One quarter into the 2021 fiscal year, the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) is ahead of its goal to have 5% or less of the oil and natural gas wells in the state uninspected at least once every five years.

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Only 4.28% of the nearly 440,000 wells in Texas have not been inspected at least once since 2016, according to the RRC. In the fiscal year (FY) 2020, only 1% of wells had not been inspected in that time frame. The commission has exceeded its 5% goal each year since instituted in 2018. At the time, 58% of wells had not had at least one inspection in the prior five years.

For FY 2022 and 2023, the RRC’s goal is to reduce further the percentage of wells uninspected in a five-year cycle to below 0.25%. The increased frequency of inspections, which determine compliance with...