. CORE Petro responds that it\u2019s Chesnutt who is breaking the law by shutting off power and, without electricity, they have no way to produce oil at the wells. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re between a rock and hard place,\u201d said Cassie Ohlhausen, who runs CORE Petro with her husband, Kent. \u201cWe\u2019re not financially able to plug a bunch of oil wells. That\u2019s not why we\u2019re in this business. We\u2019re in this business to produce oil wells.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JackieJackie Chesnutt feels underneath a tank for rust on its base. It\u2019s part of a tank battery operated by CORE Petro on Chesnutt\u2019s property near Knickerbocker. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

Chesnutt\u2019s growing frustration has spilled over into confrontations with CORE Petro and commission staff. The Railroad Commission alleges that Chesnutt physically assaulted staff members and endangered them with aggressive driving. The agency has instructed her to put all communications in writing to avoid future incidents. The owners of CORE Petro say she has threatened them with a gun. Chesnutt disputes these claims.<\/p>\n

The Railroad Commission declined to answer numerous questions about the oil lease on Chesnutt\u2019s ranch. Instead, commission staff provided a letter sent to Chesnutt that described altercations with staff members. The Railroad Commission has not issued any fines to CORE Petro.<\/p>\n

New company takes over wells<\/p>\n

Chesnutt\u2019s ranch is one small window into the vast problem of Texas\u2019 aging oil assets. Existing financial mechanisms are not enough to retire the thousands of low-producing oil wells littered across the Texas countryside. The problem eventually falls to the state or becomes a thorn in the side of landowners like Chesnutt. <\/p>\n

Persimmon Creek Ranch lays where the desert scrubland of the Trans Pecos region meets the rocky woodlands of the Texas Hill Country. The ranch, about 200 miles northwest of Austin, gets its name from the native persimmons she collects to make preserves.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the biggest things we have focused on out here since we\u2019ve bought the place is water, water, water,\u201d she said. Chesnutt relies on a windmill-operated well to provide water for her residence and animals.<\/p>\n

Chesnutt\u2019s home office displays professional mementos, including her diploma from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was an early female graduate of the engineering program. She now applies an engineer\u2019s attention to detail to investigating the drilling operations on her property.<\/p>\n

Chesnutt holds 50% of the mineral rights on the property, meaning she receives a share of profits from the wells. This has amounted to only a few hundred dollars in royalties every couple months in recent years. This money is hardly worth the trouble the wells have caused, she said. She riffled through documents on a sunny fall afternoon, her dog Einstein asleep at her side. <\/p>\n

\"JackieJackie Chesnutt looks through documents pertaining to oil wells located on her property, many of which have leaked, on Nov. 18, 2025. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

\"AA certificate showing Jackie Chesnutt\u2019s registration as a professional engineer sits next to other mementos from her career in her home office. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

\"JackieChesnutt\u2019s dog, Einstein, rests on a sofa at her home in Knickerbocker. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

While the lease was operated by a previous company, Amor Petroleum, Well #10 had been shut down for lack of production. That left only four producing wells.<\/p>\n

Then CORE Petro took over the lease in 2021. Chesnutt says that is when the problems started. <\/p>\n

Once a well is inactive, the operator has 12 months to plug it or obtain an extension. The clock started ticking for CORE Petrol to get Well #10 producing again. CORE Petro reported a small amount of production at the well to bring it back to active status. <\/p>\n

Chesnutt said that the company caused numerous spills in their attempts to get oil flowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made a big mess of it,\u201d she said, showing photos of spills of oil and produced water, a hazardous byproduct of drilling. Chesnutt fears the spills could contaminate her groundwater and has paid to get her water tested multiple times.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have worked our asses off to make this place wonderful and beautiful,\u201d she said. \u201cI refuse to accept that the next person is going to have this happen to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA windmill supplies water on Jackie Chesnutt\u2019s property. She worries that pollution from oil wells could pollute the groundwater she relies on. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

The Railroad Commission issued CORE Petro multiple violations for unpermitted disposal of oil and gas waste, or spills, at the lease. But each time, the violation was later resolved without the company paying fines.<\/p>\n

\u201cRRC records indicate four pollution violations for this lease,\u201d said Dubee, the Railroad Commission spokesperson. \u201cIn each instance the operator was notified and upon reinspection all violations have been fixed on the lease indicating compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n

CORE\u2019s Ohlhausen said that some amount of spillage is to be expected and that the company always cleaned up the spills.<\/p>\n

But Chesnutt\u2019s frustrations only grew. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat has really blown my mind about this is that we have to follow one set of rules in industry,\u201d Chesnutt told Inside Climate News. \u201dBut the oil companies, they allow them to just come out here and do whatever the hell they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

