Guide to Mineral Rights and Royalty Ownership in 2024

How will current energy markets affect you as a mineral and royalty owner? There’s a lot happening all over the world and at home, so let’s take a closer look at what promises to be a very interesting year.

Elections Across the Globe in 2024 Will Decide Energy’s Future

In 2024 the US joins about half the world in scheduling major elections—decisions that could have a far-reaching effect on the energy industry.

In the US, the election could be very close, and without a clear front runner, markets react with uncertainty. Especially the oil and gas industry, where both sides of the political spectrum seemingly have polar opposite views of the direction energy should move towards in this country; whether to green energy or energy independence from oil and gas production at home.

The US’s biggest election topics are not directly energy related, instead focusing on immigration and the economy—but the results will steer energy policy nonetheless. Current polls indicate that Republicans are generally considered to be stronger on both limiting immigration and boosting the economy and a new administration/Congress with them gaining ground could strengthen demand for energy resources, and therefore for mineral rights. A Democrat victory would likely continue and strengthen current support away from oil and gas and toward a lower carbon future. At least that is the proposed direction.

Mergers and Acquisitions Set Records, Reveal Strong Permian Interest

For the nation’s most productive region, the Permian Basin, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity has been among the top stories of 2023, with ramifications continuing into 2024.

In December, consultancy Wood Mackenzie reported that the value of 2023 M&A deals in the Permian exceeded $100 billion, making it the busiest year since 2019 saw $65 billion in activity.

Last year the top Permian (and US) transactions were ExxonMobil’s $60 billion proposal to buy Pioneer Natural Resources, Chevron’s $53 billion agreement to buy Hess, and Oxy’s $12 billion purchase of Crown Rock. Smaller deals included Permian Resources bidding $4.5 billion for Earthstone Energy and Ovintiv spending $4.3 billion in three Permian buyouts.

The year 2024 began with the January 4 announcement that APA Corporation is buying Callon Petroleum for $4.5 billion in an all-stock transaction. Callon has extensive Permian assets, especially in the prolific Delaware Basin.

The larger acquisitions are subject to regulatory review, and there are increasing concerns on the part of opponents that the industry’s consolidation could restrain free trade. Those issues could lead to some administration push back, although to what extent is anyone’s guess. And typically, large deals like the above are followed by some shedding of non-core assets by the buyers in order to reduce debt and optimize holdings. Regulators could require even more, after review. But with oil and gas traded on international markets, domestic consolidation would seem unlikely to actually be a precursor to price-inflating production squeezing.

The good news for Permian mineral rights owners is that, as productive as the basin already is, producers still covet its abundance of undeveloped acreage. Over the last couple of years ever-improving technology and recovery methods have allowed the Permian to regularly set monthly and daily production records, no matter the daily price. This is still one of the best places on earth to own—and sell—mineral rights. And the area where we see significant demand and gain the highest sales prices for our clients!

A Bloomberg survey of closely held oil explorers showed “69% of Permian firms expect to grow production 5% or less this year, according to Jefferies Financial Group Inc. The same number expect to maintain or cut their number of drilling rigs this year, the bank said.” While this is less growth than expected, it is further evidence that mineral rights will still be in demand.

How Will Supply and Demand Issues Affect Mineral Interests?

Much of 2023 saw forecasters adamant that, though early year prices were floating in the $70-$80 per barrel range for the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI), by Q4 it would be closing in on $100. As you may already know, that did not happen—not even close. The main reasons involved miscalculations in the supply/demand balance.

There are four main reasons for this 30% miscalculation, says Hillary Stevenson of energy supply chain consultancy Industrial Information Resources. Her list includes: 1) Lackluster Chinese demand, 2) A buildup of US gasoline stocks, 3) The failure of the Israeli-Hamas conflict to go global (thankfully), and 4) Market doubts about whether the voluntary OPEC+ supply cuts will materialize.

Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) looks for another record year for oil production from American producers. They see production rising by 290,000 million barrels per day (bpd) to 13.21 million bpd this year and reaching 13.44 million bpd in 2025, as greater production efficiency for wells offsets drops in drilling activity. That rise will be less than the 1.01 million barrels per day seen in 2023, but will complete the production recovery after 2020’s pandemic shut in a significant portion of existing production. It also brought drilling activity to decades-low numbers.

As for natural gas prices, the EIA expects the numbers to hold at around $3 per MBtu for 2024 and 2025, as per the following from their January 2024 Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO): “We expect the U.S. benchmark natural gas spot price at the Henry Hub to average under $3.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2024 and 2025 in our January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). The annual average Henry Hub prices in 2024 and 2025 increase from 2023 in our forecast because we expect natural gas demand growth to outpace natural gas supply growth. Despite increased demand, our forecast prices for 2024 and 2025 are less than half the annual average price in 2022 and are only slightly higher than the $2.54/MMBtu we reported for 2023.”

That forecast came out as the previously-mild winter was being shattered by an onslaught of winter storms across most of the nation, even into the Deep South. But most analysts doubt that those storms will significantly affect prices after thing warm back up, at least in part because storage is at an unusually high level.

In Texas, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) reported record high electricity demand both in the hot summer of 2023 and during the January 2024 cold snap. Since natural gas accounts for about 40% of electric generation nationwide, and that demand is growing, the need for natural gas is assured for at least the next decade or more.

Many forecasters expect oil and gas demand to rise at least through 2035 before being significantly replaced by green energy. If this pans out, and if you are thinking of selling, it means that the timeline is getting crunched and the old adage of “never sell mineral rights” might not hold water.

Inflation Calms Down Somewhat

The Consumer Price Index inflation rate closed 2023 at 3.4%, much less than the previous year’s 6.5%. The lower 2023 numbers were helped at least in part by the fact that oil remained in the $70 per barrel vicinity most of the year. The Federal Reserve’s hiking of interest rates also played a part. When—or whether—the Fed will decide it’s safe to begin reducing interest rates is not clear, as they seem to want to be sure not to trigger another round of price increases. The plan of creating a soft landing for the economy, without the slowdown causing a recession and large numbers of job losses, appears to have been met.

US vs OPEC+

The above-mentioned record US production is making it harder for OPEC+ members to keep worldwide supply in check in order to boost oil prices. The organization, founded in 1960, includes members who account for around 40% of the world’s total oil production. OPEC+ came about in 2016 when the organization teamed with 10 non-member countries, including Russia, to expand its influence.

According to Reuters, “Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of OPEC+ have already pledged total oil output cuts of 5.16 million barrels per day, or about 5% of daily global demand, in a series of steps that started in late 2022. The cuts include 3.66 million bpd by OPEC+ and additional voluntary cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia.” Every barrel the US produces, especially as demand lags, is a barrel that someone in OPEC+ must decide whether to cut in order to keep prices at levels that supply their country’s financial needs.

Oil production in most OPEC+ nations is either owned directly by the government or controlled tightly by regulators, allowing them to adjust the flow as they see a need. In the free markets of the US, Canada, every company makes its own decisions based on issues including availability of assets and their relative profitability.

Selling Mineral and Royalty Rights in 2024

Since prices and demand are expected to stay strong throughout 2024, we can help you maximize the sale of your minerals and royalties. Right now we are seeing very high demand and nice premiums for minerals and royalties soon after listing. We expect 2024 will continue to the strong trend of the last 24 months. It should be a fantastic year to capitalize on a strong market!

Before we dive in, it’s important to define what types of mineral rights ownership you could have. Mineral rights ownership can be complex. There are a number of different ways to own mineral rights.

At the most basic level, mineral rights ownership is simply owning oil and gas that is beneath the surface. This ownership is generally measured on a mineral acre basis. A mineral acre roughly aligns to a surface acre. For example, if you owned 1 acre of surface rights that included mineral rights, your ownership in the oil and gas would be measured as 1 mineral acre.

