Welcome to The Mineral Rights Podcast! I'm here to help you to make the most out of your oil and gas mineral rights and royalty interests. From the latest mineral rights news to featured guests, get the knowledge and resources you need to manage your minerals and royalties.
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September 10, 2026Episode 34935 min
MRP 349: Listener Questions September 2026
This month's mailbag covers a little bit of everything — huge thanks to Phillip, Timothy, Jodi, Joey, Nick, Gretchen, Tom, and Bruce for sending in such thoughtful questions. From splitting water revenue with the state of Texas, to operators who've gone quiet, to why natural gas prices in Texas aren't reacting to overseas supply shocks, this episode is packed with practical answers for real situations mineral owners are facing today. Be sure to check out the show notes at mineralrightspodcast.com for additional resources.
September 3, 2026Episode 34826 min
MRP 348: Mineral Rights News September 2026
Oil prices that can't make up their mind, a tribe finally getting the green light to run its own energy business after a 20-year wait, and some of the biggest names in oil and gas quietly writing billion-dollar checks on a technology that doesn't even exist yet commercially, that's what's on the table this month. In this episode, Justin and I break down the Southern Ute Indian Tribe's landmark agreement with the Department of the Interior, dig into why oil keeps swinging up and down (and what that's doing to everything from your grocery bill to your royalty check), unpack why Chevron, Shell, Equinor, and other majors are betting big on nuclear fusion, and close out with the latest rig count numbers, which tell a more optimistic story than the weekly headline suggests. As always, links to the articles discussed in this episode can be found in the show notes at mineralrightspodcast.com .
August 27, 2026Episode 34739 min
MRP 347: What Happens if You Don't Sign the Lease?
You threw the lease offer in a drawer, never signed, and mostly forgot about it — and then a check (or a bill) for a well showed up in your mailbox anyway. If that sounds impossible, you're not alone in thinking so, and you're also not alone in living through it. In most oil and gas states, refusing to sign a lease doesn't stop a well from getting drilled on the acreage under your minerals. Many states follow a process called statutory or forced pooling specifically so that one owner can't block an entire drilling unit, and that process comes with a real decision to make, on a real deadline, whether you ever picked up the phone or not. In this episode, we lay out the four choices that show up again and again once that process starts — lease, participate, do nothing, or protest — walk through how the math and deadlines differ in Colorado, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas, and give you a simple framework for figuring out which path actually fits your situation. If you've got a pooling notice sitting on your kitchen table right now, or you're just wondering what would happen if you said no, this is the episode that lays out the whole decision tree in one place. As always, links to the resources mentioned in this episode can be found in the show notes at mineralrightspodcast.com .
August 20, 2026Episode 34629 min
MRP 346: Listener Questions August 2026
Can an adopted grandchild inherit mineral rights the same way a biological grandchild can? Will your Permian Basin lease ever see a second bench developed, or is one horizontal target all you're going to get? And why does the number on your royalty check almost never match the production volume you pulled from the state's own database? This month's listener questions episode tackles all three, plus a practical walkthrough of how operators are stacking benches in the Permian and what that means for the long-term value of your minerals. Whether you're trying to untangle an inheritance question, decide between a working interest and a royalty interest, or just make sense of the numbers on your check, this episode is here to help you get you unstuck. As always, you can find links to additional resources mentioned in this episode in the show notes at mineralrightspodcast.com .
August 13, 2026Episode 34520 min
MRP 345: Mineral Rights News August 2026
https://mineralrightspodcast.com/ A ballot fight in Erie, Colorado could unwind a $35 million mineral deal, an Arkansas court just handed royalty owners a win on post-production deductions, and oil prices are once again bouncing around based on whatever the headlines say about Iran that day. In this month's news episode, we break down what's really happening in Erie and why the outcome may matter less than residents think, then we unpack a ruling that reinforces one of the most important lessons in mineral ownership — your lease language rules everything. We'll also look at what a small but steady rise in the rig count tells us about where operators think prices are headed, and why you shouldn't put too much stock in President Trump's saber rattling about oil company price gouging. If you own minerals or royalties, this is your monthly download on what's changing and what it means for your bottom line. As always, links to the articles discussed can be found at mineralrightspodcast.com .
