The Mineral Rights Podcast: Mineral Rights | Royalties | Oil and Gas | Matt Sands

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 avo...

This month has been a roller coaster ride in the oil and gas world, and mineral owners have a front row seat. A Colorado town just sold off its own mineral rights in a fight that split its council right down the middle, oil prices have been yo-yoing on every twist in the Iran situation, in an obvious political move, President Trump is picking a fight with the same oil companies he courted for camp...

Most mineral owners know they "own mineral rights" — but what does that actually mean? Did you know that property ownership isn't a single thing; it's a collection of separate, stackable, and separable rights that attorneys and landmen refer to as the "bundle of sticks." In this episode, we break down everything you need to know about the different types of property rights — from the broad concept...

If a landman representing an oil and gas company just knocked on your door and offered to buy a piece of your land for a compressor station, what should you do? The check sounds good — maybe even great. But before you sign anything, there's a lot more to think through than just the dollar amount. In this episode, we dig into one of the less-discussed situations a landowner can face: being approach...

In this month's listener Q&A episode, we answer an interesting mix of questions: from assessing a mining prospect on inherited land in Alabama, to a Texas mineral owner caught in the middle of a confusing pooling-versus-allocation dispute with their operator, to one of the most common (and heartbreaking) situations we hear about — a widow trying to untangle mineral ownership across three states af...

If you've filled up your gas tank lately, you already know something big is happening in energy markets — and it doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has shut down roughly 14% of the world's oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil and gas prices on a roller coaster ride that has the Federal Reserve worried about inflation, analysts pr...

Most mineral owners are sitting on tools that could save them hours of time, catch payment errors they'd never find on their own, and make them far more informed at every step of owning minerals and royalties — and they don't even know it. In this episode, we cover easy, free things you can do right now using tools like ChatGPT and Claude to streamline your mineral management. We also pull back th...

When most people hear "geothermal energy," they think of Iceland, Yellowstone, or hot springs — places where the earth's heat is practically boiling up through the ground on its own. For decades, that image was essentially correct: traditional geothermal power only worked where nature had already done the hard work. But a wave of new technology borrowed directly from the oil and gas industry is ch...

In this episode, we answer questions submitted by Sara, David, Kevin, Tom, Bradley, and Linda.  Topics range from decoding an unsolicited purchase offer to calculating decimal interest for allocation wells crossing multiple units in the East Texas Haynesville, to recovering unclaimed royalties for a deceased parent's estate. Whether you're brand new to mineral ownership or a seasoned buyer, there'...

In this month's news episode, we break down four major developments shaking up global energy markets in May 2026. From the UAE's sudden departure from OPEC to a widening gap between paper and physical oil prices, the episode covers what these fast-moving events mean for royalty owners who are trying to make sense of their income outlook. We also discuss the Trump administration's meeting with majo...

Your royalty check is the end product of dozens of economic forces working all at once — and most of them have nothing to do with what's happening on your property. In this episode, we break down the economic framework every mineral owner needs to understand: starting with the global or macro-economic forces that set the price of oil and gas, moving to the local and regional factors that determine...

When a landman calls or a lease offer arrives in the mail, most mineral owners don't realize they're at the starting point of a negotiation — not the finish line. In this episode, we use a real question as the jumping-off point for a practical conversation about how to negotiate a better oil and gas lease. We walk through why the first offer is almost never the best one, what third-party lessees a...

In this episode, we answer questions submitted by Scott, Greg, Charlotte, Clarissa, Sheri, and Paul. In this month's listener Q&A, we tackle a diverse set of questions that reflect the full range of challenges mineral and royalty owners face — from a technical question about appraisal methodology, to a listener navigating a suspicious lease offer, to a Haynesville owner trying to squeeze more valu...

In this month's news episode, we break down the energy market fallout from the U.S.-Iran conflict and what it actually means for oil prices (and your royalty checks) for the forseeable future.  As compared to the start of the conflict, recent infrastructure damage has fundamentally changed the price recovery timeline.  We also review how global strategic petroleum reserves are being tapped as a st...

In mid-March 2026, the Trump administration announced the largest single-country release of emergency oil reserves in history — 172 million barrels — as part of a coordinated 400-million-barrel release by 32 nations in response to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. In this episode, we dig into what the Strategic Petroleum Reserve actually is, how it was created, and what the historical record te...

Besides my  Mineral Management Basics Online Course (and this Podcast), there are only a few options out there designed to help you take your mineral management to the next level. In this episode, we walk through the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) Mineral Management Program, which is the only professional certification specifically designed for mineral and royalty owners. It's one o...

In this episode, we answer questions submitted by Greg, James, Greg, Sarah, George, Deborah, and Martha. From Drilled Un-Completed (DUC) wells that seem stalled to inheriting assets you don't fully understand, from IRS estate appraisals to updating an address on a deed, this episode highlights why the details always matter and why knowing the right next step can save you time, money, and stress. W...

In this month's news episode, we cover four stories shaping the world of energy and mineral rights right now. From rising oil prices driven by U.S.-Iran nuclear tensions, to the federal government's push to keep aging coal and gas plants running longer than planned, to a Texas family trying something completely new to sell their mineral rights through a sweepstakes — there's no shortage of develop...

If you own mineral rights and want to get them leased, you may be wondering whether you need to go out and find a landman or if someone will eventually come knocking on your door. In this episode, we break down how the leasing process actually works from the mineral owner's perspective. The short answer is that in most cases, when an oil and gas company is ready to drill in your area, they will hi...

If you've ever inherited minerals and received an unexpected document from an oil and gas company asking you to sign something called a "stipulation of interest and cross-conveyance," you're not alone — and you may not have known what it meant or what to do next. In this episode, we break down exactly what these documents are, why operators use them, when you're likely to encounter one, and what y...

In this episode, we answer questions submitted by Judy, Mike, Douglas, Greg, Gregg, Celeste, and Mike. We break down tax strategies for inherited minerals, what to do when you discover missing royalty payments from years ago, including statute of limitations issues and how operator changes complicate recovery efforts. You'll hear a success story from a listener who found $375 in unclaimed royaltie...

In this February 2026 news roundup, we analyze how Winter Storm Ferne disrupted nearly 2 million barrels per day of U.S. oil production and sent natural gas prices to all-time highs, with spot prices hitting over $30/mmBtu. We explore what these dramatic price spikes mean for your royalty checks and why this recovery looks different from the 2021 Texas grid crisis. We also examine the Trump admini...

When U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, headlines focused on the country's massive oil reserves—reportedly 303 billion barrels, the largest in the world. But as we dig deeper into the technical realities of Venezuela's extra-heavy crude, the crumbling infrastructure, and the geopolitical chess match unfolding in our hemisphere, a different story emerges. Whil...

In this episode, we answer questions submitted by Nathan, Lisa, Bill, Tina, Rose, Linda, and David.  From dealing with an unresponsive Oklahoma producer who won't pay royalties and won't return calls or emails—a frustrating situation many owners encounter, to what to do when you receive an unsolicited offer to sell your minerals and how to know if it's a fair deal, to lease negotiations and fair l...

The lithium boom sweeping across U.S. oil and gas fields promises transformative new revenue streams for mineral rights owners, but the economic reality behind Direct Lithium Extraction projects tells a far more complicated story than the headlines suggest. In this episode, we break down the actual numbers from Standard Lithium's Southwest Arkansas project—including the staggering capital costs, p...