{ "name": "ARB State Oil & Gas Law Reference", "asOf": "2026-11-01", "description": "Per-state oil and gas law facts for mineral and royalty owners: state regulator, severance tax, forced pooling, dormant minerals, statutory royalty payment deadlines, and default post-production deduction rules. Every fact carries its statute or case citation and, where one exists, an official source link.", "disclaimer": "General information sourced to statute and case law, not legal advice. Lease language can change these default rules and laws change; confirm current law with the linked source or a qualified attorney.", "cite": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/cite", "paymentDeadlinesPage": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/royalty-payment-deadlines-by-state", "csv": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law.csv", "factKeys": [ "regulator", "severanceTax", "forcedPooling", "dormantMinerals", "paymentDeadlines", "postProductionDeductions" ], "stateCount": 28, "factCount": 155, "states": [ { "name": "Alabama", "abbreviation": "AL", "slug": "alabama", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/alabama#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/alabama", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The State Oil and Gas Board of Alabama (OGB) permits wells and regulates oil and gas production statewide.", "summary": null, "citation": "State Oil and Gas Board of Alabama", "url": "https://www.gsa.state.al.us/ogb/ogb", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Alabama taxes production at roughly 8% of gross value (a privilege tax with reduced and offshore tiers) plus a separate production tax of about 2%.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ala. Code §40-20-2; §§9-17-25 to -35", "url": "https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/business-license/severance-taxes-administered/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Alabama has compulsory pooling: the Oil and Gas Board may pool separately owned tracts in a drilling unit on just and reasonable terms when owners do not voluntarily agree.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ala. Code §9-17-13", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/title-9/chapter-17/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant-mineral statute. Under Alabama common law a severed mineral interest is not lost through non-use, and a surface owner has no automatic reversion.", "summary": null, "citation": "Alabama common law (no dormant minerals act)", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Alabama requires the first purchaser to pay owners within six months after first sale, then within 60 days after the end of the month of sale. Late proceeds bear 12% annual interest, or the Federal Reserve discount rate where title is unmarketable; an operator that collects and pays proceeds steps into the purchaser’s place.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ala. Code §9-17-33(c)-(e)", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=9-17-33", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "Alaska", "abbreviation": "AK", "slug": "alaska", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/alaska#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/alaska", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) regulates drilling, pooling, and production.", "summary": null, "citation": "Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission", "url": "https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/aogcc/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Alaska taxes the net value of production (gross value less lease expenditures) at a 35% base rate, with a gross minimum-tax floor for North Slope oil — an unusually complex regime.", "summary": null, "citation": "AS 43.55.011", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/alaska/title-43/chapter-55/article-1/section-43-55-011/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Alaska has compulsory pooling: within an established drilling unit the AOGCC may order pooling and integration if owners do not voluntarily agree; field-wide unitization is provided separately.", "summary": null, "citation": "AS 31.05.100 (pooling); AS 31.05.110 (unitization)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/alaska/title-31/chapter-05/article-2/section-31-05-100/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant-mineral statute reverting severed minerals to the surface owner. Most Alaska minerals are state- or federally owned, so severed private mineral estates are comparatively rare.", "summary": null, "citation": "No dormant minerals act", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Alaska has no statute setting payment deadlines for private royalty owners; timing comes from the lease. A late-payment interest rule applies only to royalties owed to the State as lessor.", "summary": null, "citation": "AS 31.05 (no payment-deadline statute); cf. AS 38.05.135 (state royalties)", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "Arkansas", "abbreviation": "AR", "slug": "arkansas", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/arkansas#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/arkansas", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission (AOGC) permits wells and administers spacing, integration, and production rules.", "summary": null, "citation": "Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission", "url": "https://www.aogc.state.ar.us/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Natural gas is taxed on a graduated 1.25% / 1.5% / 5% scale by well class; oil is taxed at 4% for wells averaging 10 barrels a day or less and 5% above that.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ark. Code §§26-58-101 et seq.", "url": "https://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/office/taxes/excise-tax-administration/miscellaneous-tax/arkansas-miscellaneous-tax-laws/natural-gas/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Arkansas has compulsory pooling (termed integration): the AOGC can integrate unleased or non-consenting interests into a producing drilling unit on just and reasonable terms.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ark. Code §15-72-303 et seq.", "url": "https://www.aogc.state.ar.us/rules/tax.aspx", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant-mineral statute. Arkansas is an ownership-in-place state where a severed mineral interest is perpetual and cannot be lost by non-use; only unpaid royalty proceeds escheat as unclaimed property.", "summary": null, "citation": "Arkansas common law; Ark. Code §18-28-403 (proceeds only)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-18/subtitle-3/chapter-28/subchapter-4/section-18-28-403/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Arkansas requires the first purchaser to pay owners within six months after first sale, then within 60 days after the end of the month of sale. Late proceeds bear 12% annual interest unless a written agreement sets another rate; for gas-only wells, willful withholding can add a penalty and attorney fees after 30 days’ written notice.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ark. Code §§15-74-601 to 15-74-603", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-15/subtitle-6/chapter-74/subchapter-6/section-15-74-601/", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA", "slug": "california", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/california#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/california", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) regulates oil and gas well permitting and operations.", "summary": null, "citation": "California Geologic Energy Management Division", "url": "https://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "California has NO oil and gas severance tax. Producers instead pay an annual per-barrel/per-Mcf production assessment that funds CalGEM.", "summary": null, "citation": "Cal. Pub. Res. Code §§3400-3403 (assessment; no severance tax)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=3402.&lawCode=PRC", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "California has only narrow unit-operation authority and no general statewide forced-pooling statute; treat compulsory pooling as generally unavailable absent specific authority.", "summary": null, "citation": "Cal. Pub. Res. Code §§3630 et seq. (limited unit operations)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codesTOCSelected.xhtml?tocCode=PRC", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "California HAS a dormant-mineral statute: a surface owner may sue to terminate a mineral right dormant for 20 years (no production, no separate tax paid, no recorded instrument); the owner preserves it by recording a notice of intent.", "summary": null, "citation": "Cal. Civ. Code §§883.210-883.270 (20-year clock)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2010/civ/883.210-883.270.