If you sell the mineral rights MAKE sure you hire a land lawyer first to do a surface agreement that the mineral right buyers have to sign that outlines how the surface of your property is to be used and charges for damages to the surface.
This needs to be a contract/lease agreement that attaches itself to any future owners.
If you don’t do this the mineral right owners can do anything g they want to your land and you have zero say so.
They could literally put a 5 acre substation on it and you would be toast.
If you don’t use the land make them buy the property too for 10 k and acre and get rid of your tax responsibility.

And not to influence your decision but my stuff is in Haynes also and when it's hot I have signed leases for triple that amount on a 3 year lease. Not my problem that they never got around to drilling it. I hope my kids or grandkids get to do the same one day.

I am not an expert, but down here Haynesville Shale was the talk of the town for several years. I understand some folks over in Shelby county were leasing their acreage down to 8000’ and doing a second lease for the same property below 8000’. The stories were rampant and many may be urban legend, but some people over there made a ton of money. Lots of empty, fairly new, hotels in Center these days.

So thats where you made all your money, all this time I thought you made it flipping burgers.

Meatloaf and chicken fried steaks my friend, that lease money bought toys and the burger business is a labor of love cause there damn sure isnt money in it. Lol

There seems to be a lot of misconceptions in many of the posts above. There is a big difference in the lease of property and a purchase of mineral interest. The people buying mineral interest outright are not planning to drill. They are hoping another company comes there to drill. They also buy up small lots of mineral interest, package it together and sell it to large investors.

Do you know if you own the minerals at all depths? On a 5 acre plot, your minerals will be unitized with your neighbors. It would be very unlikely that they would use your actual property to drill a well. If they did, you would have a separate agreement with the operating company for the surface use.

So to put your question in perspective, if a couple of big wells are drilled on your unit, your 5 acres of mineral interest could get you a nice payout. You'd get a lease bonus anywhere from 1 to 10 thousand dollars/acre, but the really money comes from your royalty interest. In a really good area, mineral interest is potentially worth around a quarter million per acre over the life of the well.

Or your minerals could be worth zero zip nada if no one drills there.

Pretty accurate right there. I get small offers to lease all the time from what I call fringe operators. They dont have any interest in drilling they want to package and re lease. Hoping to get lucky. I throw them in trash as I do the offers to purchase the rights for all kinds of goofy numbers. Alot prey on the dummies who want a quick buck and dont know any better. Similar things go on in timber business.

I logged several Haynesville wells about 10 miles south of Marshall in 2016. Pretty good wells but natural gas was $2.50 - $3.50 at that time.

With the upswing in NG prices, you might see a rig or two in the area.

Let me add I have counter offer a few of these smallist operators lease offers with an addendum to lease prohibiting re lease of property and that sends the flippers running.

Thanks for the responses fellas. I had a guy just pay me to lease it in March with a pretty good royalty payout to me. Problem is he did the same a couple of years ago and didn’t drill then. I was curious as it really hasn’t paid me any money. I kind of would sell it at the right price but the opportunity to get royalty checks every month is still in the back of my mind. I do not own the land just the mineral rights as it’s been passed down in inheritance. It’s actually 15 acres but divided into 5 acres with my brother and a half sister I just recently found out I had.

If you just own the mineral rights without the surface estate, why bother selling? Just keep collecting those shut-in royalties, signing bonuses, etc, etc, even if there's never any production!

Hang onto it. If you sell the land do not sell your mineral rights. Oil will be making a comeback!

I have never collected any royalty checks. The only money I’ve collected is lease money.

The guy that you signed the lease with is most likely a broker. If that is the case, then an oil & gas company (operator) has engaged him to lease up properties in a certain area. They do this to hide their intentions from competitors.

If you can find out who the operator is then it could influence your decision. Assuming commodity prices remain steady, then you will see a lot of the surviving companies picking up drilling rigs towards the end of the year. However if your property was leased by one of the belly-up companies, then the chances of drilling on your acreage is not good.

Personally, I would not sell. I'd talk to my siblings and set up a trust and loop all of your minerals into the trust. Appoint one of you to act as administrator and handle all contracts or negotiations, and make equal disbursements.