Pooling and unitization practices have transformed dramatically over the past two decades. In this conversation, oil and gas attorney Ben Holliday and president of Dudley Land and veteran landman Brent Broussard, walk through the real evolution from traditional vertical pooling to today's multi-section allocation wells. Drawing on ground-level experience like the Black Gnat well in Johnson County and current Delaware Basin operations, they explain why Texas developed allocation wells organically through industry practice while New Mexico built a completely different regulatory structure.

Ben shares the Black Gnat story, a 70-acre triangle tract drilled 900 feet perpendicular to standard orientation from a 69-acre pooled unit. One of the basin's best wells under severe constraints. Compare that to today's Delaware operations drilling three to four sections in a single wellbore. The technology to drill these massive laterals existed, but lease language and legal frameworks hadn't caught up. EOG and Devon pioneered allocation wells, refusing to strand resources just because conventional wisdom said they couldn't. Texas let operators develop the practice with no statutory backing or court precedent. New Mexico took the opposite approach, legislature-mandated, super structured, repeatable process. Both systems work.

Key takeaways for land professionals: Understand how Texas's contract-driven pooling evolved organically versus New Mexico's regulatory framework. Recognize that drilling technology advances faster than legal structures, operators and attorneys had to develop workable solutions in real time. Learn why the same Delaware Basin geology requires completely different operational approaches depending on which side of the state line you're working. Whether you're negotiating units in the Permian, assembling acreage in the Delaware, or managing cross-basin projects, this practitioner-led breakdown delivers the ground-truth intelligence you need for current operations.