How to Track Your Competitors' Drilling Activity (Without Paying $20K/Year)

You know what your competitors are doing matters. When EOG starts permitting wells three sections over, you want to know about it. When a private equity-backed operator starts quietly assembling acreage in your area, that's intelligence you can use.

The problem: enterprise competitive intelligence tools cost $15,000-$25,000 per year. For a major or large independent, that's a rounding error. For a smaller operator running 20-50 wells, it's a line item that's hard to justify—especially when you're not sure what you'd actually get for the money.

Here's the good news: most competitive intelligence data is public. The state regulatory agencies publish permit filings, completion reports, and production data. The challenge is aggregating it, making it searchable, and turning raw filings into actionable information.

This guide walks through your options—from free DIY approaches to paid tools—and helps you figure out what makes sense for your operation.

Why Competitive Intelligence Matters

Before we dive into the how, let's establish the why. What decisions does competitor tracking actually inform?

If you're not using competitive intelligence for at least two or three of these purposes, you're probably leaving value on the table. The question is finding the right approach for your scale.

Free Public Sources: State Regulatory Agencies

Every major oil and gas state publishes drilling permit data. The quality and accessibility varies, but the information is there if you're willing to dig.

Texas Railroad Commission (RRC)

The RRC is actually one of the better state systems for data access. Here's what you can find:

• Drilling Permits (Form W-1): New permits are posted daily on the RRC's public GIS viewer. You can search by county, operator, or API number.
• Completion Reports (Form W-2): Filed within 30 days of completion, these include formation, perforated intervals, and initial test rates.
• Production Data: Monthly production by lease, with about a 2-month lag. Available through the RRC's Production Data Query system.

The catch: The interface is clunky. There's no native alerting—you have to manually check. And the production data is by lease, not by well, which makes individual well analysis harder.

New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (OCD)

New Mexico has modernized significantly in recent years. The OCD's online portal lets you search permits, completions, and production by API, operator, or location.

• APDs (Applications for Permit to Drill): Searchable database with location, operator, and proposed depth
• Well Records: Completion data including perforation intervals and cement details
• Production Reports: Monthly production by well, with roughly 60-day lag

Pro tip: New Mexico's system is actually easier to work with than Texas for well-level production data.

North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC)

North Dakota has one of the better state data systems in the country. The NDIC's Oil and Gas Division provides:

• Drilling Permits: Searchable by operator, county, field, or date
• Completion Reports: Detailed reports including stimulation data
• Production Data: Monthly production by well, publicly available with reasonable lag
• Hearing Dockets: Spacing unit applications and special orders

Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC)

The COGCC database is comprehensive but can be slow. Key resources:

• Form 2A (Drilling Permits): All permit applications with location and operator info
• Form 5A (Completion Reports): Completion details including frack stage counts
• Production Reports: Monthly data by well

Colorado also has additional regulatory complexity (setback rules, local government coordination) that can affect permitting timelines—useful context when interpreting competitor activity.

Building a DIY Monitoring System

If you're technically inclined (or have someone on your team who is), you can build a basic competitive monitoring system using free tools. Here's how:

Step 1: Set Up RSS Feeds and Email Alerts

Some state agencies offer email notification services. The Texas RRC, for example, allows you to subscribe to permit notifications by county. Not all states offer this, but where available, it's free and automatic.

Step 2: Create a Simple Tracking Spreadsheet

Build a spreadsheet template with columns for:

• Date filed
• Operator name
• Well name / API number
• County
• Target formation
• Permit type (new drill, reentry, etc.)
• Notes (anything notable about the filing)

Update it weekly (or daily if you're in a very active area). The discipline of manual entry forces you to actually look at each permit, which often surfaces insights you'd miss with automated alerts.

Step 3: Use Google Alerts for Operator News

Set up Google Alerts for your key competitors' names. You'll get notified when they're mentioned in news articles, press releases, or SEC filings. This complements the permit data with strategic context—earnings calls, acquisition announcements, capital allocation commentary.

Step 4: Build a Map

Free tools like Google My Maps or QGIS let you plot permit locations spatially. Seeing competitor permits on a map—relative to your acreage—provides context that spreadsheets miss. Color-code by operator or by formation to spot patterns.