Where things get confusing is when ownership gets split up. Typically the mineral rights are not owned by the same person as the surface owner. In addition, you have the ability to sell different depths, overrides, non-participating interests, etc which makes mineral rights ownership much more confusing. The value of mineral rights depends on many factors and the type of ownership you have is one of them.

Tip: On your check stub, your interest type should be defined. Typically by an RI, NPRI, ORRI/OR, etc so you can quickly determine what type of ownership you have.

Mineral Rights Ownership Types Explained

RI – Royalty Interest

The most basic type of mineral rights ownership is a royalty interest (RI on check stubs). A royalty interest owner has all rights and authority to the mineral ownership they have.

NPRI – Non-participating Royalty Interest

An NPRI is when you own the mineral rights, but you do not have a right to lease the mineral rights or collect a lease bonus payment when the mineral rights are leased. You also do not collect rental payments. With an NPRI interest, you effectively have the same ownership as a royalty interest but you don’t get to negotiate your own lease or collect lease bonuses. See executive rights below for more information.

Executive Rights

The executive rights are the rights to negotiate a lease. With an NPRI interest, you don’t have the rights to lease as those rights are owned by the person who has the executive rights. The person with the executive rights will negotiate the lease and collect the lease bonus. If you own the executive rights, you have an incentive to negotiate the worst lease terms possible for mineral owner. The reasons is that you will get a higher lease bonus. For example, if a company approaches you to lease and offer $1,000/acre for a 25% lease or a $2,500/acre for a 12.5% lease, you would take the $2,500/acre lease bonus with a 12.5% royalty. Since the NPRI owner will collect the royalties, you don’t care if it’s a 25% lease because you won’t get the royalty income.

ORRI – Overriding Royalty Interest

An overriding royalty interest (ORRI or OR on check stubs) means that you have a right to the royalty income, but you have no mineral rights ownership. An ORRI is created when a lease is signed. For example, let’s say ABC Lease approaches you and you agree to lease your mineral rights at 20%. ABC Lease then approaches XYZ Operating and leases your mineral rights to them for 22%. ABC lease has just created a 2% ORRI for themselves based on any production from the lease. If XYZ Opearting drills a well, the mineral owner will get 20% of the royalty income and ABC Lease will get 2%, while the operator takes the remaining 78%. When the lease expires, so does the ORRI.

WI – Working Interest

If you own a working interest, you are participating with the operator as a partner in drilling the well. Think of Working Interest as being an owner in a company, but instead of a company, you own an oil and gas well. As an owner of the company, you are responsible for all the drilling, completion, and operational costs. Each month you will be entitled to your share of the income from operations, but also your share of the expenses. A working interest is substantially more risk. At some point, the revenue being generated by the wells is less than the expenses. In this case, you actually owe money each month to keep the well operating even though it’s operating at a loss.

Status of Mineral Rights Ownership

Above we have explained the different types of mineral ownership you can have. Regardless of what type of mineral rights ownership you have, the status of your mineral rights can be different. Mineral rights fall into one of three categories.

Non-Producing Mineral Rights

At one point, everyone started out with non-producing mineral rights that were not actively leased. If that is still the case for you, these types of mineral rights have very little to no value at all. Until you are approached by an operating to lease the mineral rights, it would be very difficult to find a mineral buyer.

Leased Mineral Rights

Before a well can be drilled on your mineral rights, they must first be leased. A mineral lease gives a company the right to drill for oil and gas. You will be approached to lease your mineral rights before drilling occurs. Typically a company will offer a 3 or 5 year lease. The lease will also include a royalty percentage which is your share of the oil and gas income. The higher your royalty percentage, the more money you will make as oil and gas is produced. The company who leases your property will also pay you a lease bonus for signing this agreement. A lease bonus could be anywhere from $50/acre to $7,500+/acre.

Producing Mineral Rights

After your mineral rights are leased, the company has the right to drill and start producing oil and gas. If this occurs, you now have producing mineral rights. Each month you will get a check for your share of the production. The amount you get will be based on the price of oil or gas, your royalty percentage, taxes, expenses, etc..

