As a landowner, or someone holding mineral rights for a property, you will be able to negotiate directly with the oil and gas or mineral companies. However, this is not a simple negotiation, and there are some important factors that you need to keep in mind to get a fair value when you try to sell mineral rights.
Typically, most mineral rights owners will be contacted by one or more companies interested in making a purchase. This is most common in areas where there is active oil, gas or mineral production, or there are exploration and positive early findings. The Landman will usually come out and talk to the landowner and get an idea of the interest and perhaps how eager or informed the landowner may be about what is going on in the immediate area.
Know your Land
When you sell mineral rights, particularly when there is active production in your area, you need to be aware of surface rights and access issues to the property. This should be considered and form a component of what you are asking, and you should be prepared to negotiate with the company on these aspects of the deal.
In addition, you need to know that you are actually the owner of the mineral rights on your property. It is possible for the mineral rights to have been severed from the surface rights and that someone else may own them, or they may not have been passed on after the death of some past owner of the rights.
Depending on the laws of your state you may be able to apply to obtain the rights, which will all have to be completed before you should even consider negotiating to sell mineral rights on any property.
Take your Time
There should never be an issue with the purchasers allowing you to have time to consider the offer. Any time you are faced with a “take it now or leave it offer” you are likely working with an oil and gas company that is making a low-ball offer or that is trying to push the sale because of a significant advantage to them in the agreement.
Having a representative to work with you through the negotiation with the oil and gas company and to complete all the research and valuation necessary can help address both of these issues. Remember, once an agreement is signed it is considered completed, so you want to ensure everything is right before signing on the line.