Low-Cost Paid Options ($200-$500/month)

If the DIY approach is too time-intensive but enterprise platforms are too expensive, there's a middle ground.

Subscription Newsletters

Several services publish weekly or monthly summaries of basin activity. These aren't as granular as database access, but they're curated by analysts who know what matters. Examples include basin-specific newsletters from industry publications and independent analysts.

Pros: Low time commitment, analyst interpretation, usually reasonably priced ($100-300/month)

Cons: Not customized to your specific competitive set; may miss permits relevant to your area

Entry-Level Data Platforms

Some data providers offer stripped-down versions of their enterprise products at more accessible price points. These typically include permit alerts and basic production data, but may lack the deep analytics and GIS tools of full-featured platforms.

Look for platforms that offer:

• Custom alert configuration (by operator, by area, by formation)
• Map-based visualization of permit activity
• Production data integration (even with lag)
• Export capabilities (so you can do your own analysis)

When to Invest in Premium Tools ($10K+/year)

At some point, the time-cost tradeoff favors enterprise tools. Here are the signals:

• Your landman spends >10 hours/week on competitive research. At $75/hour (fully loaded), that's $39K/year in labor. A $20K tool that cuts that time in half pays for itself.
• You're actively acquiring acreage. When you're evaluating deals, fast access to detailed well data and production histories is essential. The premium tools excel here.
• You need real-time data for trading or A&D. If you're on the buy side of deals and competing with firms that have full data suites, you're at a disadvantage without comparable tools.
• You're presenting to investors. The visualization and reporting capabilities of enterprise platforms make investor presentations more credible.

The major enterprise platforms (Enverus, Rextag, etc.) are well-known. If you're at the scale where they make sense, you probably already know about them. The question is whether you're there yet—and for most small independents, the answer is no.

What to Actually Look For in the Data

Raw permit data is just numbers. Turning it into intelligence requires knowing what patterns matter.

Permit Velocity Changes

If a competitor who typically files 5 permits/month suddenly files 15, that's a signal. They might be ramping activity ahead of a capital event, testing a new formation, or responding to lease expirations.

Spacing and Targeting Patterns

Watch for changes in well spacing. If an operator who was drilling 660-foot spacing suddenly tests 440 feet, they're optimizing returns in mature acreage. If they're stepping out to a new formation or benches, that tells you about their inventory assessment.

Geographic Focus Shifts

Operators don't file permits randomly. If you see activity concentrating in a specific area, ask why. Are they holding leases? Did they acquire new acreage? Is the rock better there? Understanding the logic helps you anticipate next moves.

Operator Entry/Exit

New operators appearing in your area—or existing operators stopping activity—are both significant. New entrants may have information you don't. Exits might signal quality concerns or capital constraints.

Putting It All Together: A Recommended Approach

Here's a practical framework based on operator size:

Small Independent (<25 wells)

1. Start with free state agency data. Learn the systems.
2. Build a simple tracking spreadsheet for your county/counties.
3. Set up Google Alerts for key competitors.
4. Subscribe to one basin-focused newsletter for analyst perspective.
5. Revisit paid tools if/when you start acquiring acreage.

Mid-Sized Independent (25-100 wells)

1. Consider a mid-tier data subscription ($200-$500/month) for automated alerts and better visualization.
2. Assign someone (landman, analyst, or you) dedicated time for weekly competitive review.
3. Build and maintain a competitive map of your operating areas.
4. Evaluate enterprise tools annually—you may hit the scale where they make sense.

Larger Independent (100+ wells)

1. You probably need enterprise tools. The productivity gains are real at your scale.
2. Negotiate. All the major vendors will discount for multi-year deals or bundled services.
3. Make sure someone is actually using the tools. Expensive subscriptions that collect dust are a waste.
4. Supplement with custom analysis for specific questions the platforms don't answer.

The Bottom Line

Competitive intelligence isn't optional—not if you want to make good decisions about development, acquisition, and strategy. But you don't need to spend $20K/year to get useful information.

Start with free public data. Build habits around weekly monitoring. Invest in paid tools when the time-cost math changes. And always remember: the data is only valuable if you use it to make better decisions.

The operators who consistently outperform aren't just good at drilling wells. They're good at understanding the competitive landscape and positioning themselves accordingly. That starts with knowing what your neighbors are doing.