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "California has no statute setting royalty payment deadlines or a statutory late-payment interest rate for private royalty owners; payment timing is governed by the lease.", "summary": null, "citation": "No payment-deadline statute", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "Colorado", "abbreviation": "CO", "slug": "colorado", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/colorado#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/colorado", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC, formerly the COGCC) regulates oil and gas development.", "summary": null, "citation": "Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission", "url": "https://ecmc.state.co.us/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Colorado imposes a graduated severance tax of 2% to 5% of gross income from oil and gas, with a stripper-well exemption and an ad valorem tax credit.", "summary": null, "citation": "C.R.S. §39-29-105", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-39/specific-taxes/severance-tax/article-29/section-39-29-105/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Colorado has statutory pooling: the ECMC may pool an unleased or non-consenting owner into a drilling unit under a cost-recovery and risk-penalty scheme (tightened by SB19-181).", "summary": null, "citation": "C.R.S. §34-60-116", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-34/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant-mineral reverter that terminates severed minerals for non-use; unused severed interests are governed by property-tax valuation and unclaimed-property law instead.", "summary": null, "citation": "No dormant minerals act; cf. C.R.S. §39-7-109", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-39/property-tax/valuation-and-taxation/article-7/section-39-7-109/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Colorado requires the first payment within six months after the end of the month of first sale, then monthly within 60 days (oil) or 90 days (gas) after the end of the month of sale, unless the lease provides otherwise. Late proceeds bear interest at twice the Kansas City Fed discount rate; the owner must first give certified-mail notice, and most disputes go to the ECMC.", "summary": "In Colorado the first payment is due within six months after the end of the month of first sale, then within 60 days (oil) or 90 days (gas) after the end of the month of sale, with interest on late proceeds (C.R.S. §34-60-118.5).", "citation": "C.R.S. §34-60-118.5", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/2024/title-34/oil-and-natural-gas/conservation-and-regulation/article-60/section-34-60-118-5/", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "Colorado follows a marketable-product rule for gas: where the lease does not expressly allocate costs — and “at the well” wording alone does not — the lessee bears the costs of making gas marketable, meaning in a condition and at a location acceptable to a commercial market. Reasonable costs after that point may be shared; whether gas is marketable is a question of fact.", "summary": "Colorado: unless the lease expressly allocates costs (“at the well” alone does not), the lessee bears the cost of making gas marketable in both condition and location, and only later costs can be shared (Rogers v. Westerman Farm, 2001).", "citation": "Rogers v. Westerman Farm Co., 29 P.3d 887 (Colo. 2001); Garman v. Conoco, Inc., 886 P.2d 652 (Colo. 1994)", "url": "https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/99SC293.doc", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-23" } ] }, { "name": "Florida", "abbreviation": "FL", "slug": "florida", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/florida#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/florida", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Oil and Gas Program regulates well permitting and operations.", "summary": null, "citation": "Florida DEP, Oil and Gas Program", "url": "https://floridadep.gov/water/oil-gas", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Florida taxes oil at 8% of gross value (5% for small wells; a sliding scale for tertiary recovery) and gas at a per-Mcf rate indexed annually.", "summary": null, "citation": "Fla. Stat. §211.02 (oil); §211.025 (gas)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2022/211.02", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Florida has compulsory pooling and unitization: the FDEP may order integration and unit operation on terms giving each owner the chance to recover a just and equitable share.", "summary": null, "citation": "Fla. Stat. §377.28", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/florida/title-xxviii/chapter-377/part-i/section-377-28/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dedicated dormant-mineral act; instead the Marketable Record Title Act can extinguish an unpreserved severed interest after 30+ years of unbroken adverse record title.", "summary": null, "citation": "Fla. Stat. §§712.01-712.11 (MRTA)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2022/Chapter712", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Florida has no general royalty payment-deadline statute; timing comes from the lease. The only statutory clock covers royalties of unknown or unlocated owners under a state receivership order, which are remitted to the state once a year.", "summary": null, "citation": "Fla. Stat. §377.247 (receivership only)", "url": "http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0300-0399/0377/0377.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "Illinois", "abbreviation": "IL", "slug": "illinois", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/illinois#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/illinois", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Office of Oil and Gas Resource Management permits and regulates wells.", "summary": null, "citation": "Illinois DNR, Office of Oil and Gas", "url": "https://dnr.illinois.gov/oilandgas.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Illinois has NO general oil and gas severance tax. Only production from permitted high-volume hydraulically fractured wells is taxed, on a graduated 3% to 6% scale.", "summary": null, "citation": "35 ILCS 450 (Hydraulic Fracturing Tax Act)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=3494&ChapterID=8&Chapter=REVENUE&MajorTopic=GOVERNMENT", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Illinois has compulsory integration and unitization: the IDNR may establish drilling units and integrate separately owned interests after notice and hearing.", "summary": null, "citation": "225 ILCS 725 (Oil and Gas Act)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=1391&ChapterID=24&Chapter=PROFESSIONS,%20OCCUPATIONS,%20AND%20BUSINESS%20OPERATIONS&MajorTopic=REGULATION", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No automatic-lapse statute (the old 25-year rule was repealed). A surface owner must terminate an unknown owner interest by court proceeding, generally 7 years from judgment, reducible to 1 year for severances over 20 years old.", "summary": null, "citation": "765 ILCS 515 (Severed Mineral Interest Act)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/illinois/chapter-765/act-765-ilcs-515/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Illinois requires the first payment within 150 days after the end of the month of first purchase, then — unless the lease sets other timing — within 60 days (oil) or 90 days (gas) after the end of the month of sale. Late proceeds bear interest at the New York Fed discount rate, except where payment is withheld over a title dispute, and the owner must give written notice before suing.", "summary": null, "citation": "765 ILCS 520/10", "url": "https://ilga.gov/ftp/ILCS/Ch%200765/Act%200520/076505200K10.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "Indiana", "abbreviation": "IN", "slug": "indiana", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/indiana#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/indiana", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Indiana DNR Division of Oil and Gas permits wells and regulates production.", "summary": null, "citation": "Indiana DNR, Division of Oil and Gas", "url": "https://www.in.gov/dnr/oil-and-gas/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Indiana levies a petroleum severance tax equal to the greater of 1% of value or a fixed per-unit amount (about 24 cents per barrel of oil and 3 cents per Mcf of gas).", "summary": null, "citation": "Ind. Code §6-8-1-8", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-6/article-8/chapter-1/section-6-8-1-8/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Indiana has compulsory pooling: absent voluntary integration the Natural Resources Commission may order integration on reasonable terms to prevent waste and unnecessary wells.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ind. Code §14-37-9", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-14/article-37/chapter-9/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "Indiana HAS a Dormant Mineral Interests Act: a severed interest not used for 20 years lapses to the surface owner unless a statement of claim is filed (upheld in Texaco v. Short, 1982). Use includes production, royalty payment, or paying taxes.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ind. Code §32-23-10 (20-year clock)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Indiana’s only payment-timing statute covers crude oil purchasers: payment is due within 60 days after the abstracts of title are approved and executed division orders are received, with 6% annual interest on late payment. There is no comparable statute for natural gas.