Surface owners can acquire rights to minerals under their property
As oil and gas companies have announced their intent to drill in southeastern Illinois in recent months, many in our area have taken an newfound interest in mineral rights issues.
Of particular interest is the issue of severed mineral rights, those whose owner is different than the surface owner. Some of those mineral rights may be abandoned due to the last owners being deceased or unable to be determined.
Surface landowners may not own mineral rights under their surface land and — other than agreements of compensation for surface damage, possible rental agreements or court action — have no influence over the work of a drilling company under the surface owner’s land.
If the mineral rights owners are missing, surface owners in Illinois can use a legal procedure to gain control of the mineral rights through the Severed Mineral Interest Act.
The newspaper contacted an attorney familiar with the act, C. Mart Watson of Eldorado to explain the process.
“In this part of the country mineral rights were probably severed many years ago, in the ’20s or ’30s or years before. Over the years people die and maybe their heirs inherit the mineral rights and they move off, they die and things get divided up,” Watson said.
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