The Cotton Valley formation
Geology, footprint, and mineral-owner context for the Cotton Valley, drawn from public USGS and state survey sources. Resource figures describe the play as a whole and are not a per-acre value. Every figure on this page is an estimate subject to verification of your specific interest.
Last updated June 2026.
What is the Cotton Valley?
The Cotton Valley is an Upper Jurassic sandstone and limestone interval that overlies the Haynesville and Bossier across northwest Louisiana and East Texas. It is a prolific tight-gas play with some oil, long-producing from both conventional traps and tight sand, and many tracts carry it above the deeper Haynesville. USGS Gulf Coast and East Texas Basin assessments describe its undiscovered, technically recoverable resource as a play-wide figure, not a per-acre yield.
The Cotton Valley is a thick Upper Jurassic package of sandstone and limestone that sits above the Haynesville and Bossier shales across northwest Louisiana and East Texas. It has been producing for decades, first from conventional sandstone and lime traps and later from horizontal and tight-sand development of the lower-permeability sands. Because the Cotton Valley overlies the Haynesville and Bossier, a single section of minerals can carry the Cotton Valley as one target and the deeper shales as another, supporting multi-zone development. The interval is mostly gas-weighted with some oil, so its royalties move with natural-gas prices more than oil-weighted plays do. For a mineral owner, a Cotton Valley royalty is valued on the income the wells actually pay, on the standard income multiple, not on any play-wide resource number.
Cotton Valley geology
- Age and lithology
- Upper Jurassic sandstone and limestone, produced both from conventional traps and from lower-permeability tight sand. Source: USGS Gulf Coast and East Texas Basin assessment and the Louisiana Geological Survey.
- Stacked over the Haynesville
- The Cotton Valley overlies the Haynesville and Bossier shales, so many tracts carry it as a shallower target above the deeper gas shales.
- Where it produces
- Northwest Louisiana parishes and East Texas counties, long-producing from both conventional and tight-sand development.
How much oil and gas the Cotton Valley holds
The USGS has assessed the Cotton Valley and associated Jurassic reservoirs as part of its Gulf Coast and East Texas Basin assessment work, which reports undiscovered, technically recoverable gas and oil across the interval. The reported figures are undiscovered play-wide estimates, not proven reserves and not a measure of any individual property.
Source: USGS Gulf Coast and East Texas Basin assessment; Louisiana Geological Survey.
Counties in the Cotton Valley play
These are the counties and parishes we cover where the Cotton Valley produces. Each links to local value context and the operators active there.
What the Cotton Valley means for your minerals
A resource estimate for a play is not the value of your acreage. Your mineral and royalty interest is valued on the income your wells actually pay, roughly 36 to 72 times your average monthly royalty check, the same as 3 to 6 times your annual royalty. Where you land in that band depends on your wells decline, the operator, your royalty rate, and any undeveloped drilling upside. For the full method and a free on-screen estimate, see what are my mineral rights worth.
The Cotton Valley is part of the Haynesville Shale. For the basin-wide value bands and the counties we buy in, see the Haynesville Shale page.
Cotton Valley questions
- What is the Cotton Valley?
- The Cotton Valley is an Upper Jurassic sandstone and limestone interval that overlies the Haynesville and Bossier across northwest Louisiana and East Texas. It is a long-producing tight-gas play with some oil, developed from both conventional traps and tight sand.
- Is the Cotton Valley an oil or a gas play?
- The Cotton Valley is mostly gas-weighted with some oil, so its royalties move with natural-gas prices more than oil-weighted plays do. Many tracts also carry the deeper Haynesville and Bossier as separate targets.
- How are Cotton Valley minerals valued?
- A Cotton Valley interest is valued on the income it pays, roughly 36 to 72 times your average monthly royalty check. USGS resource figures describe the whole interval, not your property. This is an estimate, subject to verification, not an offer.
Sources
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