Direct buyer — no brokers, no middlemen, no fees
Yes — you can sell your West Virginia mineral rights, and American Royalty Buyers buys them directly: mineral rights, royalties, NPRI, ORRI, and non-operated working interests across 10 West Virginia counties, producing or non-producing, including inherited and fractional interests. A free, written, no-obligation valuation typically arrives within five business days — no brokers, no fees, no commissions.
American Royalty Buyers actively purchases mineral rights and royalties in West Virginia. Our team specializes in the Marcellus Shale and provides expert valuations.
Comparing companies that buy mineral rights? See how direct buyers, brokers, and royalty buyers differ before you accept any offer.
West Virginia mineral value is concentrated in the north of the state, in the Marcellus Shale, and it divides along a line most owners never hear about: whether the gas under the tract is wet or dry. The western tier along and near the Ohio River — Tyler, Doddridge, Wetzel, Marshall, and Ritchie counties, and Ohio and Brooke in the northern panhandle — produces liquids-rich gas, where condensate and natural gas liquids add a second revenue stream to the royalty. Move east to Monongalia, Marion, and Harrison counties and the same formation yields almost entirely dry gas. Two tracts the same size, a few counties apart, are valued on different commodities.
The Utica and Point Pleasant lie far beneath the Marcellus, and in West Virginia they are a narrow story rather than a statewide one: deep Utica drilling has been concentrated in Marshall County, with only scattered wells elsewhere. If a buyer or a mailer leans on “Utica upside” for acreage outside that corner of the state, ask what wells support it. Away from the northern shale counties, most West Virginia production is older and shallower — long-lived conventional gas wells, plus an earlier generation of horizontal wells in the southern counties that is no longer being drilled — and it pays small, steady royalties rather than carrying development upside.
Who operates your unit matters as much as where it sits. Antero Resources runs the largest program in the liquids-rich counties — Tyler, Doddridge, Ritchie, and Wetzel. EQT is the most active driller in Wetzel and Marion counties and holds the former Tug Hill position in Marshall. Expand Energy, the successor to Chesapeake and Southwestern, works Marshall County and the northern panhandle, and Northeast Natural Energy drills the dry-gas acreage in Monongalia County. The payor name on a West Virginia check often lags the company that actually operates the wells today, so match your check stub to the current operator before comparing offers.
West Virginia law also shapes what a royalty nets. Under Estate of Tawney v. Columbia Natural Resources (2006), which the state’s Supreme Court of Appeals has since confirmed remains good law, a lessee may deduct post-production costs — gathering, compression, processing — only where the lease expressly says so and spells out how the deductions are calculated, a stricter standard than in neighboring Pennsylvania. Old flat-rate leases, which paid a fixed sum per well regardless of volume, cannot support a new drilling permit unless the operator commits to pay at least one-eighth of gross proceeds free of post-production expenses (W. Va. Code § 22-6-8). The state levies a severance tax on production, and since 2022 an operator can unitize a horizontal well once owners of three-quarters of the royalty acreage have agreed, so a holdout or an unlocatable heir no longer stops a unit from being drilled. Lease language still decides most deduction disputes, which is why the deductions on your check stub are weighed in any real valuation.
There is no single price per acre for West Virginia minerals. Value depends on the wet or dry window, whether the tract is producing, your net mineral acres, your lease’s royalty rate and deduction terms, which operator holds the unit and how actively it is drilling, and natural gas and NGL prices. ARB buys West Virginia mineral rights and royalties directly, as a principal — producing or non-producing, including inherited and fractional interests. A free, written valuation shows the number and the reasoning behind it, with no fees, no commission, and no obligation to sell.
If you have inherited mineral rights in West Virginia, the first job is getting record title into your name. Minerals that passed under a will go through West Virginia probate in the county where the estate is administered, and a great deal of rural West Virginia property has passed with no will at all, so the heirs are fixed by the state’s intestacy rules as of the date of death. When the person who died lived in another state, an ancillary administration in West Virginia may be needed to move the West Virginia minerals, though it is not required in every case — a West Virginia attorney can tell you which route applies. West Virginia also recognizes a transfer-on-death deed under its Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act (W. Va. Code § 36-12-1 et seq.), which passes property to a named beneficiary outside probate when the deed was recorded before death. Transferring inherited mineral rights and selling mineral rights from an estate walk through the steps.
Inherited minerals receive a stepped-up cost basis — their fair market value on the date of the previous owner’s death, not what that owner paid — so capital gains on a sale are measured against the stepped-up figure, and a sale soon after inheriting often carries little or no taxable gain. The stepped-up basis on inherited minerals explains the federal side. West Virginia imposes no state estate or inheritance tax on the estates of people who died after 2004. A tax professional can confirm how both apply to you.
