Investment Regions: Where We Operate and Why Geography Determines Your Investment Outcome

Basin selection is one of the most consequential decisions in private oil investing — yet it receives far less attention than program-level due diligence. Two programs with identical IDC percentages, identical operator track records, and identical investment amounts can produce dramatically different investor outcomes based solely on which basin they operate in — because of state tax treatment, infrastructure density, regulatory environment, and geological risk profiles. Texas Oil Investments focuses primarily on Texas-based programs for reasons that compound: zero state income tax on production income, the RRC's unmatched transparency database, the Permian Basin's infrastructure density and geological certainty, and the stability of Texas energy policy over more than a century. We monitor other major domestic basins and may facilitate access to programs in other regions when specific opportunities meet our evaluation criteria.

Every oil-producing state levies a severance tax — a production tax assessed on the oil and gas extracted from the state's land. This tax is deducted at the well level before investor distributions are calculated, making it an LOE-like cost that directly reduces net revenue. Understanding the severance tax rate in the basin where you're investing is part of the basic economics calculation:

When our industry partners propose programs in basins outside our primary Texas focus, we apply the same five-factor evaluation framework we use for Texas programs: development vs. exploratory well classification, operator regulatory database verification (OCC for Oklahoma, NDIC for North Dakota), breakeven economics at conservative pricing, itemized AFE with IDC/TDC detail, and energy sponsor co-investment or alignment of interest. The additional factor for non-Texas basins is regulatory database accessibility. The Texas RRC sets the gold standard — any program in another basin should be evaluated using that state's equivalent public production database. Oklahoma's OCC database and North Dakota's NDIC provide similar data but with different depth of history and accessibility. We help investors understand how to use these databases for programs in our network regardless of basin location.

Texas Oil Investments does not operate wells, manage funds, or act as a broker-dealer. Our role is to help accredited investors understand oil and gas investment regions, provide education around the opportunity, and facilitate introductions to vetted projects through our network of experienced energy industry partners. The operators and energy sponsors we work with structure and manage the investments, bringing decades of technical expertise. Our focus is access, education, and strategic connections — helping investors evaluate opportunities with experienced professionals while maintaining full transparency about our role.