One of the most challenging things about mineral rights ownership is understanding value. The market value of mineral rights changes constantly. In addition, there is no clear way to determine the value of mineral rights.

Many mineral owners believe that mineral rights are like a home. You can quickly check some type of service like Zillow or Redfin, and determine mineral rights value. It’s simply not possible.

If you want to learn about mineral rights value, carefully read the sections below. We will explain everything you need to know about how to value mineral rights.

Factors Affecting Mineral Rights Value

The first thing to understand is that mineral rights value is determined based on many factors. In addition, each individual factor can swing the value of mineral rights by 10%, 20%, or even 30%+ very quickly.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s take oil prices as a good example.

As the price of oil swings up and down, the underlying value of your mineral rights also varies. Your mineral rights are generally valued based on the number of barrels of oil underground times the current price.

Over the last two years the price of oil has bounced up and down between $120 per barrel and around $70 and everything in between. That whole range is well above the level at which most wells are profitable, so producers have returned to action—although at lower activity rates than those prices previously would have caused. The reluctance is mainly due to investor issues, as stated above.

Just that one factor, price, can swing the value of your mineral rights by more than 100%.

In addition to oil prices, here are some other factors that can easily swing the value of your mineral rights:

Any one of the factors above could swing the value of your mineral right substantially. This is why you need competitive bids for your mineral rights. Your goal is simple, to get the highest price today based on all of these current factors. When you sell mineral rights at US Mineral Exchange, we can help you get the property in front of thousands of mineral buyers to ensure the best price.

Market Value of Mineral Rights

While there are many factors that affect mineral rights value, what ultimately matters is the market value of mineral rights. Market value is what a mineral buyer is willing to pay TODAY for your mineral rights.

We talk to a lot of mineral owners. One of the most common things we hear mineral owner say is, “oil prices will eventually go up, so I want a premium price”. That’s not how market value works!

Imagine owning a home. The home is in a decent neighborhood, but needs major rehab to get that home back into good shape. If you were selling the home, would you expect to get the same price for your house as a house that was recently renovated that’s in an A+ neighborhood? Of course not! Imagine trying to convince a buyer that the home will be worth more in the future when the neighborhood gets better and prices rise.

Unfortunately, mineral owners do this all the time. They expect to receive a value today based on what the mineral rights might be worth years from now.

The most important thing to understand about mineral rights value is that your mineral rights are worth what a buyer is willing to pay today. Period. Rumors about more wells being drilled, oil prices heading higher, new pipelines, or anything else is simply speculation. At US Mineral Exchange, we can tell you what is happening around your area, removing speculation so you “know your neighborhood”.

If you want to sell mineral rights you need to be willing to accept the best market price available. This is exactly what we do at US Mineral Exchange. We market your mineral rights to thousands of the industry’s best mineral buyers to ensure the best price. If you sell mineral rights on your own by taking the shotgun approach, you’re almost guaranteed to sell below market value.

How to Estimate Mineral Rights Value

Another common question we get from mineral owners is how to estimate mineral rights value. It’s important to understand that the best indicator of market value when it comes to selling is the highest offer. It is not appraisals for estate evaluations. The key is to find legitimate and qualified mineral buyers.

We see a lot of mineral owners get 2 or 3 offers and then assume the highest one is fair market value. Don’t fall into that trap! While offers may be a good estimate of mineral rights value, it doesn’t mean your highest offer is really the best price available.

With that in mind, below is a good rule of thumb for mineral rights value. Keep in mind that the status of your mineral rights we described above will play a role in value.

• Producing Mineral Rights: While there are many factors that play a role in producing mineral rights value, you might expect to get about 4 years to 6 years times your average annual income. Take your last 3 royalty checks and find the total, then divide that number by 3 to get your average monthly royalty over the last 3 months. However, please note that it is often the value for producing minerals are significantly more than this general rule of thumb. There are many factors that will cause you to get more or less than this range.
• Leased Mineral Rights: In the past, mineral rights value for leased mineral rights has fallen in the range of 2x to 3x lease bonus. Recent market conditions have challenged this rule of thumb but we expect over time that this will once again hold true.
• Non-Producing Mineral Rights: If you have mineral rights that are not currently leased or producing royalty income, you have non-producing mineral rights. Unless you have had a recent offer, the value of these mineral rights is likely very low. It is not uncommon for offers to be less than $100/acre.

