Mineral and Surface Rights in Texas: Exam Guide

Texas is an oil, gas, and groundwater state, so this topic carries real weight here. The core idea is that land is not just the surface. A buyer can own the surface while a stranger owns the minerals below, and that split changes who controls what. Learn the split estate, the dominance rule, and the five mineral rights.

The split estate: surface and minerals

A split estate exists when the surface estate and the mineral estate of the same land are owned by different people. Minerals are severed by a reservation in a deed or by a separate mineral deed. Once severed, the surface owner and the mineral owner hold distinct property interests in the same tract.

Ownership of land runs from the sky down through the surface to the minerals below. Texas lets an owner sever the minerals from the surface, creating two separate estates in one tract. That is a split estate, and it is extremely common in Texas.

Severance happens two ways:

• Reservation. The seller conveys the surface but keeps the minerals, using a reservation in the deed.
• Mineral deed. The owner sells the minerals to someone else in a separate mineral deed, leaving the surface behind.

Once minerals are severed, they have their own chain of title. A buyer of the surface may get little or none of the minerals, which is why checking the mineral status is part of examining title. This vertical division of surface, air, and subsurface rights is the same idea introduced in the bundle of rights.

The mineral estate is the dominant estate

In Texas, when the mineral estate is severed from the surface, the mineral estate is dominant. Unless the governing deed, lease, or agreement says otherwise, the mineral owner has an implied right to use as much of the surface as is reasonably necessary to explore for and produce the minerals. The accommodation doctrine can require a different production method when its complete test is met.

This is the rule that surprises new agents. In a Texas split estate, the mineral estate is the dominant estate. The mineral owner holds an implied easement to use the surface as reasonably necessary to reach and produce the minerals. But the express deed, lease, or surface-use agreement controls first, and the implied right is limited by reasonableness and the accommodation doctrine.

The accommodation doctrine limits dominance

That dominance is not unlimited. In Getty Oil Co. v. Jones (1971), the Texas Supreme Court adopted the accommodation doctrine, later restated in Coyote Lake Ranch, LLC v. City of Lubbock (2016). When the documents do not resolve the issue, the surface owner must show that the mineral owner's proposed use completely precludes or substantially impairs an existing surface use, the surface owner has no reasonable alternative, and the mineral owner has a reasonable, customary, industry-accepted alternative that permits mineral recovery while allowing the existing surface use to continue. Parties often sign a surface use agreement to define drilling locations and protections. The mineral owner's surface right is a kind of implied easement, tempered by that complete test.

The five rights of a Texas mineral estate

Under Altman v. Blake, a Texas mineral estate has five separable attributes: the right to develop, the right to lease (the executive right), the right to receive bonus payments, the right to receive delay rentals, and the right to receive royalties. Each is a distinct property interest that can be conveyed or reserved on its own.

Texas treats the mineral estate as a bundle of five separate rights. The Texas Supreme Court laid them out in Altman v. Blake (1986), and any of them can be split off and owned separately.

Because these rights are separable, Texas ownership can get intricate. One person can hold the executive right while another collects the royalty, which creates a non-participating royalty interest, a right to royalty with no say in leasing. For the exam, the key is that the mineral estate is not one indivisible thing. It is five sticks, each of which can be conveyed or reserved.

The oil and gas lease and how owners get paid

An oil and gas lease is an agreement in which the mineral owner, the lessor, grants a company, the lessee, the right to explore and produce. The mineral owner is typically paid three ways: a bonus for signing, delay rentals to postpone drilling, and a royalty share of production. The lease has a primary term and continues so long as there is production.

Most Texas minerals are developed through an oil and gas lease. The mineral owner is the lessor, and the exploration company is the lessee. The lease gives the company the right to drill and produce, and it defines how the owner is paid.

The three classic lease payments

The three classic payments track three of the five mineral rights:

• Bonus. An up-front payment, usually per acre, for signing the lease.
• Delay rental. A payment that lets the company delay drilling during the primary term without ending the lease.
• Royalty. A share of production or its value, often between one-eighth and one-fourth. A royalty is generally free of production costs, but post-production deductions depend on the deed or lease language and Texas law.

Primary and secondary lease terms

A lease runs for a primary term of set years, then continues into a secondary term for as long as the well produces in paying quantities. The company's operating stake is the working interest, which bears the costs of drilling and production. You do not need every detail for the sales exam, but you should recognize the lessor and lessee roles and the three payment types.

Rule of capture and the Texas Railroad Commission

Under the rule of capture, a Texas operator who lawfully produces oil or gas from a well generally owns what the well brings to the surface, even if ordinary drainage crosses a subsurface boundary. The rule does not excuse trespass, waste, contract breaches, or regulatory violations. The Railroad Commission regulates spacing and production to prevent waste and protect correlative rights.

