Bowie County, Texas
Sell Mineral Rights in Bowie County, Texas
Far northeast corner of the state. Small-operator country, Machin & Associates has kept a steady permit pace here since 2023.
Producing formations: Paluxy, Rodessa
Where Bowie County sits
Both oil and gas. Older oil production with gas underneath it. All twenty-three counties we buy in are shaded; click one to open it.
The history of oil and gas in Bowie County
1944: the last corner, and the latest to the party
Bowie County sits in the far northeast corner of Texas, where the state meets Arkansas and Louisiana. It found oil last among its neighbors, fourteen years after the East Texas Field, and it has never produced much. What it has is a small, persistent industry and interests nobody has looked at in decades.
Texarkana, and an economy that was never about oil
Bowie County's economy was built on the railroad and on Texarkana, a city split down the middle by a state line. During the Second World War the county filled with military installations, the Red River Army Depot and the Lone Star Ammunition Plant, which mattered far more to employment here than any oil well ever did.
1944
Oil was discovered in Bowie County in 1944, in the middle of that wartime boom, when national demand for crude was effectively unlimited.
Even so it stayed small. From 1944 through the end of 2000, cumulative production was 5,821,773 barrels, about what Gregg County made in ten days at its 1931 peak. The county produced roughly 221,500 barrels of oil and 331,712 cubic feet of gas-well gas in 2000.
Oil and gas took its place alongside agribusiness and forestry in the county's economic base without ever dominating it.
Small-operator country
This is not a county where the majors work. Machin & Associates, Inc. has held the bulk of recent permitting, roughly ten of the most recent permits between 2023 and 2025, including the Elliott 1 in September 2025. Mertz Energy Texas permitted the Bessie 2 and Bessie 2ST in 2024, and TV Operating the Gray Owl 1 in late 2023.
These are one- and two-well operators making a living in a county the big companies drove past.
Why we still work this county
Two honest reasons.
Bowie County is in Railroad Commission District 6, and we buy every county in District 6. We do not pick and choose the good ones and tell people in the others to call somebody else.
And low activity has a second effect worth understanding: nobody is competing for these interests. The mail that floods Midland and Carthage does not come here. If your family holds minerals in Bowie County, you have probably never been offered on, and the interest may still be worth having a number for.
What to know if you own here
- Expect a modest number and expect us to say so. We are not going to describe a five-million-barrel county as something it is not.
- Interests here are often long-dormant. Non-producing minerals, old reservations, estates never probated.
- The paperwork may exceed the value. Sometimes the right advice is to keep it, and we will give you that advice.
Sources: Handbook of Texas (Texas State Historical Association) county and field entries; American Oil & Gas Historical Society; Texas Almanac; Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas energy research; Railroad Commission of Texas permit and completion records as published through texas-drilling.com and the weekly drilling reports of the Longview News-Journal and Tyler Morning Telegraph. Verified August 2026.
Who is operating in Bowie County
These operators have filed permits or completions in Bowie County with the Railroad Commission. If your check comes from one of them, we already know the wells.
- Machin & Associates
- Mertz Energy Texas
- TV Operating
What we buy in Bowie County
Mineral rights, royalty interests, overriding royalty, non-participating royalty, non-operated working interest, and non-producing minerals. There is no size limit in either direction. We buy a single interest in one unit and we buy whole family positions.
If your piece feels too small to bother with, call anyway. Small interests in the same tract usually belong to relatives, and we would rather work with the whole family at once.
How an offer gets made
You call or fill out the form. We pull the county records, the appraisal district roll and the Railroad Commission production history ourselves. Within three business days you get a specific cash number in writing and a plain explanation of how we got there. If we think you should hold, we say that too. We cover title, recording and closing, and you keep every royalty check until the day we close.
Call or text (936) 289-3438 Or email offers@longleafmineralco.com
Bowie County questions
What formations produce in Bowie County?
The producing formations we track in Bowie County are the Paluxy and Rodessa. In short: both oil and gas. Older oil production with gas underneath it. Ask your operator or check your division order to see which formation your own check comes from.
Who operates wells in Bowie County?
Operators that have filed permits or completions in Bowie County with the Texas Railroad Commission include Machin & Associates, Mertz Energy Texas and TV Operating. If your check comes from one of them, we already know the wells. You can also look up any well yourself in the Railroad Commission's public records.
What should I check before selling minerals in Bowie County?
Expect a modest number and expect us to say so. We are not going to describe a five-million-barrel county as something it is not. Interests here are often long-dormant. Non-producing minerals, old reservations, estates never probated. The paperwork may exceed the value. Sometimes the right advice is to keep it, and we will give you that advice. If any of that is unclear, call or text us and we will look it up with you for free. We also buy in the counties that border Bowie County: Red River County, Titus County, Morris County and Cass County.
Other counties we buy in
Own minerals next door too? We also buy in the counties that border Bowie County: Red River County, Titus County, Morris County, Cass County.