Selling minerals?

I have 12 acres in Sec 10 156n-101 west. and 12 in sec, 15 156n 101 west. Whiting just drilled 9 additional wells in these two spacing units. They have not been fracked yet. Whiting told me they were waiting to frack until they could get a rig back and drill an additional 4 wells on these two spacing units. The additional well permits have been submitted to the NDIC but have not been approved as of yet. That being said a total of 13 new wells are going to be finished around the first of the year, I was offered 10,000 an acre to sell my 24 acres. Is this a good deal? I just got the letter in the mail. I have a 20% cost free royalty. Whiting put in some very good wells a year and a half ago just one spacing unit south of sec 15. Sell not sell?

1 Like

Not a good deal. I believe you could get more, given the drilling activity and the royalty rate.

I have minerals to the north of you. I was offered the same. Do the math. I bet you get more than that in two years when all the wells are flowing on your two 1280’s. Plus you have to pay tax on the $240,000 in one year if you sell. Be patient, I’m glad I was.

First of all, good job getting the 20% cost free royalty. Without performing a valuation on your property, it is hard to say whether $10,000/NMA is reasonable or not. That said, I would echo the other responses you’ve gotten so far in that you could likely get more if you did need to sell for whatever reason. If you don’t need the money now, the fact that there are already 9 Drilled Uncompleted wells with 4 more likely in the not too distant future, you are probably better off holding on to your minerals. It all boils down to your personal situation and risk tolerance as to whether or not you should sell.

Assuming you do decide to keep your minerals, keep learning about how to make the most of this investment and you can help setup a legacy for you and your family. Getting “mailbox money” is nice but you still need to make sure you are getting what you deserve in terms of your royalty checks. You have some time before you will likely get Division Orders so learn how to calculate your Net Revenue Interest so that you can double check Whiting’s calculations.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions!

Matt Sands

I just added up a years production from 4 wells Whiting drilled one spacing below mine. The average was over 150,000 barrels each the first year. If my 13 new wells do as good as them It would end up about $290,000 the first year and that is without gas added in. Its hard to believe that just 24 acres can bring in that much. If I do sell when is the best time? After the wells are producing and I can show a few months of production? I was reading Whiting’s newest quarterly report and they are now using 7,000,000 million pounds of sand and proppant. Does anyone know how many fracks they are doing now?

Hello, We have 24 acres in Eightmile. They have just started fracking 3 wells. I was interested in your post as our average is the same. We have absolutely no idea what the initial payout will be and it would be nice to have a ballpark figure for planning purposes.Prices are going up so that is encouraging. Re your question: if you can hold on to your minerals-my great grandfather did and here we are today! Best of luck and appreciate any info. Bridget and Bill

What section are your minerals in. My mom has minerals in the same sections you speak of. I have deep roots in that area. Just curious if our ancestors knew each other

158 102 my family have minerals we might have family that know each other my father live in that area

My minerals are in sections 10,11,15,21 in Tyrone township 156n 101w. I got them from my grand parents. Harry and Arlene Clay. The minerals I was talking about were from sections 10 and 15. I also have many relatives that live in the Williston area. I lived there for about 3 years during the first oil boom in the early 1980s and worked on oil rigs. On another subject I noticed that ND light crude has dropped from $65 per barrel last month to $47 per barrel today. That’s a big drop. Does anyone know why? It maybe good for the county but it is bad timing for me as I will be having 13 new wells coming on line near the end of the year. Same thing happened to me the last time they drilled wells on my property, Oil prices went from $90s to $40s during the bulk of their production. I guess I have bad luck timing in that regard.

The differential to WTI has blown out in the past couple of weeks. This is due to more oil beinf produced than there is current take away capacity. The spread has closed a bit in the last week or so but will continue to be an issue in coming months.