Guides for mineral owners
Find out what you own, what it pays, and what selling involves, before you talk to any buyer. Stuck on a word? Our oil and gas glossary defines 62 terms in plain English.
- Should I sell my mineral rights? When to sell and when to keepA plain guide to the question "should I sell my mineral rights?": the case for keeping, the good reasons to sell, selling part, and how to judge an offer.
- Who owns the mineral rights to my property? How to find outAnswer "who owns the mineral rights to my property?" by reading your deed, tracing the chain of title and checking royalty and unclaimed property records.
- How to read a royalty check and division order for your mineral rightsRead every line of a royalty check stub, work out the decimal interest on your mineral rights, review a division order and spot payment errors.
- How a mineral rights sale closes: title, mineral deed and paymentEach step of a mineral rights sale: purchase agreement, title opinion, curative work, signing the mineral deed, recording and getting paid safely.
- Mineral rights tax: how a sale is taxed, cost basis and 1031 exchangesHow mineral rights tax works when you sell: capital gains vs royalty income, cost basis for bought, gifted and inherited minerals, and 1031 exchanges.
- Mineral rights vs royalty interests: the types of mineral interests explainedWhat a mineral interest includes, how it differs from a royalty interest, NPRI, ORRI and working interest, and how to tell which you own from your deed.
- Net mineral acres vs net royalty acres: how to calculate what you ownHow to calculate net mineral acres from gross acres and your fraction, convert them to net royalty acres, and check both against your division order.
- What are mineral rights? Definition, what you own, and how they're soldA plain mineral rights definition: what the mineral estate is, how it splits from the surface, who owns it under your property, and how a sale works.
- Do you need a mineral rights attorney? When to hire one, and when a buyer's title review is enoughWhen a mineral rights attorney is worth hiring, what one does, how fees work, and the state bar lawyer referral services in 11 oil and gas states.
- Oil and gas severance tax by state: what comes out of your royalty checkOil and gas severance tax rates in 28 states, who pays it, how it shows on your royalty check stub, whether it is deductible and how it affects offers.
- Taxes on oil and gas royalties: Schedule E, depletion and your 1099Oil and gas royalties and taxes explained: Schedule E, the 15% depletion allowance, deductible costs, your 1099-MISC and estimated tax payments.
- Oil and gas lease basics for mineral owners: bonus, royalty, term, and sell vs leaseWhat an oil and gas lease gives a mineral owner: bonus, royalty fraction, primary term, held by production, Pugh clause, and when selling beats leasing.
- Oil and gas royalties: how they're calculated, paid, and why checks changeHow oil and gas royalties are calculated and paid, what can be deducted, why your royalty check goes down, and what to do when you inherit or sell.
- Pooling and unitization: what happens to your mineral rights in a drilling unitPooling and unitization explained: spacing units, lease pooling clauses, forced pooling rules by state, correlative rights and what a pooling notice means.
- Ad valorem tax on mineral rights: how counties tax oil and gas mineralsHow ad valorem tax on mineral rights works: Texas appraisal, the $500 exemption, bills, penalties and protests, and how other oil states tax minerals.
- How to transfer mineral rights: deeds, wills, gifts and trustsHow to transfer mineral rights by mineral deed, gift, will, transfer on death deed or trust, what a deed must say, and how to record it.
- Oil and gas glossary for mineral owners: 62 terms in plain EnglishOil and gas glossary for mineral owners: 62 terms in plain English, from take or pay and OGM to spud date, shut-in royalty, NPRI and division orders.
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