Maybe. StateImpact Texas is reporting on a recent hearing before the Texas House Energy Resources Committee debating that very question. Regarding proposed legislation, "It means that the Railroad Commission of Texas would be able to designate areas for drilling in which the holders of a majority of mineral rights in the area can extract oil and gas, even if a minority of the holders does not want to. That designation would be made at the request of property owners or companies that hold the leases to the mineral rights. *** In Taylor’s bill, the number is split 70/30. That means if holders of 70 percent of the mineral rights in an area agree, drillers can move forward with “operations intended to increase the ultimate recovery of oil, gas or oil and gas from a common source of supply,” according to the bill, even if the other 30 percent are opposed."
Stay tuned.