Received an offer? If you received an offer to sell mineral rights and it falls in the range (or even above!) what we are showing, do not accept the offer. The estimates above are just a general rule of thumb for mineral rights value. The only way to get the best price is through competition. We have helped many of our clients sell minerals and royalties that are producing less than $1,000/Month for Multiple Millions!!

To learn more about what your mineral rights might be worth, check out our estimate mineral rights value page.

Maximizing Mineral Rights Value

We have talked a bit about market value and estimating value, but how do you actually sell mineral rights for maximum value? The key is competition!

A lot of mineral owners take the shotgun approach to selling mineral rights. They reach out to a few buyers online, receive a few offers in the mail, negotiate a deal, and assume they got a fair price. This is not the way to get the best price.

Mineral buyers all evaluate your property differently. Each buyer has a unique formula they use to come up with value. Remember the factors we mentioned above? All of these plus many more are used to come up with an offer. With all these factors coming into play, the offers will vary widely. You may have noticed that yourself based on offers you have received in the mail.

The key to getting maximum value when selling mineral rights is competition. You need to get your mineral rights in front of thousands of buyers. This is the only way to ensure you sell for the best price. You may be happy with a $250,000 offer because that’s a lot of money, but what if it was worth $300,000 or more? When you accepted that $250,000 offer you may have been happy with it, but you left $50,000+ on the table.

To ensure you sell mineral rights for the best price possible, you need multiple buyers bidding on your mineral rights. By marketing your interest to a nationwide market of mineral buyers, you allow each buyer to compete for your mineral rights, allowing you to maximize your sales price. When you list at US Mineral Exchange, we get your mineral rights in front of thousands of the leading mineral and royalty buyers to ensure you sell for the best price. Already have an offer? No problem. If we can’t get you a higher price we don’t make a dime. It is very rare that we do not beat an existing offer and most of the time substantially.

Mineral Rights Appraisals

A lot of mineral owners are looking for a mineral rights appraisal. You may be trying to determine your tax basis for inherited mineral rights or figuring out if you qualify for medicaid, but if for selling your rights, you should be cautious.

Mineral rights appraisals are virtually worthless in our opinion. Why? A mineral rights appraisal will almost never match up to the reality of the market. These estimates of value look at the EUR or estimated useful reserves. Then they estimate oil prices and all the other factors listed above. Then they try and tell you what the market value of these mineral rights might be. They are always wrong and nearly always way too high!

Paying for a mineral rights appraisal is a waste of money in most cases. Only a true offer from a legitimate mineral buyer can give you a good idea of what the property might be worth. Only listing at US Mineral Exchange will show you the absolute market value of mineral rights.

Who are Mineral Rights Buyers

Mineral buyers come in many shapes and sizes. It depends a lot on the value of your mineral rights. If you are selling a $25,000 property, the buyer might just be a wealthy individual with some mineral rights ownership experience. If you are selling a $500,000+ property, the mineral buyer will typically be private equity backed.

Private equity backed mineral buyers typically get a lump sum of money to invest each year. These mineral buyers are very sophisticated and thoroughly understand the investments. Even still, private equity backed mineral buyers will have a wide range in what they are willing to offer. Some mineral buyers take on more risk and pay higher prices. Some are very focused on buying mineral rights in a certain area and will pay a high price if you fall within their area.

A lot of mineral owners think that the operator, who pays you royalties, would be a potential mineral buyer. While operators do sometimes buy mineral rights they often do not pay fair market value.