August 6, 202659 min
MRP 344: Mining Claims, Lithium, and the Law: With Attorney Justin Rammell
If you own oil and gas minerals, you already know the drill: you own what's under your land, someone leases it, and you get a royalty check. Did you know there is an entirely separate side to mineral rights on federal lands and that has to do with mining claims. In this episode, we sit down with attorney and Utah landman Justin Rammell of Rammell Law, PLLC, to break down how mining claims actually work, why a "valid claim" doesn't mean someone can start digging tomorrow, and all that you need to know about lithium rights. Be sure to check out the video of this interview (link will be posted when available). As always, links to the resources mentioned in this episode can be found in the show notes at mineralrightspodcast.com
July 30, 2026Episode 34340 min
MRP 343: How to Get Your Operator to Actually Answer You
If you've ever sent an email to an operator's owner relations department and waited weeks for a reply — or gotten nothing at all — you're not alone, and it's not personal. In this episode, we break down exactly why so many owner requests stall out, and more importantly, what to do about it. We walk through how owner relations departments are actually organized, the specific information you need to include every single time you reach out, a simple method for diagnosing your problem before you ever hit send, and what to do when a normal request needs to become something more formal. If you've ever felt like you were shouting into the void, this episode gives you a repeatable process to get real answers instead. As always, links to the resources mentioned in this episode can be found in the show notes at mineralrightspodcast.com .
July 23, 2026Episode 34132 min
MRP 342: Property Taxes on Mineral Rights and What Happens If You Don't Pay
Only two things in life are guaranteed: death and taxes. Mineral rights don't get an exception. A listener wrote in about a tiny, recurring property tax bill on non-producing minerals in Kansas and asked the question: what actually happens if I just don't pay it? We answered their question in MRP 340: Listener Questions July 2026 and that question prompted this episode, because the honest answer is that property tax on minerals is complicated — and getting it wrong can, in the wrong state, actually cost you the minerals themselves. Be sure to check out the show notes at mineralrightspodcast.com for links to the resources mentioned in this episode.
July 16, 2026Episode 34134 min
MRP 341: Quick Fixes, Hidden Risks: The Truth About Mineral Title Shortcuts
Getting that first royalty check feels like the finish line. You cashed it, the operator knows your name, and as far as you're concerned, the minerals are yours. But the truth is: an operator paying you and you actually owning marketable or clean title to your minerals are two completely different things, decided by two completely different standards. One is about an operator managing its own risk. The other is the legal bar a buyer, a bank, or a court will actually hold you to. In this episode, we dig into that gap — what it means, why it exists, and what you can (and can't) do about it with some commonly used shortcuts. As always, more information (including links to the resources mentioned in this episode can be found in the show notes at mineralrightspodcast.com ).
July 9, 2026Episode 34025 min
MRP 340: Listener Questions July 2026
In this month's listener Q&A episode, we tackle a run of "what's really happening with my minerals" questions from across the country: whether a century-old Montana formation still has any life left in it, how to gauge future drilling near existing wells in Louisiana, how to spot a planned refrac before it happens (plus a tangled century-old inheritance dispute out of the Haynesville), how to avoid getting lowballed by unsolicited purchase offers, what to check when a new Texas well starts sending royalty checks, how to research undeveloped minerals in New Mexico, and the potential issues that could arise if you decide to skip paying property taxes on your non-producing mineral rights. Whether you're trying to figure out what your minerals are worth, confirm you're being paid correctly, or just protect what you've inherited, this episode has something for you. As before, many of the questions in this episode are covered in more depth in my Mineral Management Basics online course , including how to read a legal description, perform a title search, identify nearby oil and gas activity, and determine whether you should be getting paid on a well. Thanks again to everyone who left a review or who submitted a listener question! If you have a question about your minerals or royalties, you can send it to feedback@mineralrightspodcast.com !
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