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ind. Code §§32-23-9-1, 32-23-9-2 (crude oil only)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-32/article-23/chapter-9/section-32-23-9-2/", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "Kansas", "abbreviation": "KS", "slug": "kansas", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/kansas#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/kansas", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC), Conservation Division, regulates oil and gas wells, spacing, and pooling.", "summary": null, "citation": "Kansas Corporation Commission, Conservation Division", "url": "https://www.kcc.ks.gov/oil-gas", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Kansas imposes an 8% mineral severance tax on gross value; oil producers who pay ad valorem property tax get a 3.67% credit (net effective oil rate about 4.33%).", "summary": null, "citation": "K.S.A. 79-4217; 79-4219 (credit)", "url": "https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch79/079_042_0017.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Kansas has compulsory unitization under the Unitization Act, administered by the KCC on application, notice, and hearing, and pools interests within established spacing units.", "summary": null, "citation": "K.S.A. 55-1301 et seq. (Unitization Act)", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_013_0001.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "Kansas HAS a Mineral Lapse Act: a severed interest unused for a continuous 20 years reverts to the surface owner unless a statement of claim is recorded, after which the surface owner quiets title.", "summary": null, "citation": "K.S.A. 55-1601 to 55-1607 (20-year clock)", "url": "https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0001.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Kansas sets when interest starts rather than a payment deadline: interest on unpaid proceeds accrues from 60 days after the end of the month of first sale (new wells get a 120-day window), at 1.5 points above the New York Fed discount rate. A waiver of that interest is void unless it is in writing and expressly references the statute.", "summary": null, "citation": "K.S.A. 55-1614 to 55-1622", "url": "https://www.kslegislature.gov/li_2024/b2023_24/statute/055_000_0000_chapter/055_016_0000_article/055_016_0015_section/055_016_0015_k/", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "For gas, Kansas requires the operator to make raw gas marketable at its own expense, and gas is marketable once it is in a condition acceptable to a purchaser in a good-faith sale. Where royalty is paid on the operator’s proceeds, the operator may not deduct the pre-sale costs of reaching that condition, but costs a purchaser incurs after buying the gas at the wellhead, such as processing it for interstate pipelines, are not the operator’s sole responsibility. Express lease language can change the result.", "summary": "Kansas: for gas, the operator bears the cost of making it acceptable to a good-faith purchaser and may not deduct those pre-sale costs from a proceeds royalty, but post-sale processing after a wellhead sale is not the operator’s cost alone (Fawcett v. Oil Producers, 2015).", "citation": "Fawcett v. Oil Producers, Inc. of Kansas, No. 108,666 (Kan. July 2, 2015); Sternberger v. Marathon Oil Co., 257 Kan. 315, 894 P.2d 788 (1995)", "url": "https://kscourts.gov/KSCourts/media/KsCourts/Opinions/108666.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-25" } ] }, { "name": "Kentucky", "abbreviation": "KY", "slug": "kentucky", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/kentucky#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/kentucky", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, Division of Oil and Gas, permits and regulates wells.", "summary": null, "citation": "Kentucky Division of Oil and Gas", "url": "https://eec.ky.gov/Natural-Resources/Oil-and-Gas", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Kentucky taxes crude oil at 4.5% of market value and natural gas at 4.5% of gross value under its natural-resources severance tax.", "summary": null, "citation": "KRS 137.120 (oil); KRS ch. 143A (gas)", "url": "https://codes.findlaw.com/ky/title-xi-revenue-and-taxation/ky-rev-st-sect-137-120/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Kentucky has forced pooling: the operator must first secure consent of at least 51% of interests in each tract, then the Division of Oil and Gas may order pooling; unlocatable owners are deemed to consent.", "summary": null, "citation": "KRS 353.630-353.651", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/kentucky/chapter-353/section-353-630/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No automatic lapse-by-non-use statute. A court-supervised trustee mechanism handles unknown or missing owners, and a court may convey their interest to the surface owner only after production and 7 years of the owner remaining unlocated.", "summary": null, "citation": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476 (no dormant act; trustee mechanism)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33095", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Kentucky has no statute setting royalty payment deadlines or a statutory late-payment interest rate; payment timing comes from the lease.", "summary": null, "citation": "KRS Chapter 353 (no payment-deadline statute)", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "Kentucky values royalty “at the well” by default. Where a lease is silent, or uses at-the-well language, the lessee alone bears the costs of producing the gas, but post-production costs of gathering, compressing, processing and transporting it may be deducted from gross receipts before the royalty is calculated. Clear lease language can provide otherwise.", "summary": "Kentucky: royalty is valued at the well by default, so post-production costs of gathering, compressing, processing and transporting gas may be deducted before royalty is calculated unless the lease clearly says otherwise (Baker v. Magnum Hunter, 2015).", "citation": "Baker v. Magnum Hunter Prod., Inc., No. 2013-SC-000497-DG (Ky. Aug. 20, 2015)", "url": "http://opinions.kycourts.net/sc/2013-SC-000497-DG.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-25" } ] }, { "name": "Louisiana", "abbreviation": "LA", "slug": "louisiana", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/louisiana#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/louisiana", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Louisiana Office of Conservation, led by the Commissioner of Conservation, regulates oil and gas production and pooling.", "summary": null, "citation": "Louisiana Office of Conservation", "url": "https://www.dnr.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/page/97", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Louisiana taxes oil at 12.5% of value for wells completed before July 1, 2025 (6.5% for wells completed after), and gas at a per-Mcf rate adjusted each July 1.", "summary": null, "citation": "La. R.S. 47:633 (Act 295 of 2025)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/revised-statutes/title-47/rs-47-633/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Louisiana has compulsory pooling: within a Commissioner-established drilling unit the Commissioner may require pooling, after notice and hearing, on just and reasonable terms.", "summary": null, "citation": "La. R.S. 30:9 and 30:10", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/revised-statutes/title-30/rs-30-10/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant-mineral act, because Louisiana follows the non-ownership theory: a mineral servitude is extinguished automatically by prescription of non-use after 10 continuous years without good-faith operations, and any qualifying use resets the full period.", "summary": null, "citation": "La. R.S. 31:27-31:28 (Mineral Code; 10-year prescription)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/revised-statutes/title-31/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Louisiana sets no deadline for paying a lessor’s royalties; timing comes from the lease. Before suing, the owner must give written notice, and the lessee has 30 days to pay or state a reasonable cause — failing that, a court may award double the royalties due, interest, and attorney fees, or dissolve the lease. Unleased owners in a compulsory unit must be paid within 180 days of the sale.", "summary": null, "citation": "La. R.S. 31:137-140; 30:10(A)(4) (unleased owners)", "url": "https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87834", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "Under Louisiana appellate decisions, unless the mineral lease says otherwise, post-production costs such as transportation are borne pro rata by the lessee and the royalty owner. A lease clause that bars or limits those deductions is enforced as written. These are intermediate appellate rulings; the Louisiana Supreme Court denied review in Culpepper.", "summary": "Louisiana: unless the lease says otherwise, post-production costs such as transportation are shared pro rata by the lessee and the royalty owner (Culpepper v. EOG Resources, La. App. 2 Cir. 2012).", "citation": "Rives Plantation, L.L.C. v. BPX Props. (N.A.) LP, No. 55,301-CA (La. App. 2 Cir. 12/20/23); Culpepper v. EOG Res., Inc., 47,154 (La. App. 2 Cir. 5/16/12), 92 So. 3d 1141, writ denied, 12-1509 (La. 10/12/12)", "url": "https://www.la2nd.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/55301ca-1.