Why Mineral Buyers Buy Mineral Rights

There are three types of mineral buyers. Unfortunately, a lot of mineral owners end up working with a flipper or sell for profit mineral buyer. Doing so will cost you thousands of dollars or waste significant time. There are obvious signs you are working with the wrong type of mineral buyer if you know what to look for.

Flippers – We hesitate to call flippers mineral rights buyers. Flippers typically have no money. A flipper will make you an offer for mineral rights but they have no intention of actually buying your mineral rights. They also likely can’t afford to buy them. Instead, these “mineral buyers” will claim to be buying your mineral rights and get you to sign a contract agreeing to a certain price point.

Let’s assume a flipper got you to agree to $2,500/acre. That flipper will then go out to other actual mineral buyers and then try and ‘flip’ the contract. They will find a real buyer who wants to buy your mineral rights for $3,500/acre. If they are successful, you just paid a 40% commission rate!

Would you sell your home if the broker wanted 40% to list the property? NO! If they aren’t successful, they wasted your time and set the expectation that your mineral rights are worth more than the market was willing to pay.

Sell for Profit – There are a large number of mineral buyers who do have the funds to actually purchase your mineral rights. However, they still turn around and sell quickly for a profit. A lot of mineral owners make the mistakes of thinking, “Well I don’t care what they do with it after I sell”. You should care because you might be leaving a huge amount of money on the table!

Consider this. We have a number of mineral buyers who buy mineral rights from you and then come list with us.

We have literally talked to mineral owners in the past who wouldn’t list because they want to take the shotgun approach. A short time later, a mineral buyer approaches us and wants to sell the exact property of the mineral owner we just talked. We end up selling the property and the mineral buyers makes a hefty profit.

Why does this happen? The mineral buyer can buy from you at a lower price (with no competition), then come list the mineral rights with us and get a better price and make a quick profit.

Why shouldn’t that be you getting the higher price? When you sell mineral rights on your own, you risk leaving a lot of cash on the table.

Long Term Hold – As a mineral owner, your goal is to find a true end buyer. A mineral buyer who does not want to turn around and sell the mineral rights. They want to own the mineral rights for the long term, and therefore, will pay the best pricing.

A lot of these private equity backed mineral buyers do not market! They rely on services like ours to bring them deals. Some of them don’t even have a website!

Can you tell the difference? A lot of mineral owners go under contract with a flipper or sell for profit mineral buyer and never realize they were taken advantage of. To get maximum value, you need to work with a true end buyer. At US Mineral Exchange, our process is designed to ensure you only work with long term hold mineral buyers.

Mineral Buyer Red Flags

We don’t recommend taking the shotgun approach to selling mineral rights, but if you do here are just a few of the red flags to look out for:

• Short Deadlines: Any buyer who wants you to make a decision within a few days should be concerning.
• Long Closing: If a mineral buyer needs more than 30 days to close, this is a red flag. There are some cases where it is warranted.
• Insane Values: Did you get an offer far above any offer you have ever seen? This could be a flipper just trying to get you to pick up the phone. We call this a teaser offer.
• High Pressure: If the mineral buyer a high pressure sales person? Legit mineral buyers will not put a lot of pressure on you.
• No Basis: Did you get an offer in the mail with no basis for the offer? IE just a number with no indication of how many acres you own, your royalty income, etc?

These are just a few of the many red flags to look out for with mineral buyers. It is easy to make a bad decision.

At US Mineral Exchange we can help you eliminate the red flags and find legitimate mineral buyers.

How to Find Mineral Buyers

If you want to find mineral buyers there are a lot of ways to do it.  Once again, we don’t recommend selling mineral rights on your own.  You will nearly always sell far below market value.

The best way to sell mineral rights is through a mineral rights broker. There are two simple reasons for this:

1. Price: You will get a higher price due to exposure to thousands of mineral buyers.
2. Closing: A great mineral broker will navigate pitfalls saving you thousands of dollars. In addition, a great mineral broker will have a clearly defined escrow process in place to protect you.

Find out how to select the best mineral rights broker using the information below.

