Buckhead Energy buys Arkansas royalty interests, ORRIs, and NPRIs with our own capital — Fayetteville Shale gas, Arkoma conventional, and south Arkansas Smackover oil. Free written offer, zero fees or commissions, closing in 30–45 days.
19 years buying royalties · A+ BBB · funds wired at closing
Get Your Free Arkansas Royalty OfferQuick Answer To sell oil and gas royalties in Arkansas: gather your division orders and recent check stubs, request a written offer from a direct buyer, and close by notarized conveyance recorded in the county where the minerals sit. Arkansas tiers both taxes by well productivity — oil at 5% above ten barrels a day and 4% at or below, gas across four classifications set by the Oil and Gas Commission. Arkansas has no dormant mineral act: it is an ownership-in-place state where a severed mineral interest is perpetual and cannot be lost through non-use or through adverse possession of the surface.
There is no single "best" royalty buyer for every Arkansas owner, but four filters separate a serious buyer from an intermediary. Is the buyer using its own capital? Will they put the offer and its reasoning in writing? Who pays title and closing costs? And in south Arkansas especially, does the buyer understand what else is under your tract? Smackover brine lithium development has created a second, regulator-set royalty stream on some acreage that has nothing to do with your oil and gas checks. A buyer who has not looked at brine unit orders may be valuing only half of what you own. Buckhead Energy is a direct buyer, buys with its own funds, and pays the title costs.
The classic royalty under a lease on your Arkansas minerals — monthly checks from operator production, free of drilling and operating costs.
Carved out of the working interest — common for landmen, geologists, and dealmakers. ORRIs expire with their lease, which makes timing a real consideration. ORRI guide →
Royalty without executive rights or bonus — often inherited and misunderstood. Fully sellable. NPRI guide →
Producing or recently shut-in, whole or fractional, one well or many counties — including inherited interests still in an estate (we handle heirship).
In almost every state, your oil & gas royalty is set by your lease — not by statute. There is no government-set royalty rate for privately negotiated leases.
An unleased, integrated owner is guaranteed a cost-free 1/8 (12.5%) royalty; the remaining 7/8 is cost-bearing working interest subject to a risk penalty until the well pays out.
Source: Ark. Code § 15-72-305
Typical negotiated lease royalty (market convention, not law): Across the U.S., negotiated oil & gas leases have historically run from 1/8 (12.5%) at the low end to 1/4 (25%) in the most competitive plays, with 3/16 (18.75%) and 1/5 (20%) common in active basins. Your actual rate depends on the play, the operator, the competition for your acreage, and when you signed — not on any state rate.
Both hydrocarbons are tiered, but gas depends on a classification made by the Oil and Gas Commission rather than by the tax authority:
Source: Arkansas DFA — Oil Severance Tax
Source: Arkansas DFA — Oil Severance Tax
Source: Arkansas DFA — Natural Gas Severance Tax
Source: Arkansas DFA — Natural Gas Severance Tax
Reduced gas rates run for limited periods — new discovery for 24 months, high-cost for 36 months extendable to 48 — after which the well rolls to 5%. Essentially every Fayetteville Shale well qualified as high-cost initially and has long since rolled over. Marginal status is redetermined monthly. Arkansas measures gas net of the producer's actual costs of dehydrating, treating, compressing, and delivering to the first purchaser. Small flat per-barrel taxes also apply to oil. Confirm your own position with a CPA — this is published reference, not tax advice.
Producing mineral interests are reappraised annually for ad valorem purposes at market value as of the January 1 assessment date, and royalty and overriding royalty owners are billed individually while the working interest is billed to the operator. Operators must file division orders and declarations of interest with the county assessor annually. Non-producing minerals are not separately taxed — a non-producing mineral right is treated as having no separate value and is subsumed in the fee.
Arkansas has no dormant mineral act. It is an ownership-in-place state in which a severed mineral interest is corporeal and perpetual — it cannot be abandoned or lost if unused, and it cannot be lost through adverse possession of the surface. The only dormant-mineral bill located, from 1997, was never enacted. Two genuine loss mechanisms exist and should not be confused with a lapse statute: severed interests are separately assessed and can be forfeited to the state for non-payment of taxes, and unclaimed royalty proceeds are presumed abandoned after three years and swept to the state — but that escheats the money, not the interest.
