It's still good to be in the Oil Bidness!

I was reminded of this post when the royalty check arrived in the mail today.

Texas is known primarily for two things - oil and cattle. So if you want to be a true Texan it stands to reason that you need a ranch with some cattle on it and a few pump jacks scattered around the lower 40.

Well, I'm still working on the ranch, though I think the box of steaks in the freezer ought to count for something. But I've got the oil well down pat. Lease 326, Pace Unit, Stephens County Texas. That's my oil well.

Okay, it's mine and a bunch of other folks, too. I know that because my share is .00084151 percent. Ya'll, I admit that that's not a very big slice, but it's enough to receive a couple of royalty payment checks a year, and added all together it's enough to have to report on IRS Schedule E, less my 15% depletion, well-head taxes and the Property Tax bill from Mrs. Terry Sullivan, Stephens County Tax Assessor and Collector. Being in the Oil Bidness is complicated; I can just imagine how it will be when I get my ranch.

So how did I end up with 0.00084151 percent of an oil well in Stephens County Texas? Like most oilmen today, I inherited it from my Daddy, the Oil Baron. It was under the family house in Breckenridge Texas, that oil was discovered, or rediscovered, or remembered, or they finally got around to (along with a bunch of his neighbors). Him being a true Texan through and through, he was more interested in preserving the pristine grandeur of his sweeping back yard, but they finally assured him that any environmental impact was going to be several miles north on Park Street and slant-well drilling was the answer to the petroleum industry's problems. And there you have it. Instant 0.00252453 of a millionaire!

So now, when I pull up to the gas pump and contemplate paying $2.49 3.15 a gallon for gasoline, I think to myself, "Yes, but crude is up to $70 86.47 a barrel. The royalty check is probably up another .06 .10 cents!"

It's good to be in the Oil Bidness.

Eureka!

I have mentioned before that if you are a true Texan, you should be in the oil bidness - even if it is only a .00084151 percent share. But every time I received a royalty check I wondered just where my well was physically located. I tried calling Ridge Oil, being such an important lease holder of theirs and such, to ask if they could help me locate the well. The nice lady who answered the phone must have been in awe of an important lease holder calling, because she just sort of didn't have much to say, except that "it was in Stephens County somewhere."

Well, I knew that Ma'am, but just where in Stephens County? A lot of holes have been punched in that county, starting with the big boom back in 1916, and there are pump jacks all over the place! Where was mine?

Then, in the great picture search, I uncovered this photo:

On the back, in my father's handwriting is "Oil well at Breckenridge." I know of no other reason for a picture of a drilling rig to be in the family pictures unless it is the oil well that was poised to bring untold wealth to the family. At last, there was visual evidence of where the well was. But just where was that picture taken?

I spent several hours virtually driving up and down the streets of Breckinridge by way of Google Street maps, and never located it. It had to be somewhat close to the homestead, but for the life of me I could not find those buildings. For good reason, it turns out. Because they are no longer there! I sent a copy of the picture to a friend who still lives in Breckenridge, and he circulated it among his family, and finally his wife figured out that the L & L Family Restaurant now occupies this land, at the northwest corner of the intersection of West Walker and North Live Oak Street. Originally, the building with the tall column in the picture is where Polly's Flower Shop used to be.  The building on the left had the Cabbage Patch, The Dandelion and Dolores's Hair Fashion; it was called the Corner Village - none of which stands today. Thank you Houston and Sally!

Sure enough, back to Google Street View, jog up Live Oak and turn west at the corner of West Elm, and there - in plain sight - is my oil well! Eureka!

I feel so much better now that I know I can go look at my well anytime I want to bask in the glow of being in the oil bidness. Keep on pumping.

The Oil Bidness

Texas is known primarily for two things - oil and cattle. So if you want to be a true Texan it stands to reason that you need a ranch with some cattle on it and a few pump jacks scattered around the lower 40.

Well, I'm still working on the ranch, though I think the box of steaks in the freezer ought to count for something. But I've got the oil well down pat. Lease 326, Pace Unit, Stephens County Texas. That's my oil well.

Okay, it's mine and a bunch of other folks, too. I know that because my share is .00084151 percent. Ya'll, I admit that that's not a very big slice, but it's enough to receive a couple of royalty payment checks a year, and added all together it's enough to have to report on IRS Schedule E, less my 15% depletion, well-head taxes and the Property Tax bill from Mrs. Terry Sullivan, Stephens County Tax Assessor and Collector. Being in the Oil Bidness is complicated; I can just imagine how it will be when I get my ranch.

So how did I end up with 0.00084151 percent of an oil well in Stephens County Texas? Like most oilmen today, I inherited it from my Daddy, the Oil Baron. It was under the family house in Breckenridge Texas, that oil was discovered, or rediscovered, or remembered, or they finally got around to (along with a bunch of his neighbors). Him being a true Texan through and through, he was more interested in preserving the pristine grandeur of his sweeping back yard, but they finally assured him that any environmental impact was going to be several miles north on Park Street and slant-well drilling was the answer to the petroleum industry's problems. And there you have it. Instant 0.00252453 of a millionaire!

So now, when I pull up to the gas pump and contemplate paying $2.49 a gallon for gasoline, I think to myself, "Yes, but crude is up to $70 a barrel. The royalty check is probably up another .06 cents!"

It's good to be in the Oil Bidness.