ABSTRACT
Texas lacks a compulsory unitization statute, but the Railroad Commission and the courts have forged a legal framework that has nonetheless encouraged—sometimes through not-so-subtle coercion—the unitization of many oil and gas fields in Texas. It is impossible to estimate statistically how much additional production is directly attributable to Railroad Commission field orders designed to force operators to voluntarily agree to unitize. But an assessment of the extent to which Texas oil fields are actually unitized, especially in comparision with those of Louisiana and Oklahoma, will provide some perspective on the effectiveness of Texas’ unique approach to unitization and on the ultimate question of whether a compulsory unitization statute is needed to maximize Texas resource potential.