Mineral Buyers Disguised as Brokers

For obvious reasons, we can’t put down the names of any specific companies. However, there are a lot of “mineral brokers” who are actually mineral buyers. Some of these companies do not appear to be mineral buyers at all so it is very difficult to tell. These mineral brokers will get you to list with them and then sell to a company they have an interest in. If a site suggests that they will give you an offer or that they may show your property to “affiliated companies”, this is a buyer or at best a very bad broker.

If the broker has an interest in the company that is buying your mineral rights, do they have an incentive to get you the best price or the lowest price? Obviously, they want to put you under contract at the lowest price point possible.

Understanding Commission Rates

At US Mineral Exchange we charge a flat 6% commission rate similar to a real estate transaction. Mineral buyers will pay us this commission rate at closing so there is no direct cost to you for listing. In addition, we don’t get paid unless we can find you a higher price than an existing mineral rights offer you have in hand and upon the completion of the sale.

It’s important to understand commission rates before you sell mineral rights. If your broker is not charging you a commission rate this means one of two things:

1. They are the buyer
2. They are getting a lot more than 6% by flipping your property to an end buyer

Both of these are bad for you. You want a mineral rights broker who has a clearly defined commission rate. There is nothing wrong with a mineral broker getting paid by helping you get a higher price. You just want to ensure that they aren’t getting a crazy 40% commission rate like the example we used above when we talked about flippers.

We have heard from a number of mineral buyers who pick a broker based on commission. We set the industry standard at 6%.

Some mineral brokers undercut us by a percentage. You may save 1% on commission, but if you get a price that is 10% worse you actually lost 9% instead of saving 1%. The mineral broker you select makes a big difference in the value you will get. Lower offers or a mistake at closing will cost you far more than 1%!

At US Mineral Exchange, we are the highest rated Mineral Rights Broker in the industry, with a 4.9 star Google rating from actual clients, not made up testimonials!

Mineral Rights Broker Red Flags

There are a number of red flags to look out for when selecting a mineral rights broker.

As you consider your options, take a look at the list of red flags below. Carefully evaluate the website of the mineral rights broker you are considering. If you see any of these red flags proceed with caution:

How to Pick a Mineral Rights Broker

When selecting a mineral rights broker pick one with the following qualities:

• Listings – Pick a mineral rights broker who clearly displays their listings. A dedicated listing platform to market your properties online is necessary to get competitive bids. This is the only way to ensure the best price.
• But not only Listings – Choose a mineral broker who also has an industry leading reputation. There are new brokers popping up all the time but the buyers you need to receive offers from have zero clue who they are and will simply refuse to work with them.
• Buyer Network – A quality broker has connections with thousands of mineral buyers. However, the best broker will also know how to weed out the flippers so you end up with true end buyers. At US Mineral Exchange, we know how to properly qualify buyers. This ensures you only work with legitimate high quality mineral buyers. In addition, we work with thousands of buyers to ensure the best possible price.
• Communication – A mineral broker should be easy to get a hold of quickly. When you send an email do they respond quickly? At US Mineral Exchange we respond within hours to inquiries and phone calls, and immediately to our listed clients.
• Experience – Take the time to figure out how long a mineral broker has been in business, not just what they state on their website. In just the last few years there has been a surge of mineral brokers offering to help you sell mineral rights. As setting up a decent looking website has become much easier, a lot of mineral brokers with no experience, no buyers, and no ability to ensure the best deal for you have jumped in. US Mineral Exchange has been in business since 2012 doing business in the name of US Mineral Exchange. Our industry leading reputation is exactly what you are looking for.
• Closing Process – Does your mineral rights broker have a clearly defined closing process? We do. A great mineral rights broker knows to walk you through the transaction from start to finish.

If you want to sell mineral rights US Mineral Exchange can help. Our company is dedicated to protecting mineral owners. We want to help you sell mineral rights for the highest price possible. A lot of mineral owners end up selling far below market value. Don’t let that be you!

