Sell mineral rights in North Dakota
North Dakota, valued like we live here.
Most North Dakota mineral owners inherited their acres from homestead-era family land. Today those acres sit over the Bakken — which means real value, real decline curves, and a mailbox full of strangers offering to “help.”
The lay of the land
Owning minerals in North Dakota.
North Dakota is the rare state where a careful buyer and a careful owner can both know a lot: the state’s Industrial Commission publishes well-by-well production data going back decades, and county records are generally clean. If a buyer won’t show you their math here, it isn’t because the data doesn’t exist.
Ownership in the Bakken counties is heavily inherited — acres passed down from grandparents who farmed near Watford City or Stanley, now held by family members scattered across the country. Fractional interests, old life estates, and unprobated successions are everyday title work for us, not deal-breakers.
Because the play is mature, much of the value question comes down to your specific spacing units: how many wells they carry, when they were drilled, and how many more the operator’s own filings suggest. That’s exactly the homework we do — at our cost — before any number goes on paper.
Worth knowing
What’s different about North Dakota.
Owner education, not legal or tax advice — your attorney and CPA should bless any decision.
The abandoned-minerals statute
North Dakota law lets surface owners claim severed minerals that have gone unused for twenty years unless the mineral owner records a statement of claim. If your family’s acres have sat quiet, recording one is cheap insurance — worth asking your attorney about whether or not you ever sell.
Forced pooling
Unleased owners in a drilling unit can be pooled by state order and paid under statutory terms. If you never signed a lease but get well letters, this is probably why — and your acres still have real value.
Production taxes on your stub
North Dakota’s gross production and extraction taxes come out before royalties are paid, so your check understates the gross. An honest valuation grosses that back up.
On the map
Counties we see most.
Where our North Dakota conversations usually start — though we read every county we buy in.
The geology underneath
Your basin sets the economics.
State law sets the rules; the rock sets the value. Read how your basin actually pays.
Or anchor on a number first: the free value estimator covers North Dakota — no email required.
Common questions
Asked by North Dakota owners.
My Bakken wells are ten years old and my checks keep shrinking. Is the value gone?
Not necessarily. Older wells sit on the flat part of the decline curve, which makes their remaining tail surprisingly durable — and many older units still have room for infill wells or refracs. The value isn’t what it was at the peak, but “shrinking checks” and “little value” are not the same thing. We’ll show you the curve for your wells specifically.
I inherited North Dakota minerals and have no idea what we own. Where do I start?
With less than you think you need: a county and the family name under which the acres were held. We trace the rest through county records and state well data at our own cost, and walk you through it in plain English — whether or not you ever sell.
Do I have to come to North Dakota to sell?
No. Mineral deeds are routinely signed and notarized wherever you live and recorded in the North Dakota county where the acres sit. Closings run through a title company or escrow, and funds are wired — never mailed as a draft.
Educational content, not legal, tax, or investment advice. North Dakota law and tax treatment depend on your specific facts — involve your attorney and CPA before deciding anything, and we’ll gladly work with them.
No pressure, ever
Whenever you’re ready — even if that’s never.
A county and a family name is enough — we’ll do the North Dakota homework at our cost and explain what you own, whether or not you ever sell.
No automated calls. No mailers with sight drafts. No follow-up unless you ask for it.
Rather talk to a person? (970) 444-7374or email hello@eldoradomp.com