Buckhead Energy buys Montana royalty interests, ORRIs, and NPRIs with our own capital — Williston Basin Bakken and Red River production, Cedar Creek Anticline conventional, and Sweetgrass Arch gas. Free written offer, zero fees or commissions, closing in 30–45 days.
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Get Your Free Montana Royalty OfferQuick Answer To sell oil and gas royalties in Montana: 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. Montana has one feature every royalty owner should know before modeling anything: the entire production-tax incentive structure applies only to working interests. Royalty owners pay a flat 15.10% in every category — no new-well holiday, no stripper relief, no horizontal incentive. Offsetting that, Montana charges no separate county property tax on producing minerals, and has no dormant mineral statute.
There is no single "best" royalty buyer for every Montana 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 does the buyer model your tax correctly? This matters more in Montana than anywhere: a buyer who assumes your new horizontal well carries the 0.80% incentive rate is modeling the working interest, not your royalty, which pays 15.10% from day one. Getting that wrong in either direction produces a wrong number. Buckhead Energy is a direct buyer, buys with its own funds, and pays the title costs.
The classic royalty under a lease on your Montana 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.
A refusing owner is deemed to own a 1/8 (12.5%) landowner royalty on their proportionate production until the drillers recover costs, after which they become a full working-interest owner.
Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 82-11-202(2)(c)
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.
Montana taxes by well type, vintage, production type, incentive period, and price trigger — but every one of those levers applies only to the <strong>working interest</strong>. The nonworking (royalty) column is flat across every category of both the oil and gas tables:
Source: Montana Dept. of Revenue — Oil and Natural Gas Production Tax
Source: Montana Dept. of Revenue — Oil and Natural Gas Production Tax
For contrast, a working interest in the first twelve months of primary recovery — or the first eighteen months of a post-1999 horizontal — pays 0.80%. A royalty owner on that same brand-new well pays 15.10%. Model Montana royalty net revenue at roughly 15% off the top and do not assume a new-well tax holiday flows through. Interests owned by the state or a local government are exempt. Confirm your own position with a CPA — this is published reference, not tax advice.
Montana consolidated three levies — the state severance tax, the oil and gas net proceeds property tax, and the local government severance tax — into a single production tax in 1996. The production tax is the local tax: the Department of Revenue collects it and distributes the majority to the producing county. A Montana royalty owner does not receive a separate county mineral property tax bill and will not see a separate ad valorem deduction on the check stub.
Severed Montana minerals do not lapse for non-use. This is worth stating plainly because several sources cite Montana dormancy provisions to "MCA Title 70, chapter 30" — that chapter is Eminent Domain. Montana's legislature considered and rejected the Uniform Dormant Mineral Interests Act in 1987, 2005, and 2007. What Montana does have is a trust mechanism allowing production proceeds to be held for owners who cannot be located — a custodial arrangement, not a divestiture of title.
Montana is a rectangular-survey state surveyed off the Principal Meridian, Montana. Note that reservation lands — Fort Peck, Blackfeet, Crow, Fort Belknap — are also described in section-township-range but carry trust and allotted ownership that changes who leases and who is paid.
The BOGC permits Montana wells and publishes the production records we check on every Montana evaluation.
Eastern Montana and the dominant oil province — unconventional Bakken and Three Forks development anchored by Elm Coulee in Richland County.
Within the Williston — Fallon County production is largely vertical Silurian and Ordovician, a long-lived conventional decline profile very different from the Bakken horizontals.
Southeastern Montana — coalbed methane plus conventional oil, including the historic Bell Creek field.
North-central Montana along the northern tier — the source of most Montana natural gas.
We also buy Big Snowy Uplift and Central Montana Trough interests and northern Bighorn Basin production in Carbon and Stillwater counties.
Active Montana royalty counties include:
A flat 15.10% off the top: Montana royalty owners receive none of the incentive rates that working interests enjoy. That structural disadvantage compounds over the life of the interest and is fully priced into what the stream is worth.
Bakken decline is steep: Montana Williston horizontals pay most of their royalties in the first few years. A strong current check is not an annuity.
Two very different well populations: Cedar Creek Anticline verticals decline slowly over decades while Bakken horizontals decline fast. Owners frequently hold both without a clear view of either.
Distance and fragmentation: Many Montana mineral owners live out of state and hold small decimals across several counties, making the interest hard to monitor.
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, and see who operates around you on the top Montana operators leaderboard. 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 Montana title work and typically closes within 30 to 45 days.
A flat 15.10% on both oil and gas, in every production category. Montana's incentive structure — the twelve-month new-well holiday, the eighteen-month horizontal holiday, stripper relief, tertiary and secondary rates, and price triggers — applies exclusively to working interests. A royalty owner on a brand-new horizontal well pays 15.10% while the working interest pays 0.80%. Model Montana royalty income accordingly.
No. Montana folded the old net proceeds property tax and local government severance tax into the single production tax in 1996, and distributes most of the proceeds to the producing county. You will not get a separate county mineral tax bill or see a separate ad valorem deduction on your stub.
No. Montana has no dormant mineral act — the legislature rejected the uniform act in 1987, 2005, and 2007. Be aware that some sources cite Montana dormancy to "MCA Title 70, chapter 30," which is actually the Eminent Domain chapter. Montana does have a trust mechanism to hold proceeds for unlocatable owners, but that is custodial and does not take title.
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.
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