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-25" } ] }, { "name": "Michigan", "abbreviation": "MI", "slug": "michigan", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/michigan#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/michigan", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Michigan EGLE Oil, Gas, and Minerals Division (Supervisor of Wells) regulates well permitting and production.", "summary": null, "citation": "Michigan EGLE, Oil, Gas, and Minerals Division", "url": "https://www.michigan.gov/egle/about/organization/oil-gas-and-minerals", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Michigan levies a severance tax of 6.6% of gross value on oil and 5% on gas (4% for CO2 enhanced recovery), in lieu of most other state and local taxes on the production.", "summary": null, "citation": "MCL 205.303 (Act 48 of 1929)", "url": "https://legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-205-303", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Michigan has compulsory pooling under Part 615: the Supervisor of Wells may order pooling on just and reasonable terms, and a compulsorily pooled owner receives a cost-free 1/8 royalty.", "summary": null, "citation": "MCL 324.61501 et seq.; §324.61513", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-324-61513", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "Michigan HAS a Dormant Minerals Act applying only to severed oil and gas interests: they revert to the surface owner after 20 years unless a drilling permit, production, transfer, or notice of claim occurs within the period.", "summary": null, "citation": "MCL 554.291 et seq. (Act 42 of 1963; 20-year clock)", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-Act-42-of-1963", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Michigan’s rule covers gas leases only: monthly statements and payments must begin promptly once the division of interests is determined, with no fixed day count and no statutory late-payment interest rate. A lessor must give written notice and at least 30 days to cure before suing.", "summary": null, "citation": "MCL 324.61503a-324.61503c (gas leases)", "url": "https://legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-324-61503a", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "By statute, a lessee under a Michigan gas lease entered into after March 28, 2000 may not deduct any post-production costs from the lessor’s royalty unless the lease explicitly allows it. Even then, unless the lease explicitly and specifically lists other items, only two costs may be deducted: the reasonable cost of removing carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen or other non-water constituents where that enhances the gas’s value, and transportation after the gas enters a qualifying pipeline system. The statute does not reach leases signed earlier.", "summary": "Michigan: for gas leases signed after March 28, 2000, the lessee may not deduct post-production costs from royalty unless the lease explicitly allows it, and even then only gas-treatment and qualifying pipeline transportation costs unless the lease specifically lists others (MCL 324.61503b).", "citation": "Mich. Comp. Laws §324.61503b", "url": "https://legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-324-61503b", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-25" } ] }, { "name": "Mississippi", "abbreviation": "MS", "slug": "mississippi", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/mississippi#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/mississippi", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (MSOGB) permits wells and regulates production and integration.", "summary": null, "citation": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Mississippi levies a severance tax of 6% of value on oil and gas (3% for qualifying CO2 or enhanced-recovery oil).", "summary": null, "citation": "Miss. Code Ann. §§27-25-503, 27-25-703", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-27/chapter-25/article-5/section-27-25-503/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Mississippi has compulsory integration: the Oil and Gas Board may, after notice and hearing, order integration of interests in a drilling unit with a non-consent cost mechanism.", "summary": null, "citation": "Miss. Code Ann. §53-3-7", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-53/chapter-3/in-general/section-53-3-7/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant-mineral statute. Mississippi has never enacted one — repeated reversion bills have failed — so severed interests do not lapse to the surface owner by non-use.", "summary": null, "citation": "No dormant minerals act", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Mississippi makes purchasers liable for interest on royalties not disbursed within 120 days after first sale; later payments made within 60 days after the end of the month of sale accrue none. The rate is the greater of 8% or two points above the federal discount rate, or the discount rate where title is unmarketable.", "summary": null, "citation": "Miss. Code Ann. §53-3-39", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-53/chapter-3/in-general/section-53-3-39/", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "The Mississippi Supreme Court allows a lessee to deduct reasonable post-production processing costs, and a return of its processing-plant investment, from royalty payments even where the leases do not expressly provide for it; royalty owners may not be charged for the same investment repeatedly. Under the Fifth Circuit’s Piney Woods analysis the court adopted, processing costs come only out of values that reflect the value added by processing, not royalty on gas sold at the well.", "summary": "Mississippi: a lessee may deduct reasonable post-production processing and investment costs from royalty even when the lease does not expressly provide for it (Pursue Energy Corp. v. Abernathy, 2011).", "citation": "Pursue Energy Corp. v. Abernathy, No. 2009-CA-01794-SCT (Miss. Oct. 13, 2011)", "url": "https://courts.ms.gov/images/Opinions/CO72501.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-25" } ] }, { "name": "Montana", "abbreviation": "MT", "slug": "montana", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/montana#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/montana", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation (BOGC), under the DNRC, regulates well permitting, spacing, and pooling.", "summary": null, "citation": "Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation", "url": "https://dnrc.mt.gov/BOGC/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Montana taxes production on a graduated basis: newly drilled wells get a low holiday rate (roughly 0.5% to 0.76%) for an initial period, then substantially higher working-interest rates (commonly around 9%); there is no single flat rate.", "summary": null, "citation": "Mont. Code Ann. §15-36-304", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/montana/title-15/chapter-36/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Montana has forced pooling: after a good-faith attempt to pool voluntarily, the Board may order all interests in a spacing unit pooled on just and reasonable terms, with cost recovery from non-consenting owners.", "summary": null, "citation": "Mont. Code Ann. §82-11-202", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/montana/title-82/chapter-11/part-2/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant-mineral statute. Mineral ownership does not lapse through non-use; unlocatable owners royalties are handled as unclaimed property.", "summary": null, "citation": "No dormant minerals act", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Montana requires royalties within 120 days after the first oil or gas under the lease is marketed, then within 60 days for oil and 90 days for gas. Unpaid royalties bear interest from the due date at the maximum rate authorized under MCA 31-1-107, and the prevailing party recovers attorney fees.", "summary": "In Montana the first royalty is due within 120 days after the oil or gas is first marketed, then within 60 days (oil) or 90 days (gas), with interest on late royalties (MCA §82-10-103).", "citation": "MCA §82-10-103", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0100/part_0010/section_0030/0820-0100-0010-0030.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "Montana’s rule comes from case law: federal courts applying Montana law read Montana Power Co. v. Kravik (1978) as adopting the at-the-well rule, so reasonable post-production costs may generally be deducted. The Montana Supreme Court has not squarely revisited the question, and lease language can change the result.", "summary": "Montana: federal courts read Montana precedent as following the at-the-well rule, so reasonable post-production costs may generally be deducted unless the lease says otherwise.", "citation": "Montana Power Co. v. Kravik, 586 P.2d 298 (Mont. 1978); S Bar B Ranch v. Omimex Canada, Ltd., No. 13-35466 (9th Cir. 2015) (unpublished)", "url": "https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/memoranda/2015/05/04/13-35466.