FAQ

Following are frequently asked questions and answers. They are divided into four topic areas: Counties, NDACo, Oil, Gas & Minerals and Voting & Elections.

Please read through them first, and if you don't see an answer to your queestion, to ask your own question, please send an email to jeff.eslinger@ndaco.org. We will respond to you by email, and if we feel others would be interested in the same question, we'll post it below for everyone.

How can I find out who owns the oil rights on property in North Dakota?

To determine mineral rights on a parcel of land, you need to go to the County Recorder’s Office in the county of that parcel and request any recorded deed documents for the parcel. It’s best if you know the section, township and range for each piece of land you’re researching. Those documents will show you what you need to know. If no mention is made of mineral rights, then the rights reside with the owner of the parcel. Generally speaking the “surface owner” – that is, the farmer or whomever actually owns and operates on that land, will own the mineral rights unless they were “severed” at some time in the past. For example, if you bought some farmland in the oil producing counties today, you would most likely be buying surface rights only, as the mineral rights owners would want to keep their rights, so they would “sever” the minerals from the surface and sell you just the surface.

If you are unable to personally do this research, you can hire someone to act as your representative. An attorney or landman with experience in that field would be ideal. The County Recorder’s staff cannot do the research for you.

It can be pretty complex if those severed mineral rights have been divided up by children, grandchildren and others over time.

For contact information in the county you are researching, including the Recorder’s Office, go to www.ndaco.org/counties.

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