North Dakota mineral rights search: who owns the minerals

Where North Dakota mineral rights are recorded

Deeds, mineral deeds, leases, assignments, statements of claim and recorded pooling or unitization orders are filed with the county recorder where the land lies. Search the grantor-grantee index for each owner, and look for any notice of abandonment or statement of succession a surface owner has recorded against the mineral rights.

Probate files are kept by the clerk of court, and state law itself names the county recorder and the clerk of court among the places to search when looking for a mineral owner (North Dakota Century Code 38-18.1-06). Some counties' land records are online through the North Dakota Recorders Information Network, a group of county recorders that provides internet access to real estate records for subscribers; elsewhere, call or visit the recorder. When a relative's name is missing from the recorder's index, the clerk of court's probate files are the next place to look for the mineral rights.

Is my land being drilled? Oil and Gas Division tools

The Oil and Gas Division of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources sells its deeper data by subscription. Scanned well files, scout ticket data, and production histories by well, unit or field-pool come with Basic or Premium service: $100 a year for Basic and $500 a year for Premium, at rates effective January 1, 2026 (North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources). If you only need to know whether your unit produces, your royalty statement or the operator can tell you; a subscription pays off when you want to follow each well in a unit. For most owners, the free tools cover the drilling side of a North Dakota mineral rights search.

These Division tools are free:

• Oil and Gas Well Search: list wells by operator, field, or section, township and range.
• GIS Map Server: the Oil and Gas Division's map viewer, for finding your section and the wells around it.
• Hearing Docket Index: Industrial Commission hearing dockets by date back to 1997, with an option to receive new docket notifications.
• Daily Activity Reports and the active drilling rig list: the Division's daily reports and the rigs drilling now.

North Dakota's 20-year abandoned mineral law

Under North Dakota Century Code chapter 38-18.1, a mineral interest unused for 20 years is deemed abandoned unless a statement of claim is recorded, and title vests in the surface owner. Use includes production, a recorded lease, mortgage, assignment or conveyance, a recorded pooling or unitization order or agreement, and a recorded statement of claim. Money paid into an account for an owner who can't be located doesn't count.

To take the mineral rights, the surface owner must publish notice once a week for three weeks in the county's official newspaper and mail it to the owner if an address can be found. The record owner then has 60 days after the first publication to record a statement of claim or proof of use. The Department of Mineral Resources links a statement of claim form from its surface and mineral owner page; it's recorded with the county recorder and must give the owner's name and address, a legal description and the type of interest.

Unclaimed royalties in North Dakota

The North Dakota Department of Trust Lands runs the state's Unclaimed Property Division. Search unclaimedproperty.nd.gov under every person who may have held the mineral rights. The same department's Minerals Management division handles leasing of state-owned mineral rights, so contact it if your section may include state land.

North Dakota mineral rights search, step by step

Most of this can be done by phone, mail and the free state tools.

1. Get the section, township and range from a deed, lease or royalty statement.
2. Search the county recorder's records, in person, by request or through NDRIN, for deeds, leases, statements of claim and abandonment notices.
3. Ask the clerk of court for probate files on each past owner who died.
4. Find your section in the Oil and Gas Well Search and the GIS Map Server, and note the wells and operators.
5. Check recent hearing dockets for cases in your area and sign up for docket notifications.
6. Search unclaimed property under every family name, and record a statement of claim if your mineral rights have sat idle.

When to call a landman or attorney

If a surface owner has published an abandonment notice, or the chain runs through several out-of-state estates, have a landman pull the records and an oil and gas attorney respond within the 60-day window. A North Dakota mineral rights search is also how you learn whether the 20 years are running, so don't wait for a notice to start one.

To see where Bakken buyers are active, read selling mineral rights in North Dakota, and see North Dakota mineral rights value for how unit age and new permits move prices. Then get offers if you want to compare what buyers would pay.

North Dakota questions