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-23" } ] }, { "name": "Nebraska", "abbreviation": "NE", "slug": "nebraska", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/nebraska#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/nebraska", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (NOGCC) regulates exploration and production.", "summary": null, "citation": "Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission", "url": "http://www.nogcc.ne.gov/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Nebraska levies a 3% severance tax on non-stripper oil and gas (2% on stripper-well oil), plus a small conservation tax.", "summary": null, "citation": "Neb. Rev. Stat. §§57-702, 57-703", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-703", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Nebraska has compulsory pooling: absent agreement the Commission may order all interests in a spacing unit pooled, with a 200% cost/risk recovery from non-consenting owners.", "summary": null, "citation": "Neb. Rev. Stat. §57-909", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-909", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "Nebraska HAS a dormant-mineral act: a severed interest is deemed abandoned unless the owner publicly exercised ownership within the prior 23 years, and may then be terminated in favor of the surface owner.", "summary": null, "citation": "Neb. Rev. Stat. §§57-228 to 57-231 (23-year clock)", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-229", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Nebraska has no statute setting royalty payment deadlines or a statutory late-payment interest rate; payment timing comes from the lease.", "summary": null, "citation": "Neb. Rev. Stat. ch. 57 (no payment-deadline statute)", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "New Mexico", "abbreviation": "NM", "slug": "newmexico", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/newmexico#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/newmexico", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Oil Conservation Division (OCD), within EMNRD, permits wells and enforces oil and gas rules; the Oil Conservation Commission handles rulemaking and review.", "summary": null, "citation": "NM Oil Conservation Division (NMSA §70-2-4)", "url": "https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/ocd/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "New Mexico’s Oil and Gas Severance Tax is 3.75% of taxable value (1.875% for qualified enhanced-recovery oil); separate school, conservation, and ad valorem production taxes stack on the same production, so the all-in burden is materially higher (roughly 8%).", "summary": null, "citation": "NMSA 1978 §7-29-4", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-7/article-29/section-7-29-4/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "New Mexico has compulsory pooling: where owners have not agreed, the OCD pools the spacing unit after notice and hearing on just and reasonable terms, with a non-consent risk charge capped at 200% of that owner’s share of drilling and completion costs.", "summary": null, "citation": "NMSA 1978 §70-2-17", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-70/article-2/section-70-2-17/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant-mineral act. Severed mineral interests are durable, heritable real property that does not lapse for non-use; unclaimed royalty payments are handled under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, which does not extinguish the mineral estate.", "summary": null, "citation": "No dormant minerals act; cf. NMSA ch. 7, art. 8A (unclaimed property)", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "New Mexico’s Oil and Gas Proceeds Payment Act requires the first payment within six months after the first day of the month following first sale, then within 45 days after the end of the month in which the payor is paid for the production. Late proceeds earn interest at the Dallas Fed discount rate plus 1.5%, rising to 18% a year when the payor had what it needed to pay; a good-faith title objection excuses the higher rate.", "summary": "In New Mexico the first payment is due within six months after the first day of the month following first sale, then within 45 days after the end of the month in which the payor is paid, with interest of up to 18% a year on late proceeds (NMSA 1978 §§70-10-3 to 70-10-5).", "citation": "NMSA 1978 §§70-10-3 to 70-10-5", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-70/article-10/section-70-10-3/", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "Neither the New Mexico Legislature nor the New Mexico Supreme Court has adopted a marketable-product rule, so whether post-production costs come out of a private-lease royalty turns on the lease wording, such as “at the well” or “net proceeds.” Federal courts applying New Mexico law have declined to imply the rule.", "summary": "New Mexico: no statute or New Mexico Supreme Court decision has adopted a marketable-product rule, so whether post-production costs can be deducted turns on the lease wording, such as “at the well” or “net proceeds.”", "citation": "Anderson Living Trust v. Energen Res. Corp., No. 16-2124 (10th Cir. 2018); Creson v. Amoco Prod. Co., 2000-NMCA-081", "url": "https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/opinions/01019953199.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-23" } ] }, { "name": "New York", "abbreviation": "NY", "slug": "newyork", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/newyork#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/newyork", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), Division of Mineral Resources, regulates oil and gas wells under ECL Article 23.", "summary": null, "citation": "NYSDEC, Division of Mineral Resources", "url": "https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/oil-gas", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "New York imposes NO oil or gas severance tax; operators pay regulatory fees rather than a production-value tax.", "summary": null, "citation": "No severance tax statute", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "New York has compulsory integration: absent voluntary integration the DEC orders integration of all interests in a spacing unit after study, notice, and hearing, with defined owner elections and risk penalties.", "summary": null, "citation": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law §23-0901", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/new-york/2022/env/article-23/title-9/23-0901/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant-mineral act. Severed mineral interests are governed by ordinary New York real-property and title principles, not statutory lapse to the surface owner.", "summary": null, "citation": "No dormant minerals act", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "New York has no payment-deadline statute, but every oil or gas lease signed since 2006 must state in bold type that four or more consecutive months of unpaid royalties is a default that can cancel the lease after written notice and a 60-day cure period.", "summary": null, "citation": "N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law §5-333(5)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GOB/5-333", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "North Dakota", "abbreviation": "ND", "slug": "northdakota", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/northdakota#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/northdakota", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The North Dakota Industrial Commission, Oil and Gas Division (Department of Mineral Resources), regulates drilling and production.", "summary": null, "citation": "ND Industrial Commission, Oil and Gas Division", "url": "https://www.dmr.nd.gov/dmr/oilgas", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "North Dakota levies two 5% production taxes — a 5% gross production tax in lieu of property tax plus a 5% oil extraction tax — so oil generally bears about 10%.", "summary": null, "citation": "N.D.C.C. ch. 57-51 and 57-51.1", "url": "https://www.tax.nd.gov/business/oil-and-gas-severance-tax", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "North Dakota has compulsory pooling: where owners do not voluntarily pool, the Industrial Commission enters a pooling order on just and reasonable terms with a statutory risk penalty for non-participating owners.", "summary": null, "citation": "N.D.C.C. §38-08-08", "url": "https://codes.findlaw.com/nd/title-38-mining-and-gas-and-oil-production/nd-cent-code-sect-38-08-08/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "North Dakota HAS an Abandoned Mineral Interests statute: a severed interest unused for 20 consecutive years vests in the surface owner unless a statement of claim (or other qualifying use) is recorded.", "summary": null, "citation": "N.D.C.C. ch. 38-18.1 (20-year clock)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/north-dakota/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "North Dakota sets no separate first-payment date: an operator that does not pay royalties within 150 days after the oil or gas is marketed owes 18% annual interest automatically, plus attorney fees if the owner prevails in court. Royalties may not be withheld because an owner has not signed a division order.", "summary": "In North Dakota an operator that does not pay royalties within 150 days after the oil or gas is marketed owes 18% annual interest (N.D.C.C. §47-16-39.1).", "citation": "N.D.C.C. §§47-16-39.1, 47-16-39.3", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t47c16.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "North Dakota values royalty at the well unless the lease sets another point: the lessee may use the work-back method, deducting reasonable post-production costs from the downstream sale price, and the state Supreme Court has rejected a first-marketable-product rule. Because royalty is a matter of contract, lease wording can set a different valuation point.", "summary": "North Dakota: royalty is generally valued at the well, so reasonable post-production costs may be deducted by the work-back method (Bice v. Petro-Hunt, 2009; Blasi v. Bruin, 2021) unless the lease sets a different valuation point.", "citation": "Bice v. Petro-Hunt, L.L.C., 2009 ND 124, 768 N.W.2d 496; Blasi v. Bruin E&P Partners, LLC, 2021 ND 86", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/files/resource/committee-memorandum/23.9250.01000.