Facts About the University Lands
The lands for Texas' Permanent University Fund (PUF) "consist of three grants that
were appropriated from the public doman for the establishement and support of a
University of Texas."1
|
December 20, 1833 |
President Mirabeau B. Lamar made an address to the Third Congress of the
Republic of Texas, urging the Congress to establish the foundation of a
vast system of education.
|
|
January 26, 1839 (Grant #1) |
Set aside fifty leagues (approx. 220,000 acres) of land
for the establishment and endowment of a university. See the map,
Location of the Original Fifty Leagues. 2
|
|
1876 The State of Texas Constitution (Grant #2) |
Called for the creation of the University of Texas (UT);
appropriated 1 million acres of land for the establishment
of a Permanent University Fund (PUF).
|
|
1883 (Grant #3) |
Added an additional 1 million acres to the PUF lands. |
|
1923 |
Discovered oil from the first completed well,
Santa Rita No. 1, in Reagan County. |
|
1929 |
The Board for Lease of University Lands
was created by the Texas Legislature,
transferring oil and gas management authority to the Board from the Texas General
Land Office.
|
|
1949 |
The management authority for all minerals other than oil and gas was transferred
from the Texas General Land Office to the
University of Texas System Board of Regents. |
See also:
History of the UT System -- Chronology of Events
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Oil and Gas Production
As of August 31, 2006, more than 1.27 million acres of PUF lands were under lease
for oil and gas exploration and development.
|
Type |
Number of Active Fields |
|
Oil |
259 |
|
Gas |
119 |
Summary of Production (for FY 2006, 9/1/2005 - 8/31/2006)
|
Oil Fields
|
Production |
Gas Fields |
Production |
|
Oil
|
11.8 million barrels |
Condensate |
194,629 barrels |
|
Casinghead Gas
|
35.9 billion cubic feet (BCF) |
Gas
|
27.4 billion cubic feet (BCF) |
Since 1929, the equivalent of all 2.1 million acres of PUF lands has been leased
and re-leased 2.2 times for oil and gas exploration by the Board for Lease of University
Lands.
|
County |
Acre |
County |
Acre |
County |
Acre |
|
Andrews |
293,029 |
Crane |
65,244 |
Crockett |
368,523 |
|
Culberson |
46,421 |
Dawson |
163 |
Ector |
6,317 |
|
El Paso |
11,745 |
Gaines |
2,805 |
Hudspeth |
493,405 |
|
Irion |
25,353 |
Loving |
25,881 |
Martin |
16,687 |
|
Pecos |
190,863 |
Reagan |
218,105 |
Schleicher |
61,835 |
|
Terrell |
61,885 |
Upton |
86,429 |
Winkler |
49,036 |
|
Ward |
81,047 |
Total Acres:
|
2,104,772 |
1 Haigh, Berte R.
Land, Oil, and Education
(El Paso: Texas Western Press, the University of Texas at El Paso, 1986), iii.
2 Ibid., 9.
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