Arkansas is a rectangular-survey state surveyed off the Fifth Principal Meridian. Mineral conveyances and AOGC drilling and brine units run on aliquot section-township-range calls. Metes-and-bounds descriptions surface mainly on irregular river and bayou tracts and inside Spanish and French colonial land grants along the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers.
The AOGC permits Arkansas wells, sets well classifications that drive the gas severance tier, and establishes brine units — records we check on every Arkansas evaluation.
Central and eastern Arkoma Basin — a regional shale gas play producing since 2004, peaked in 2013 and now in terminal decline after both anchor operators exited.
Western Arkoma and the Arkansas River Valley — dry gas from stacked Pennsylvanian Atoka sandstones across roughly 150 gas fields.
The West Gulf Coastal Plain oil province — the Smackover and Magnolia fields have produced roughly 780 million barrels between them, mostly stripper wells today, which is exactly why the 4% oil tier matters here.
South Arkansas — the Commission has established brine units in Union, Columbia, Lafayette, and Miller counties, creating a separate regulator-set royalty stream on some acreage.
Active Arkansas royalty counties include:
Fayetteville is in terminal decline: The play peaked in 2013 and both anchor operators exited in 2018. A Fayetteville royalty is a declining asset with no realistic redevelopment catalyst on the horizon.
Brine royalties are a separate question: In south Arkansas, lithium brine compensation is set by Commission order rather than by your lease, and unleased owners inside brine units get pulled in through integration orders. Worth establishing what you hold before you sell — to anyone.
Stripper-rate south Arkansas oil: Most Smackover production today is low-rate and long-lived. Steady, but small — and administratively disproportionate for a scattered interest.
Before you sell — or decide not to — read your own income stream like a buyer would: your royalty statement line by line, the full royalty calculation chain, and your trend over the last year. Run your own numbers with our royalty calculator, ground-truth prices against live WTI & Henry Hub benchmarks. The more you know, the better our conversation.
Gather your division orders, three to twelve months of check stubs, and your lease if you have it. Request a written offer from a direct buyer, review the purchase and sale agreement, then close by notarized conveyance recorded in the county where the minerals sit. Buckhead Energy handles and pays for the Arkansas title work and typically closes within 30 to 45 days.
No. Arkansas has no dormant mineral act and is an ownership-in-place state — a severed mineral interest is perpetual, cannot be abandoned through non-use, and cannot be lost through adverse possession of the surface. Two real risks exist but are different in kind: forfeiture to the state for unpaid property taxes on the severed interest, and escheat of unclaimed royalty proceeds after three years, which takes the money rather than the ownership.
Oil is 5% above ten barrels per well per day and 4% at or below. Gas runs on four classifications set by the Oil and Gas Commission — 1.5% for new discovery or high-cost gas for a limited period, 1.25% for marginal gas, and 5% for everything else and for high-cost gas after cost recovery. Essentially all Fayetteville wells started at 1.5% and have since rolled to 5%.
Yes. Partial conveyances are routine — many owners sell a fraction for liquidity and keep the rest. The deed simply describes the portion conveyed.
A royalty interest is the income stream only; mineral rights include the underlying ownership with leasing (executive) rights. Both are sellable. ORRIs (carved from leases, expiring with them) and NPRIs (royalty without bonus or executive rights) are royalty-type interests Buckhead purchases regularly.
Often, yes. Small persistent checks — especially from long-lived stripper wells — carry real present value, and administrative burden frequently outweighs modest income for scattered or inherited interests. A written offer prices the whole remaining stream at once.
This page is educational and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Statutory rates are quoted from the linked issuing agency as of 2026-07-21 and can change by legislative action. Consult a qualified attorney and CPA about your own interest before selling.
Sell royalties — national overview · Compare Arkansas to another state · Arkansas mineral rights · Sell minerals in Arkansas
Free written offer with the reasoning explained — no fees, no commissions, no obligation.
Sell Your Arkansas Royalties — Free Offer