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-23" } ] }, { "name": "Ohio", "abbreviation": "OH", "slug": "ohio", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/ohio#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/ohio", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Ohio DNR Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management (DOGRM) has sole statewide authority over well permitting under ORC ch. 1509.", "summary": null, "citation": "ODNR, Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management", "url": "https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/oil-gas", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Ohio imposes a per-unit severance tax of about 10 cents per barrel of oil and 2.5 cents per Mcf of gas — a volume-based tax, not a percentage of value.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ohio Rev. Code §5749.02", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5749.02", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Ohio has both mandatory pooling of a single drilling unit and forced unitization of a pool (the latter requires consent of owners of at least 65% of the unit), ordered by the Division Chief after notice and hearing.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ohio Rev. Code §§1509.27, 1509.28", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1509.27", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "Ohio HAS a Dormant Mineral Act: a severed interest with no savings event (transfer, production, permit, preservation claim, etc.) in the prior 20 years may be deemed abandoned and merged with the surface — but only via the statutory notice-and-affidavit procedure (Corban v. Chesapeake, 2016), not automatically.", "summary": null, "citation": "Ohio Rev. Code §5301.56 (20-year clock)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Ohio has no statute setting royalty payment deadlines or a statutory late-payment interest rate; payment timing comes from the lease. Gas royalty holders can request the volumes, price, and meter readings behind their payments for up to two prior years.", "summary": "Ohio has no royalty payment-deadline statute, so timing is set by the lease.", "citation": "R.C. 1509.30 (no payment-deadline statute)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1509.30", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "Ohio has no default rule either way: the Ohio Supreme Court declined to adopt an at-the-well or a marketable-product rule and held that a lease is a contract whose specific language decides whether post-production costs may be deducted.", "summary": "Ohio: the Ohio Supreme Court declined to adopt any default rule, so whether post-production costs may be deducted depends entirely on the lease’s specific language (Lutz v. Chesapeake, 2016).", "citation": "Lutz v. Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C., 148 Ohio St.3d 524, 2016-Ohio-7549", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2016/2016-Ohio-7549.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-23" } ] }, { "name": "Oklahoma", "abbreviation": "OK", "slug": "oklahoma", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/oklahoma#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/oklahoma", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), Oil and Gas Conservation Division, has regulated oil and gas production since 1915 — permitting, spacing, and pooling.", "summary": null, "citation": "Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Oil and Gas Division", "url": "https://oklahoma.gov/occ/divisions/oil-gas.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Oklahoma levies a gross production tax at a headline 7% of gross value, reduced to 5% for the first 36 months of a new well; the tax also attaches to royalty interests.", "summary": null, "citation": "68 O.S. §1001", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/oklahoma/title-68/section-68-1001/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Oklahoma has forced pooling: after a good-faith effort to lease fails, an operator may ask the OCC to pool all interests in a drilling and spacing unit, with election options set by the pooling order.", "summary": null, "citation": "52 O.S. §87.1", "url": "https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/occ/documents/og/the-pooling-process-in-oklahoma.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant-mineral act. Oklahoma mineral interests are not lost by non-use; stale claims are addressed through the Marketable Record Title Act and mechanisms like affidavits of heirship, not reversion to the surface owner.", "summary": null, "citation": "No dormant minerals act; cf. Marketable Record Title Act, 16 O.S. §71 et seq.", "url": "https://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=66380", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Oklahoma’s Production Revenue Standards Act requires the first payment within six months after first sale, then by the last day of the second month after the month of sale. As amended effective November 1, 2026, late proceeds earn 15% interest a year; where payment is held because title is unmarketable, interest runs at the prime rate, capped at 6% a year, and where a probate is needed to cure title, no interest accrues until title is cured and the payor receives the final probate decree.", "summary": "In Oklahoma the first payment is due within six months after first sale, then by the last day of the second month after the month of sale, with 15% a year interest on late proceeds as amended effective November 1, 2026 (the prime rate, capped at 6%, where title is unmarketable, and no interest while a probate needed to cure title is pending, until the payor receives the final decree) (52 O.S. §570.10).", "citation": "52 O.S. §570.10 (as amended by Laws 2026, HB 1371, eff. Nov. 1, 2026)", "url": "https://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=80938", "lastReviewed": "2026-11-01" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "For gas, Oklahoma follows a marketable-product rule: the lessee bears the costs of making gas marketable, such as gathering, compression and dehydration. Later costs can be charged to the royalty only if the lessee shows they enhanced the value of an already-marketable product, were reasonable, and increased royalty revenue in proportion. Express lease language can shift costs.", "summary": "Oklahoma: for gas, the lessee bears the costs of making it marketable and may charge later costs only if it shows they were reasonable, enhanced the value of already-marketable gas, and increased royalty revenue in proportion (Mittelstaedt, 1998).", "citation": "Mittelstaedt v. Santa Fe Minerals, Inc., 1998 OK 7, 954 P.2d 1203; Wood v. TXO Prod. Corp., 1992 OK 100", "url": "https://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=11722", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-23" } ] }, { "name": "Pennsylvania", "abbreviation": "PA", "slug": "pennsylvania", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/pennsylvania#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/pennsylvania", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Pennsylvania DEP Office of Oil and Gas Management regulates well drilling and permitting under Act 13 (Title 58).", "summary": null, "citation": "PA DEP, Office of Oil and Gas Management", "url": "https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dep/programs-and-services/oil-and-gas", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Pennsylvania has NO severance tax. Instead a per-well impact fee on unconventional (shale) wells applies under Act 13, based on well count and average gas price rather than production volume; conventional wells are exempt.", "summary": null, "citation": "Act 13 of 2012, 58 Pa.C.S. ch. 23", "url": "https://www.puc.pa.gov/filing-resources/issues-laws-regulations/act-13-impact-fee/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Effectively no general forced pooling. The only compulsory-pooling authority applies to wells below the Onondaga horizon, which excludes Marcellus/Utica shale — so shale operators must negotiate voluntary leases.", "summary": null, "citation": "Oil and Gas Conservation Law, 58 P.S. §§401-409", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/uconsCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&yr=1961&sessInd=0&act=359", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "Pennsylvania’s Dormant Oil and Gas Act does NOT transfer title to the surface owner: a court may appoint a trustee to lease the interests of unknown or unlocatable owners and hold the proceeds in trust, preserving rather than divesting the interest.", "summary": null, "citation": "Dormant Oil and Gas Act, 58 P.S. §701.1 et seq. (Act 115 of 2006)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "For unconventional (Marcellus and Utica) production, Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas Lease Act requires the first payment within 120 days of first sale and later payments within 60 days after the end of the month of sale, with interest at the 6% legal rate on late proceeds — unless the lease provides otherwise. Title defects, bona fide ownership disputes, and unlocatable owners are excepted.", "summary": "In Pennsylvania, for unconventional production, the first payment is due within 120 days of first sale and later payments within 60 days after the end of the month of sale, with 6% interest on late proceeds unless the lease says otherwise (Oil and Gas Lease Act §3.3).", "citation": "Oil and Gas Lease Act §3.3(e)-(f) (Act 60 of 1979, as amended by Act 153 of 2022)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/1979/0/0060..HTM", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "Pennsylvania has not adopted a marketable-product rule. Its Supreme Court held that the Guaranteed Minimum Royalty Act’s one-eighth minimum may be calculated at the wellhead by the net-back method, deducting post-production costs from the sale price, so whether costs come out of a given royalty depends on the lease wording.", "summary": "Pennsylvania: there is no marketable-product rule, and the state Supreme Court allows the one-eighth minimum royalty to be calculated at the wellhead net of post-production costs (Kilmer, 2010), so the lease wording decides.", "citation": "Kilmer v. Elexco Land Servs., Inc., 990 A.2d 1147 (Pa. 2010) (Guaranteed Minimum Royalty Act)", "url": "https://caselaw.findlaw.com/pa-supreme-court/1522805.