West Virginia has no dormant mineral act: a severed mineral interest does not revert to the surface owner simply because years have passed. There are, however, two ways an heir who never comes forward can lose one. First, when an owner is unknown or cannot be found, a circuit court can appoint a special commissioner to lease the interest, and if no owner appears within seven years of that lease the court can order the minerals conveyed to the surface owner (W. Va. Code § 55-12A-7); the 2018 cotenancy law gives surface owners a similar seven-year route where an operator has developed a tract over unlocatable owners (§ 37B-1-4). Second, severed minerals are taxed as real property, and where an interest is separately assessed, an unpaid county tax ticket can end in a tax sale. For heirs of West Virginia minerals, recording your ownership and keeping the tax ticket current are what protect the interest. The complete guide to inherited mineral rights covers what to gather and check.
Inherited West Virginia minerals are usually small, fractional, undivided interests, because many of these severances are a century old and each generation has divided them again. That makes the decimals tiny and the title work heavy, and it is the reason a single mailed offer is seldom a reliable measure of value. This is general information about West Virginia law and federal tax treatment, not legal or tax advice; confirm current law with a West Virginia attorney.
American Royalty Buyers buys inherited West Virginia mineral rights and royalties directly — producing or non-producing, including the small, fractional, and complex-title interests estates so often leave behind across the Marcellus counties. Whether you keep or sell, a free, written, no-obligation valuation from ARB tells you what the interest is worth today, with the reasoning explained and no fees or pressure.
A West Virginia owner who decides to sell will hear from three kinds of counterparty, and they are not interchangeable. A direct buyer such as American Royalty Buyers pays with its own capital and takes title — one written offer, one closing, no fee. A broker never owns your minerals; they market the interest to other buyers and are paid a commission from your proceeds. A marketplace relays bids from a pool of buyers and takes a platform margin on top of each bidder’s own. Working out which one sent the letter in your mailbox is the first step.
The diligence question in West Virginia is specific: is the tract in the liquids-rich window or the dry-gas window of the Marcellus? A Tyler or Doddridge County interest carries liquids revenue that a Monongalia or Marion County interest does not, and a buyer who prices the two alike has not looked. Ask any buyer to name the operator on your unit, the wells already producing, the permits nearby, and how your lease treats post-production deductions. In Marshall County, ask as well whether the deep Utica is part of the number.
What a direct buyer offers is a net you can read and a closing that depends on no one else. A marketplace’s top bid is what remains after the platform and the winning bidder have each kept a margin; a direct buyer’s written offer is the amount wired to you. ARB sets out how it reached its number, so any mailed or brokered offer can be laid beside it; the companies that buy mineral rights directory describes how the field is organized.
American Royalty Buyers buys West Virginia mineral rights and royalties directly — across the northern Marcellus counties and statewide, producing or non-producing, including the small, inherited, and heavily divided interests that long-held West Virginia family minerals so often become. No broker, no commission, no fee. A free, written, no-obligation valuation shows what your West Virginia interest is worth and why.
The WVDEP Office of Oil and Gas permits and regulates wells; the WV Oil and Gas Conservation Commission administers conservation and unitization. WVDEP, Office of Oil and Gas
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. W. Va. Code §11-13A-3a
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. W. Va. Code §22C-9-7a; §37B-1 (Cotenancy Modernization Act)
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. No lapse statute; missing-owner procedure at W. Va. Code §§55-12A-1 to -10
General information sourced to statute, not legal advice; laws change, so confirm current West Virginia law with the linked source or a qualified attorney.
The most active and in-demand West Virginia counties where ARB buys mineral rights and royalties.
The most active permit filers in West Virginia (trailing 90 days, as of August 25, 2026). Your royalty check often arrives under a payor name that differs from the operator — the aliases below are the names to look for on your stub. Receiving checks from one of these? Get a free valuation.
Royalty checks tied to Expand Energy-operated West Virginia wells commonly arrive under: Expand Energy, Chesapeake Appalachia, Chesapeake Energy, SWN Production Company, Southwestern Energy.
Royalty checks tied to EQT Corporation-operated West Virginia wells commonly arrive under: EQT Production Company, EQT Corporation, Rice Drilling B, Tug Hill Operating.
Royalty checks tied to Antero Resources-operated West Virginia wells commonly arrive under: Antero Resources, Antero Resources Corporation.