Oil and gas move underground, so Texas needed a rule for who owns what. The answer is the rule of capture. An operator who drills and produces lawfully generally owns the oil or gas brought up by the well, even if some migrated from a neighbor's tract. Ordinary lawful drainage alone generally creates no liability to the neighbor. Do not stretch that exam rule to trespass, waste, negligent operations, a breached deed or lease, or conduct prohibited by regulation.

The neighbor is not helpless. Their remedy is to drill their own well and capture their share, sometimes called the rule of go and do likewise. To keep this from turning into a free-for-all that wastes the resource, the Texas Railroad Commission regulates oil and gas. Despite its name, the Railroad Commission today mainly oversees oil and gas. It sets well spacing and production limits to prevent waste and protect each owner's correlative rights, meaning their fair share of a common reservoir.

Groundwater rights in Texas

Texas groundwater also follows a rule of capture, so a landowner may generally pump water from beneath their land even if it draws from a neighbor. In Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day, the Texas Supreme Court held that a landowner owns groundwater in place as a property interest. That right remains subject to common-law exceptions, groundwater-conservation-district rules, and other statutes. State water described by Water Code Section 11.021 is owned by the state and generally allocated by permit.

Water splits into two very different legal buckets in Texas, and the exam can test the difference.

Groundwater and the rule of capture

Groundwater, the water beneath the surface, follows a rule of capture much like oil and gas. A landowner may generally pump groundwater from under their land even if it affects a neighbor. But the rule has exceptions, including malicious pumping, willful waste, and negligent pumping that causes land subsidence, and pumping is regulated by groundwater conservation districts and other statutes. In Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day (2012), the Texas Supreme Court held that a landowner owns groundwater in place as a property interest, so regulation can raise a takings issue.

State water is treated differently

State water is different. Texas Water Code Section 11.021 places in the state the ordinary flow, underflow, and tides of every flowing river, natural stream, and lake, plus the other waters the section enumerates. Rights to appropriate state water generally operate through Chapter 11 permits, subject to statutory and historic exceptions. That is more precise than saying every drop on the surface or every private pond belongs to Texas. Historic riparian rights and seller disclosure of water service are covered in the Texas water rights guide. The exam-level contrast is groundwater capture versus state ownership and permitting of water in covered natural watercourses and lakes.

Mineral reservations in a Texas sale

Because Texas minerals are often severed, a seller may reserve all or part of the mineral estate when selling the surface. Texas uses the promulgated TREC Addendum for Reservation of Oil, Gas, and Other Minerals to document that reservation. The title commitment shows mineral reservations as exceptions, so a buyer knows whether the minerals convey.

For an agent, mineral rights are not just theory. Many Texas properties have severed minerals, so a residential or rural buyer may be getting the surface only.

When a seller wants to keep all or part of the minerals, Texas has a promulgated form for it: the TREC Addendum for Reservation of Oil, Gas, and Other Minerals. It is attached to the contract and spells out how much of the mineral estate the seller keeps and whether the seller waives the right to use the surface. The title commitment then lists prior mineral reservations as exceptions, and a survey and the deed history show what has already been severed. The practical takeaway for a buyer is simple: do not assume the minerals come with the land, and use the right addendum when the seller reserves them.

Common exam traps to remember

Mineral and surface questions punish a few confusions: forgetting the mineral estate is dominant, thinking minerals always convey with the surface, mixing up groundwater and surface water, and missing that the mineral estate has five separable rights.

• The mineral estate is dominant, not unlimited. The documents control first; implied surface use must be reasonably necessary and may be limited by the accommodation doctrine.
• Minerals do not always convey. In Texas they are often severed, so a surface buyer may get no minerals.
• Groundwater and state water use different systems. Groundwater is generally subject to capture and district regulation; water covered by Section 11.021 is state-owned and generally requires an appropriation right.
• The mineral estate has five rights. Develop, lease, bonus, delay rental, and royalty can each be owned separately.
• The Railroad Commission regulates oil and gas. Not railroads, despite the name.

You can drill these against timed Texas questions in the free practice test, and look up any unfamiliar term in the Texas real estate glossary.

Original practice questions

Use these to check yourself. They are written for practice and are not copied from any real exam.

Question 1. In a Texas split estate, the mineral owner and the surface owner disagree about placing a well. Whose estate is dominant?

• A) The surface estate
• B) The mineral estate
• C) Neither, they are equal
• D) Whoever bought first

Answer: B. In Texas, the severed mineral estate is dominant. The mineral owner has an implied right to use as much of the surface as reasonably necessary to produce the minerals, subject to the accommodation doctrine from Getty Oil v. Jones. (Original question.)

Question 2. Under Altman v. Blake, which of the following is one of the five rights of a Texas mineral estate?

• A) The right to zone the property
• B) The executive right to lease
• C) The right to a homestead exemption
• D) The right to prevent all surface use

Answer: B. The five rights are the right to develop, the right to lease (the executive right), the right to bonus, the right to delay rentals, and the right to royalty. The executive right to lease is one of them. (Original question.)