By her account, only one of the wells on her property has produced oil in years. But CORE Petro reports ongoing production at all the active wells. The Railroad Commission requires well testing to prove wells are producing oil. CORE Petro\u2019s most recent well testing, in 2025, shows each well producing less than one barrel a day. <\/p>\n

\"APaul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

\"JackieJackie Chesnutt points to a leaky oil pipe next to a CORE Petro tank battery on her property near Knickerbocker. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

Chesnutt claimed the company is falsifying production numbers to keep the wells operating. The company denies this claim. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe operators can fill in any information they want and nobody checks them,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable. I\u2019m really sad that the Permian Basin and all these areas are like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conflicts at Chestnutt\u2019s ranch<\/p>\n

Operators submit monthly reports to the Railroad Commission of how much oil is produced and how much is stored at each lease. While the state rules require every well to be actively producing oil, production reports are only required for the entire lease, not individual wells. Inside Climate News found inconsistencies between public records of oil production and inspections at the lease. <\/p>\n

On July 2, 2025, a truck picked up oil from the ranch and recorded the level of oil in the tank afterward, according to a commission inspection report. A Railroad Commission inspector visited the site on Sept. 16. He noted that the amount of oil in the tank hadn\u2019t changed since July 2.<\/p>\n

\"OnOn Sep. 16, 2024, Railroad Commission inspectors documented leaks at Well #2 on Chesnutt\u2019s ranch. Courtesy of the Railroad Commission of Texas<\/p>\n

\"OnAn additional photo of the pollution from the Sep. 16, 2024, Railroad Commission inspection. Courtesy of the Railroad Commission of Texas<\/p>\n

But in the intervening months, CORE reported producing 10 barrels in July and another 15 barrels in August. The company was reporting production on paper but the volume of the tank did not rise, according to the RRC inspection. <\/p>\n

The Railroad Commission declined to answer questions about this and it does not appear the agency has investigated the discrepancy. Cassie Ohlhausen said that the company uses an auxiliary tank to collect the oil. Once it is full, the oil is transported to the tank battery, a large metal tank that stores oil. She said this could explain why the tank battery did not rise even though oil was being produced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reporting of production is accurate and is done by a third party who tracks our oil sales and inputs those numbers into the RRC system,\u201d Ohlhausen said.<\/p>\n

Inside Climate News observed an auxiliary tank at only one well. Any oil produced at the other wells would have to flow directly into the tank battery.<\/p>\n

Commission documents reveal other inconsistencies. On Feb. 7, 2025, the Railroad Commission issued a violation to CORE Petro that said Well #9 was an \u201cinactive unplugged well.\u201d However, the next time the inspector visited the site, the well was determined to be compliant. The Railroad Commission declined to respond to questions about this.<\/p>\n

\"PicturesPhotos of the three Railroad Commissioners of Texas hang in the office in San Angelo. From left: Wayne Christian, Jim Wright and Christi Craddick. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

Property owners have little recourse other than reporting the problems to the Railroad Commission. Chesnutt feels the Railroad Commission is ignoring her complaints about CORE Petro.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot one single acknowledgement that [the wells] should be plugged,\u201d she said of her interactions with the state agency. \u201cI\u2019ve had resistance on even cleaning up the spills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Chesnutt\u2019s behavior has alarmed Railroad Commission staff. An attorney for the agency sent a letter to Chesnutt on Oct. 31, 2024. The letter states that she \u201cverbally threatened and physically assaulted Commission staff\u201d and \u201cengaged in reckless and aggressive driving,\u201d threatening the safety of commission staff. The letter also says that she told commission staff of her \u201cintent to commit several violent crimes\u201d against CORE Petro\u2019s employees.<\/p>\n

Chesnutt disputes the commission\u2019s characterizations. \u201cI don\u2019t know, because I\u2019ve never assaulted anyone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Tom Green County Sheriff\u2019s Office has responded to calls from Chesnutt, Kent Ohlhausen and the Railroad Commission about incidents at the ranch, according to call sheets. The Railroad Commission requested the sheriff\u2019s office be on \u201cstandby\u201d when visiting Chesnutt\u2019s property. <\/p>\n

Commission inspectors have also noted in inspection reports that Chesnutt is turning off power to wells on her property. Chesnutt maintains that the wells pose a fire hazard and she is within her rights to turn them off. State rules require electricity be disconnected at inactive wells. Electrical lines for oil wells were blamed for starting devastating wildfires<\/a> in the Texas Panhandle in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"JackieJackie Chesnutt points to an oil well operated by CORE Petro on her property near Knickerbocker. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