Full payor-name directory · Find your operator from your check stub
Yes. American Royalty Buyers is a direct buyer of West Virginia mineral rights, royalties, NPRI, ORRI, and non-operated working interests — producing or non-producing, including inherited or complex title. ARB actively buys in 10 West Virginia counties, including Brooke County, Doddridge County, Harrison County, Lewis County, Marion County.
Submit your information through our valuation form or call (817) 778-9532. ARB delivers a written, no-obligation offer — typically within five business days — handles all title and closing work at no cost to you, and pays by wire at closing. There are no fees or commissions.
It depends on your net mineral acres, whether the acreage is producing, the formations and operators beneath it, and current commodity prices — there is no single per-acre price. The reliable way to learn your number is a free, no-obligation valuation built from your specific West Virginia acreage, which ARB provides with the reasoning explained.
No. ARB is a direct buyer — there are no fees, commissions, or deductions. The offer amount is what you receive, and ARB covers title research, curative work, and closing costs.
From inquiry to closing typically takes four to six weeks. You receive a no-obligation offer within about five business days, then ARB handles title and curative work before funding your lump-sum payment by wire.
Do not sign or return anything right away. First, confirm exactly what you own — your net mineral acres, royalty decimal, and which wells or units are involved. Second, verify the buyer: check whether they are a direct buyer or a broker who intends to flip the deal, and read the purchase agreement for the effective date and any deductions. Third, get at least one competing written offer so you have something to measure the first one against. Unsolicited offers on West Virginia minerals are often opening bids rather than best-and-final, and a second valuation from American Royalty Buyers is free and carries no obligation to sell.
First establish record title in your name — through West Virginia probate, the state’s intestacy rules if there was no will, or a transfer-on-death deed recorded before death; where the person who died lived out of state, an ancillary administration in West Virginia may also be needed. Then gather any check stub, division order, lease, and the county tax ticket for the minerals so the interest can be identified. American Royalty Buyers researches the operator, formation, and production tied to your West Virginia acreage, provides a free, no-obligation offer, handles the title and transfer paperwork, and buys small and fractional inherited interests routinely — with no fee to you. This is general information, not legal advice.
It depends on where in West Virginia the minerals sit and what lies beneath them — a liquids-rich Marcellus tract in Tyler or Doddridge County, a dry-gas tract in Monongalia County, and an older conventional interest elsewhere are worth very different amounts — plus your net mineral acres, whether the acreage is producing, your lease’s deduction terms, and current natural gas prices. There is no statewide per-acre figure. Because inherited interests are often small and fractional, a single unsolicited offer is rarely the market; a free valuation built from your specific acreage shows the number and the reasoning.
Not through the passage of time alone — West Virginia has no dormant mineral act. But there are two real risks. If an owner cannot be found, a court can appoint a special commissioner to lease the interest and, after seven years with no owner coming forward, order it conveyed to the surface owner (W. Va. Code § 55-12A-7). And because severed minerals are taxed as real property, a separately assessed interest whose county tax ticket goes unpaid can be sold at a tax sale. Recording your ownership and keeping the taxes current guard against both. Confirm current law with a West Virginia attorney.
West Virginia mineral rights are bought by direct buyers who pay with their own capital and take title (American Royalty Buyers is one), brokers who market your interest to third parties for a commission, and online marketplaces that relay bids from a pool of buyers. A direct buyer means one offer and one closing with no fee; the other two put a paid intermediary between you and the sale. ARB buys West Virginia minerals directly across the northern Marcellus counties and statewide, and provides a free, no-obligation valuation.
A broker does not buy your West Virginia minerals — they market the interest to third-party buyers and take a commission out of your proceeds, so your net is lower and the sale waits on an end buyer. A direct buyer like American Royalty Buyers purchases with its own capital and takes title: one written offer, no commission, and ARB handles the title and transfer work. When a clear net and a dependable closing matter most, the direct buyer is the simpler route.
Send your details through the valuation form or call (817) 778-9532, and include any check stub, division order, lease, or county tax ticket so the interest can be identified. ARB reviews your net mineral acres, whether the tract is in the wet-gas or dry-gas window of the Marcellus, the operator and wells on your unit, and current natural gas prices, then delivers a free, written, no-obligation cash offer — usually within five business days, with the reasoning explained and no pressure to sell.
Unsolicited letters and calls offering to buy West Virginia mineral rights are common, and the first number is rarely the best one. Before you sign anything: read the offer carefully, confirm exactly what you own, verify who the buyer is, and get a second written offer to compare against. ARB will give you one at no cost and with no obligation to sell.