How to Sell Mineral Rights for Maximum Value

The only way to get maximum value when selling mineral rights is to create competition. Without competition, you will always sell mineral rights below market value. This is true whether you sell them yourself or partner with US Mineral Exchange.

You need mineral buyers competing to pay you the highest price for your mineral rights. You basically have two options when selling mineral rights:

1. Sell Mineral Rights yourself by taking the shotgun approach. The shot gun approach is when you reach out to a few buyers and hope you get a fair price.

When you sell mineral rights on your own, you will end up selling below market value. The reason is that you simply can’t connect with enough mineral buyers. There are thousands of mineral buyers. Getting in front of the right buyers without a marketplace like US Mineral Exchange simply isn’t possible. There is nearly always a mineral buyer who will pay a higher price. When you find buyers on your own you miss 99% of the mineral buyers.

After you find a buyer, you will then need to navigate the closing process, but by yourself. We hear horror story after horror story of mineral and royalty owners being surprised at the closing table. If you don’t understand the contract, you may walk away from the closing table with something much different that you expected.

Selling mineral rights using the shotgun approach is literally shooting yourself in the foot!

2. Selling mineral rights at US Mineral Exchange. When you sell mineral rights at US Mineral Exchange you get access to thousands of the industry’s top mineral and royalty buyers. More importantly, you’ll be working with experts who have the highest reputation in the industry. Many of the leading mineral rights buyers refuse to work with brokers other than US Mineral Exchange due to dishonest business practices. Don’t sign up with a broker who claims to have connections but in fact the connections they might have had are burned.

We can help you quickly get your mineral rights in front of the right mineral buyers which creates competition and ensures the best price. Our closing process will ensure you are protected every step of the way.

If you need to sell quickly and you have an offer to sell mineral rights in hand, we can help there also. Speed is not a deterrent to success.

If you decide to sell mineral rights yourself, please understand that you are extremely likely to sell below market value.

We understand that you don’t want to lose the offer in hand. We understand that listing mineral rights is an extra hoop to jump through. It will be worth it! We will help you maximize the value of your mineral rights and get the best deal possible.

Set Realistic Expectations when Selling Mineral Rights

When selling mineral rights it’s very important to set realistic expectations. A lot of mineral owners are not realistic about market value. Your mineral rights are worth what a mineral buyer is willing to pay TODAY.

When you are willing to accept fair market value for your mineral rights we can help you sell quickly and get the best price. You simply need to be comfortable with the fact that the value is what the market is willing to pay. We’ll find you the best price, but it’s up to you to accept the best market price available.

Gather Documentation to Sell Mineral Rights

Before you sell mineral rights at US Mineral Exchange we need some documentation. We get it. Pulling together documentation is not fun! However, if you want to get maximum value when you sell mineral rights it is necessary.

Imagine selling a home but the buyer is not able to visit the home in person. You still need to present your home in the best way possible. So, you pull together some professional photos. You walk around the house and take a video. You pull together some facts about the house to help the potential buyer see the value in your home. You even go as far as to sell the neighborhood, the schools and your city. This would provide the potential home buyer what they need to determine if they want to buy your house.

And while we do 99% of this work, there are some items that are required of all our clients. The 1% we normally need is check stubs. The one thing we would never have access to without help from you.

See what documents we need to market your mineral rights effectively at our required documents to list page.

Sell Mineral Rights at US Mineral Exchange

Selling mineral rights is overwhelming. This is a subject that most people simply aren’t familiar with. It is OK to be overwhelmed and confused!

At US Mineral Exchange, we can help you navigate the process. We’ll stand beside you each step of the way to ensure your interests are protected. We’ll make sure you get the best price and also make sure the closing process goes smoothly.

If you are interested in selling mineral rights fill out the form below. We’ll help answer any questions you have and help you get the process started.

Phew! That was a lot of information!

If you still have questions about mineral rights value, how to sell mineral rights, how to find mineral buyers, or anything else at all please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

We enjoy hearing from mineral owners and we are happy to answer your questions.   We typically respond within just a few hours and look forward to hearing from you!