Landowner Rights
Geopressured geothermal rights for landowners.
Under Texas law, geothermal resources and geopressured water belong to the surface owner unless expressly severed. New purpose-drilled projects bring modern surface protections.
The Texas statutory default: Section 141.004
In traditional oil and gas law, mineral rights frequently dominate the surface estate. However, the Texas Geothermal Resources Act establishes a distinct statutory framework. Under Texas Natural Resources Code Section 141.004(a):
Except as otherwise expressly provided by a conveyance, contract, deed, reservation, exception, limitation, lease, or other binding obligation, the geothermal energy and associated resources below the surface of land are owned as real property by: (1) the landowner; or (2) if the surface estate and the mineral estate of the land have been severed, the owner of the surface estate of the land.
Unless a historical deed specifically severed and reserved geothermal heat or subsurface water, the right to lease and monetize geopressured brines remains with the surface owner.
New purpose-drilled wells protect your property
Reusing aged oilfield wellbores introduces mechanical hazards: corroded casing, degraded cement, and legacy plugging liabilities. Commercial geopressured projects drill new, purpose-built wells that provide vastly superior environmental protection:
- Freshwater Aquifer Protection: New wells install heavy steel surface casing cemented completely from setting depth back to the surface, creating an impenetrable physical barrier across all potable water zones.
- High-Pressure Metallurgy: Purpose-engineered production strings use premium corrosion-resistant alloys capable of handling continuous hot brine flow without structural degradation.
- Closed-Loop Reinjection: Produced brine is returned into deep, isolated saline formations via dedicated Class II injection wells, ensuring zero surface discharge.
Key Surface Use Agreement (SUA) provisions
Before any drilling rig mobilizes, landowners negotiate a formal Surface Use Agreement. Essential protections include:
- Defined Footprint & Setbacks: Confining drilling pads, plant facilities, and access roads to mutually agreed acreage, maintaining strict buffer distances from homes, barns, and livestock ponds.
- Water Protection & Monitoring: Requiring baseline and ongoing laboratory water testing of all domestic water wells within the project vicinity.
- Commercial Compensation: Structuring fair market payments for surface location damages, road use, pipeline easements, and annual facility site leases.
- Remediation Bonding: Requiring developers to maintain commercial bonds to guarantee complete site cleanup, well plugging, and pasture restoration upon project completion.
Royalties on heat and co-produced gas
Geopressured water produces two revenue streams: geothermal heat (which can generate electricity or provide industrial process heat) and dissolved natural gas (20 to 50 scf per barrel). Landowners can negotiate royalty participation reflecting both the thermal energy value and the commercial natural gas sales.