Question 3. A landowner drills a lawful well and produces gas, some of which migrated from beneath the neighbor's land. What does Texas law say?

• A) The landowner must pay the neighbor for the drained gas
• B) Under the rule of capture, ordinary lawful drainage generally creates no liability, subject to waste, trespass, contract, and regulatory limits
• C) The gas belongs to the state
• D) The well is illegal

Answer: B. Under the rule of capture, the producer generally owns oil or gas brought up by a lawful well, and ordinary drainage alone generally creates no liability. The doctrine does not excuse trespass, waste, contract breaches, or regulatory violations. The Railroad Commission regulates spacing and production to prevent waste and protect correlative rights. (Original question.)

Question 4. In Texas, who owns the water in a flowing river, and who may capture groundwater beneath their land?

• A) The landowner owns both
• B) The state owns river water, and the landowner may generally capture groundwater
• C) The state owns both
• D) The federal government owns both

Answer: B. Water Code Section 11.021 places the ordinary flow and underflow of Texas rivers and natural streams in the state, and appropriation generally requires a permit or other lawful right. Groundwater follows a rule of capture subject to exceptions and regulation, and under Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day the landowner owns it in place. (Original question.)

Frequently Asked Questions

For quick answers to every common Texas exam question, see the Texas real estate exam FAQ.

What is a split estate in Texas?

A split estate exists when the surface estate and the mineral estate of the same land are owned by different people. Minerals are severed by a reservation in a deed or by a separate mineral deed. After severance, the surface owner and the mineral owner hold separate property interests in the same tract, each with its own chain of title.

Is the mineral estate or the surface estate dominant in Texas?

The mineral estate is dominant, but that does not erase the governing documents or the surface owner's protections. The deed, lease, and express agreements control first. The implied surface-use right extends only to use reasonably necessary for production. Under the accommodation doctrine, the surface owner must establish substantial impairment of an existing use, no reasonable alternative for that surface use, and a reasonable customary industry method available to the mineral owner that allows both production and continuation of the surface use.

What are the five rights of a Texas mineral estate?

Under Altman v. Blake, the five separable rights are the right to develop, the right to lease (the executive right), the right to receive bonus payments, the right to receive delay rentals, and the right to receive royalties. Each is a distinct property interest that can be conveyed or reserved on its own.

What is the rule of capture in Texas?

The rule of capture says an operator generally owns oil or gas brought to the surface by a lawful well even if ordinary drainage crossed a subsurface boundary. Ordinary lawful drainage alone generally creates no liability. The rule does not protect trespass, waste, contract breaches, or regulatory violations. The Railroad Commission regulates spacing and production to prevent waste and protect correlative rights.

Who owns groundwater in Texas?

Under the rule of capture, a Texas landowner may generally pump groundwater from beneath the land even if it affects a neighbor. In Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day, the Texas Supreme Court held that a landowner owns groundwater in place as a property interest. Common-law exceptions and groundwater-conservation-district or statutory limits still apply. Water Code Section 11.021 state water, by contrast, is owned by the state and generally allocated through Chapter 11.

Do mineral rights transfer when I buy a house in Texas?

Not always. Texas minerals are frequently severed, so a buyer may receive only the surface estate. A seller can reserve the minerals using the TREC Addendum for Reservation of Oil, Gas, and Other Minerals, and the title commitment lists prior mineral reservations as exceptions. Never assume the minerals convey with the surface without checking.

Sources and Methodology

This article was reviewed against Texas primary sources on August 12, 2026. Getty Oil and the Texas Supreme Court's Coyote Lake Ranch opinion supply the dominant-estate and complete accommodation-doctrine framework. Texas Supreme Court authority identifies the five separable mineral attributes and the limits of capture. Texas Water Code Chapters 11 and 36 address state water, groundwater ownership, rule-of-capture defenses, and district regulation. Railroad Commission rules limit oil and gas operations to prevent waste and protect correlative rights. The TREC mineral-reservation addendum documents a negotiated reservation in covered sales. Case law, statutes, forms, and regulatory requirements can change, so verify current official sources.

Official Source Links

• Texas Supreme Court, Coyote Lake Ranch v. City of Lubbock
• Texas Supreme Court, five separable mineral-estate rights
• Texas Supreme Court opinions, including Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day
• Texas Water Code Chapter 11 (state water)
• Texas Water Code Chapter 36 (groundwater)
• TREC: Addendum for Reservation of Oil, Gas, and Other Minerals
• Railroad Commission of Texas: current oil and gas rules

This post is educational content for Texas real estate sales agent candidates. It is not legal advice. Mineral, surface, and water rights in a real transaction depend on the deeds, leases, and current law, and Texas oil and gas law is complex, so confirm the current Texas statutes and Texas case law and consult a licensed attorney before you rely on any point in a real situation.