Land service
Mineral title research
Mineral title research finds out who owns the oil and gas minerals under a tract, and what has been reserved, leased or passed on since the first grant.
Reservations and fractions
Mineral title turns on small words: a reservation in a deed from decades ago, a fraction passed down through three estates, a royalty split from the minerals. We use modern software, including AI tools, to read and sort the deeds and flag the places where an interest changes. A person then reads those instruments and writes the ownership up. When a tract has a long or tangled chain, we can put several landmen from our network on it at once.
What it covers
- Mineral ownership. The owners of the mineral estate and the fraction each one holds, built from the instruments of record.
- Reservations and severances. Where minerals were kept back or sold apart from the surface, with the exact words quoted.
- Royalty and lease status. Which leases are of record, who signed them, and whether the term has run.
- Inheritance. How an interest passed after a death, from probate files, decrees and recorded affidavits.
- Ownership reports. A short summary table by owner and interest, tied back to the runsheet rows it came from.
Mineral title and surface title
The surface and the minerals under it can have different owners. A search for one does not always answer the other, so we agree at the start which estate you need and how far back to go. Where the minerals have been split into fractions over the years, we show the math so your attorney can check it.
What to send
- County, state and legal description
- Whether you need the minerals, the surface or both
- How far back, or the starting point your attorney wants
- Any earlier ownership report or lease list
- The date you need it
What you get
- A mineral ownership report by owner and interest
- The runsheet and images behind each line
- A list of reservations, missing probates and other items that need an attorney's attention
What we do not do
- A mineral ownership report is not a title opinion. Your attorney decides who owns what as a matter of law.
- We do not insure title or guarantee what the record holds.
Related
Send a scope for mineral title research
Send the county, the legal description and the date you need the ownership report. If the minerals were split off long ago or an owner never had a probate, tell us. We reply with a scope and a quote. Write to [email protected].