\"JackieJackie Chesnutt holds a piece of soil hardened from the produced water of an oil well. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

\"JackieChesnutt photographs a leaky oil well on her property in November 2025. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

In response to the regulator\u2019s claims of her \u201creckless driving,\u201d Chesnutt said that last October she saw a Railroad Commission truck on the road leading to her ranch. She was driving in the opposite direction, so she did a U-turn and flashed her headlights to get the driver\u2019s attention. She asked him to pull over and asked if he was headed to her property, because she was waiting for an inspector. <\/p>\n

CORE\u2019s Ohlhausen said that Chesnutt has threatened their staff multiple times.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the wells produce at some point or another until she goes and turns them off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t afford a lawsuit, but we have every right to call the sheriff and the justice of the peace and have her stand down on turning our oil wells off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe oil well undertaker\u201d<\/p>\n

CORE Petro specializes in operating aging, low-producing wells, Ohlhauser explains, noting that her husband Kent is called \u201cthe oil well undertaker\u201d because he works with \u201cend of life wells.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the ones that end up with what they call the stripper wells that have already been stripped of all their oil,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re just producing a bit of oil every day to keep somebody alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kent Ohlhausen owns several other oil companies. Many of the leases he operates meet the bare minimum requirement of one barrel of oil production a month for 12 consecutive months. For example, the Olhausen Oil Company\u2019s Ohlhausen, W.T. lease reported one barrel of oil production for each month between April 2023 to April 2024. The same company\u2019s Barker C.P. lease reported one barrel of oil production every month December 2023 to January 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe literally work seven days a week, producing stripper oils,\u201d his wife said. \u201cWe just eke out a little bit of money and that\u2019s just fine with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company paid a $50,000 bond to the state of Texas to cover plugging costs if they went out of business. But Ohlhausen said that, even if they wanted to, they wouldn\u2019t be able to plug all their wells.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes the money is not there,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t take investors. We are just Kent and Cassie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Complaints reflect broader problems<\/p>\n

Texas is dedicating more money than ever to plugging orphan wells. But the number of orphan wells continues to climb. Many of the marginal wells that continue producing when their owners do not have the means to plug them eventually become orphan wells.<\/p>\n

\u201cOperators will often produce a de minimis amount of hydrocarbons to stay out of inactive status,\u201d said Adam Peltz, a senior attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund. \u201dThis is widely abused.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peltz said that properly identifying inactive wells is important because it creates an \u201cearly warning system\u201d for regulators. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery marginal well eventually becomes an inactive well. And many inactive wells become orphan wells,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason why the public should bear the risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Mexico is in the process of reforming its bonding system for oil and gas wells. The proposed rule changes<\/a> would classify wells that produce less than 90 barrels of oil a year as of \u201cno beneficial use\u201d and require them to be plugged. <\/p>\n

Peltz said these changes would reduce the likelihood that the state would end up paying to plug the wells.<\/p>\n

The Railroad Commission is also developing new rules for inactive wells following the passage of Senate Bill 1150 in 2025. The law requires plugging wells that are more than 25 years old and have been inactive for at least 15 years, unless they qualify for certain exemptions. <\/p>\n

The Inflation Reduction Act created a $350 million fund for plugging marginal conventional wells to reduce methane emissions. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality received the largest grant from the program, of $134 million. <\/p>\n

The methane reduction program falls under the TCEQ, as the state agency that regulates air emissions from industry. The program is \u201ccurrently in development\u201d and staff are preparing to issue a request for grant applications to prioritize and select wells for plugging, according to a TCEQ spokesperson. <\/p>\n

The program will rely on operators volunteering to plug their wells. <\/p>\n

The program could help companies like CORE Petro plug wells that otherwise might end up orphaned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was a grant for us to plug wells, we\u2019d be plugging wells all day,\u201d Cassie Ohlhausen said. \u201cBecause we know that we own holes that are not gonna ever be viable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Disclosure: Environmental Defense Fund and the University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete\u00a0list of them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn aerial view of Chesnutt\u2019s property in Tom Green County on Nov. 18, 2025. She has owned the ranch for nearly three decades and worked to increase tree cover and provide wildlife habitat. Paul Ratje for Inside Climate News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy, and give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6084,3812,27,29,28,8124,97225],"class_list":{"0":"post-259277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-oil-and-natural-gas","9":"tag-san-angelo","10":"tag-texas","11":"tag-texas-headlines","12":"tag-texas-news","13":"tag-texas-railroad-commission","14":"tag-tom-green-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}