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-23" } ] }, { "name": "South Dakota", "abbreviation": "SD", "slug": "southdakota", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/southdakota#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/southdakota", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The South Dakota DANR Minerals and Mining Program and the Board of Minerals and Environment implement the Oil and Gas Conservation Act.", "summary": null, "citation": "SD DANR, Minerals and Mining Program", "url": "https://danr.sd.gov/Environment/MineralsMining/OilGas/default.aspx", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "South Dakota imposes a 4.5% energy-minerals severance tax on taxable value (sale price less royalty), plus a 0.24% conservation tax.", "summary": null, "citation": "SDCL ch. 10-39A; ch. 10-39B", "url": "https://dor.sd.gov/businesses/taxes/precious-metal-energy-mineral-severance-taxes-conservation-tax/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "South Dakota has compulsory pooling under the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, issued administratively by the DANR Secretary unless contested, in which case the Board of Minerals and Environment holds a hearing.", "summary": null, "citation": "SDCL ch. 45-9", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/45-9", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "South Dakota HAS a dormant/lapsed-mineral act: a severed interest unused for 23 consecutive years vests in the surface owner unless a statement of claim is recorded (Holsti v. Kimber, 2014).", "summary": null, "citation": "SDCL ch. 43-30A (23-year clock)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/south-dakota/2016/title-43/chapter-30a/section-43-30a-2/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "South Dakota has no statute setting royalty payment deadlines or a statutory late-payment interest rate; payment timing comes from the lease.", "summary": null, "citation": "SDCL ch. 45-9 (no payment-deadline statute)", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "Tennessee", "abbreviation": "TN", "slug": "tennessee", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/tennessee#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/tennessee", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Oil and Gas Program, under the Board of Water Quality, Oil and Gas, regulates wells.", "summary": null, "citation": "TDEC, Oil and Gas Program", "url": "https://www.tn.gov/environment/mineral-geologic/oil-gas.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Tennessee levies an oil and gas severance tax of 3% of the sales price of production.", "summary": null, "citation": "Tenn. Code Ann. §§60-1-301 to 60-1-302", "url": "https://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/eli/oil-and-gas-severance-tax", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Tennessee has compulsory pooling: the Board may establish drilling units and pool separately owned interests within a unit for development.", "summary": null, "citation": "Tenn. Code Ann. Title 60, ch. 1", "url": "https://www.tn.gov/environment/mineral-geologic/oil-gas.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "Tennessee HAS a Dormant Mineral Interests Act: an interest unused for 20 years reverts to the surface owner unless a statement of claim is filed; use includes production, rentals/royalties, pooling, or paying taxes.", "summary": null, "citation": "Tenn. Code Ann. §66-5-108 (20-year clock)", "url": "https://codes.findlaw.com/tn/title-66-property/tn-code-sect-66-5-108/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Tennessee has no statute setting royalty payment deadlines or a statutory late-payment interest rate; payment timing comes from the lease.", "summary": null, "citation": "Tenn. Code Title 60 (no payment-deadline statute)", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "Texas", "abbreviation": "TX", "slug": "texas", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/texas#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/texas", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) regulates oil and gas well permitting, spacing, and production statewide.", "summary": null, "citation": "Railroad Commission of Texas", "url": "https://www.rrc.texas.gov", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Texas taxes oil at 4.6% of market value and natural gas at 7.5% of market value, administered by the Comptroller.", "summary": null, "citation": "Tex. Tax Code §202.052 (oil); §201.052 (gas)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.201.htm", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Texas has NO general compulsory pooling. Its only mechanism is the narrow Mineral Interest Pooling Act (MIPA, 1965), available only after a fair voluntary offer is refused and rarely used because of its procedural hurdles — so your consent to a lease normally cannot be forced.", "summary": null, "citation": "Mineral Interest Pooling Act, Tex. Nat. Res. Code ch. 102", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/NR/htm/NR.102.htm", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant-mineral statute. A severed mineral estate in Texas does not lapse or revert for non-use; it changes hands only by conveyance, adverse possession, or other ordinary title events.", "summary": null, "citation": "No dormant minerals act", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Texas requires the first royalty payment within 120 days after the end of the month of first sale, then — unless the lease sets other timing — within 60 days (oil) or 90 days (gas) after the end of the month of sale. Late proceeds bear interest at two percentage points above the New York Fed discount rate; no interest is owed on payments withheld over a title dispute or an unmet title requirement, and the owner must give written notice before suing.", "summary": "In Texas the first payment is due within 120 days after the end of the month of first sale, and later payments within 60 days (oil) or 90 days (gas) after the end of the month of sale unless the lease says otherwise, with interest on late proceeds (Tex. Nat. Res. Code §§91.402-91.403).", "citation": "Tex. Nat. Res. Code §§91.402-91.404", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/NR/htm/NR.91.htm", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "Texas has no implied marketable-product rule: a royalty valued “at the well” bears its share of post-production costs such as gathering, compression, processing and transportation, whether it is figured on market value or on proceeds. A lease or deed can make a royalty cost-free, but only with language that clearly does so.", "summary": "Texas: courts imply no marketable-product rule, so a royalty valued “at the well” shares post-production costs (Burlington Resources v. Texas Crude, 2019); only lease or deed language that clearly makes the royalty cost-free changes that.", "citation": "Burlington Res. Oil & Gas Co. v. Tex. Crude Energy, 573 S.W.3d 198 (Tex. 2019); Heritage Res. v. NationsBank, 939 S.W.2d 118 (Tex. 1996)", "url": "https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1443663/170266.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-23" } ] }, { "name": "Utah", "abbreviation": "UT", "slug": "utah", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/utah#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/utah", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining (DOGM), under the Board of Oil, Gas and Mining, regulates well permitting and production.", "summary": null, "citation": "Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining", "url": "https://oilgas.ogm.utah.gov", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Utah imposes a sliding-scale severance tax — oil and gas at 3% at lower prices, rising to 5% at higher prices, and NGLs at 4% — plus a 0.2% conservation fee.", "summary": null, "citation": "Utah Code §59-5-102; §40-6-14 (fee)", "url": "https://tax.utah.gov/utah-taxes/oil-gas-severance", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Utah has compulsory pooling: absent agreement the Board may order pooling of all interests in a drilling unit on just and reasonable terms, with a 150% to 400% risk penalty for non-consenting owners.", "summary": null, "citation": "Utah Code §40-6-6.5", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title40/Chapter6/C40-6_1800010118000101.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No traditional dormant/lapsed-minerals act reverting unused severed minerals to the surface owner; unclaimed interests and proceeds are handled through trust-lands administration and the Unclaimed Property Act.", "summary": null, "citation": "No dormant-minerals lapse statute", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Utah requires the first payment within 180 days after the first day of the month following first sale, then within 30 days after the end of the month in which the payor is paid. Funds that cannot be paid on time go into interest-bearing escrow; on an owner’s petition, the Board of Oil, Gas and Mining can order interest of 1.5% a month and a penalty where the delay was unjustified.", "summary": null, "citation": "Utah Code §40-6-9", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title40/Chapter6/40-6-S9.html", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "Virginia", "abbreviation": "VA", "slug": "virginia", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/virginia#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/virginia", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Virginia Department of Energy, Division of Gas and Oil, regulates production; the Virginia Gas and Oil Board handles pooling.", "summary": null, "citation": "Virginia Energy, Division of Gas and Oil", "url": "https://energy.virginia.gov/gas-oil/gasoil.shtml", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Virginia imposes no statewide severance tax; producing localities may levy local gas/oil license taxes of up to roughly 1% each.", "summary": null, "citation": "No state severance tax; local taxes under Va. Code Title 58.1", "url": "https://energy.virginia.gov/gas-oil/gasoil.shtml", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Virginia has forced pooling through the Gas and Oil Board, used heavily for coalbed methane; where gas ownership is disputed the operator escrows royalties until ownership is resolved.", "summary": null, "citation": "Virginia Gas and Oil Act, Va. Code Title 45.2, ch. 16", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No true dormant-minerals lapse act: a 35-year rebuttable presumption of no minerals allows a quiet-title action but, by its terms, does not apply west of the Blue Ridge — i.e., it does not reach Virginia’s actual oil, gas, and coal counties. Severed title is not extinguished by time alone.", "summary": null, "citation": "Va. Code §§45.2-400, 45.2-401 (presumption, not a lapse statute)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-400/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "Virginia has no general royalty payment-deadline statute; timing comes from the lease. The Gas and Oil Act sets 30-day clocks only for releasing escrowed royalties once an unknown owner is found or a conflicting claim is resolved.", "summary": null, "citation": "Va. Code §§45.2-1620, 45.2-1622", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/45.2-1622/", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" } ] }, { "name": "West Virginia", "abbreviation": "WV", "slug": "westvirginia", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/westvirginia#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/westvirginia", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The WVDEP Office of Oil and Gas permits and regulates wells; the WV Oil and Gas Conservation Commission administers conservation and unitization.", "summary": null, "citation": "WVDEP, Office of Oil and Gas", "url": "https://dep.wv.gov/oil-and-gas/Pages/default.aspx", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "West Virginia levies a 5% severance tax on the gross value of oil and gas at the wellhead, reduced to 2.5% for qualifying marginal wells.", "summary": null, "citation": "W. Va. Code §11-13A-3a", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/11-13A-3A/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "West Virginia allows compulsory horizontal-well unitization (SB 694, 2022) without unanimous consent if royalty owners of at least 75% of net acreage and 55% of the operating interest consent, with units capped at 640 acres.", "summary": null, "citation": "W. Va. Code §22C-9-7a; §37B-1 (Cotenancy Modernization Act)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22C-9-7A/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant/lapsed-minerals act — no West Virginia statute reverts a severed interest to the surface owner for years of non-use. Only a court-supervised procedure exists for missing or unknown owners, and abandonment requires proof of intent, not mere time.", "summary": null, "citation": "No lapse statute; missing-owner procedure at W. Va. Code §§55-12A-1 to -10", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "For horizontal wells, West Virginia requires the first payment within 120 days of the first sale and later payments within 60 days, with a mandatory interest penalty of prime plus 2% compounded quarterly. For conventional wells, a lessee that leaves royalty unpaid more than six months past its lease due date owes three times the unpaid royalty’s market value (suits filed on or after July 1, 2025).", "summary": "In West Virginia, for horizontal wells, the first payment is due within 120 days of first sale and later payments within 60 days, with interest at prime plus 2% on late proceeds (W. Va. Code §37C-1-3).", "citation": "W. Va. Code §37C-1-3 (horizontal wells); §36-4-9c (conventional wells)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37C-1-3/", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "West Virginia makes the lessee bear post-production costs all the way to the point of sale, including for natural gas liquids, unless the lease expressly says the royalty owner shares costs, identifies each deduction with particularity, and states how it is calculated. Leases converted to the statutory flat-rate royalty are paid free of post-production deductions by statute.", "summary": "West Virginia: the lessee bears post-production costs to the point of sale, natural gas liquids included, unless the lease expressly provides for each deduction and how it is calculated (Romeo v. Antero, 2025; Tawney, 2006).", "citation": "Romeo v. Antero Res. Corp., No. 23-589 (W. Va. 2025); Estate of Tawney v. Columbia Natural Res., 633 S.E.2d 22 (W. Va. 2006); W. Va. Code §22-6-8(e)", "url": "https://www.courtswv.gov/sites/default/pubfilesmnt/2025-06/23-589-wooton-p.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-23" } ] }, { "name": "Wyoming", "abbreviation": "WY", "slug": "wyoming", "url": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/mineral-rights/wyoming#state-statutes", "api": "https://www.americanroyaltybuyers.com/api/state-law/wyoming", "facts": [ { "key": "regulator", "label": "State regulator", "text": "The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) regulates well permitting, spacing, and pooling.", "summary": null, "citation": "Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission", "url": "https://wogcc.wyo.gov", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "severanceTax", "label": "Severance tax", "text": "Wyoming imposes a severance tax of 6% of the taxable value of oil and gas production (including the constitutional 1.5% dedicated to the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund).", "summary": null, "citation": "Wyo. Stat. §39-14-201 et seq.", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title39.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "forcedPooling", "label": "Forced pooling", "text": "Wyoming has compulsory pooling: the WOGCC may order pooling of all interests in a drilling unit. Since HB 14 (2020) an unleased non-consenting owner gets a cost-free royalty during cost recovery and a reduced risk penalty (200% first well, 150% after).", "summary": null, "citation": "Wyo. Stat. §30-5-109", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-30/chapter-5/article-1/section-30-5-109/", "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "dormantMinerals", "label": "Dormant minerals", "text": "No dormant/abandoned-minerals statute. Severed interests remain in the owner’s name indefinitely absent conveyance, abandonment, or a quiet-title action; only unclaimed proceeds are reachable as unclaimed property.", "summary": null, "citation": "No dormant minerals act", "url": null, "lastReviewed": "2026-08-08" }, { "key": "paymentDeadlines", "label": "Royalty payment deadlines", "text": "The Wyoming Royalty Payment Act requires the first payment within six months after the first day of the month following first sale, then within 60 days after the end of the month of sale. Late proceeds bear 18% annual interest, and funds that cannot be paid on time must be placed in an interest-bearing Wyoming escrow account.", "summary": "In Wyoming the first payment is due within six months after the first day of the month following first sale, then within 60 days after the end of the month of sale, with 18% annual interest on late proceeds (Wyo. Stat. §30-5-301 to -303).", "citation": "Wyo. Stat. §§30-5-301 to 30-5-303", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-19" }, { "key": "postProductionDeductions", "label": "Post-production deductions", "text": "By statute, Wyoming royalty is free of “costs of production,” which include gathering, compressing, dehydrating, separating, storing and moving gas into the market pipeline (or oil to the storage tanks). Only the reasonable, actual, direct costs of transportation beyond that point and of processing gas in a plant may be deducted, unless specific language in a written agreement provides otherwise.", "summary": "Wyoming: by statute, royalty is free of gathering, compression, dehydration and the other costs of getting gas into the market pipeline; only reasonable direct costs of later transportation and plant processing may be deducted unless specific written language says otherwise (Wyo. Stat. §30-5-304).", "citation": "Wyo. Stat. §§30-5-304(a)(vi)-(vii), 30-5-305(a); Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. v. Followill, 2004 WY 80", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "lastReviewed": "2026-10-23" } ] } ] }