Buckhead Energy buys North Dakota royalty interests, ORRIs, and NPRIs with our own capital — Bakken and Three Forks checks in McKenzie, Williams, Dunn, and Mountrail, plus legacy Madison and Red River conventional production. 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 North Dakota Royalty OfferQuick Answer To sell oil and gas royalties in North Dakota: 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. North Dakota stacks two taxes on oil — a 5% gross production tax plus a 5% oil extraction tax, 10% combined — both expressly attaching to the royalty interest, while gas bears only a per-MCF rate reset each July. The gross production tax is in lieu of county property tax. Critically, North Dakota has a real 20-year mineral termination statute, and royalties paid into a suspense account for an owner who cannot be located do not count as "use."
There is no single "best" royalty buyer for every North Dakota 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 has the buyer checked your interest against the termination statute? This matters uniquely in North Dakota: an interest sitting in suspense because the operator could not find the owner is accruing no "use," and the twenty-year clock keeps running. A buyer who has not looked at that is not assessing 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 North Dakota 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.
For any interest pooled since August 2009, you get a cost-free royalty equal to the acreage-weighted average royalty of the leased tracts in your unit, or 16% at the operator's election — not the old flat 1/8, which only applies to pre-2009 poolings.
Source: N.D.C.C. § 38-08-08
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.
Oil bears both statutory taxes, and both expressly attach to the whole production including the royalty interest. Gas is taxed by volume rather than value:
Source: N.D.C.C. ch. 57-51
Source: N.D.C.C. ch. 57-51.1
Source: ND Office of State Tax Commissioner
Source: ND Gas Tax Rate Table
The gas rate is indexed and reset every July 1 — it was $0.0555 per MCF the prior year — so verify the current figure before modeling. Gas bears no extraction tax. The extraction tax drops to 2% for qualifying production outside the Bakken and Three Forks, and exemptions exist for stripper wells, qualifying secondary and tertiary recovery, and shallow gas. Confirm your own position with a CPA — this is published reference, not tax advice.
North Dakota statute makes payment of the gross production tax full and in lieu of all ad valorem taxes by the state, counties, cities, townships, school districts, and other municipalities on property rights attached to or inherent in the right to produce, on producing leases, and on well equipment actually used in operation. Producing royalty interests are therefore not separately assessed by counties — the county's share arrives through gross production tax allocation. Non-producing surface improvements and drilling rigs remain taxable.
This is the North Dakota fact that matters most. A mineral interest unused for twenty years immediately preceding the first publication of notice is deemed abandoned, and title vests in the surface owner on the date of abandonment, unless a statement of claim is recorded. "Use" includes production, injection or storage operations, a recorded lease, mortgage, assignment or conveyance, a recorded pooling or unitization order, or a recorded statement of claim. Critically, <strong>payment of royalties or bonus into a suspense or escrow account for an owner who cannot be located does not count as use</strong> — so an interest quietly sitting in suspense is still running down the clock. There is a backstop: even after the period lapses, the interest survives if within sixty days of the surface owner's first published notice you record a statement of claim or documentation of a qualifying use. The surface owner must publish for three weeks and, where your address is of record or ascertainable on reasonable inquiry, mail you a copy.
Statute: N.D.C.C. ch. 38-18.1
North Dakota lies wholly within the Fifth Principal Meridian survey, so every township reads T. ___ N., R. ___ W. Irregular acreage from convergence is handled with government lots, generally along the north and west township tiers — which is why net mineral acres in those tiers should be computed from the actual survey rather than assumed. NDIC well locations also use a compact coded format that maps directly back to the aliquot description.
The NDIC Oil and Gas Division permits North Dakota wells and publishes the production and completion records we check on every North Dakota evaluation.
The primary horizontal target and the reason North Dakota is a top-tier US oil producer — named explicitly in the state's severance tax statutes for rate purposes.
The Devonian carbonate directly beneath the Bakken, developed in stacked benches and treated jointly with it in the extraction-tax structure.
Mississippian carbonates — the historic conventional producer along the Nesson Anticline and in the Bottineau and Renville shallow fields, still the source of much stripper production.
Ordovician carbonate producing conventionally in the southwestern Bowman and Slope county area and along the Cedar Creek Anticline.
Active North Dakota royalty counties include:
All North Dakota counties we buy in → · Monthly North Dakota drilling activity report →
Suspense does not stop the clock: An interest whose royalties are paid into escrow because the owner cannot be located is not accruing "use" — the twenty-year termination clock keeps running. This is the single most under-appreciated risk to a North Dakota mineral owner.
Bakken decline is steep and front-loaded: Modern North Dakota horizontals pay the large majority of their royalties in the first few years. A strong current check is not an annuity.
Ten percent off the top on oil: The stacked gross production and extraction taxes take a full ten percent of gross value on oil, both attaching to your royalty.
Absentee ownership is common: A large share of North Dakota mineral owners live out of state and hold fractional interests across several units, making the position hard to monitor — and easier to lose track of.
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 North Dakota 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 North Dakota title work and typically closes within 30 to 45 days.
Yes. Under N.D.C.C. ch. 38-18.1, a mineral interest unused for twenty years is deemed abandoned and title vests in the surface owner, unless a statement of claim is recorded. Crucially, royalties paid into a suspense or escrow account because the operator cannot locate you do not count as "use" — so an interest sitting in suspense keeps running down the clock. If the surface owner publishes notice, you have sixty days to record a statement of claim or documentation of qualifying use.
Oil bears two taxes — a 5% gross production tax and a 5% oil extraction tax, ten percent combined — and both expressly attach to the royalty interest. Gas bears only the gross production tax, charged per MCF at a rate reset every July 1; it is $0.0655 per MCF for the July 2026 through June 2027 fiscal year. The extraction tax drops to 2% for qualifying production outside the Bakken and Three Forks.
No. The gross production tax is in lieu of all ad valorem taxes by the state, counties, cities, townships, school districts, and municipalities on the right to produce, on producing leases, and on well equipment actually used in operation. The county receives its share through gross production tax allocation instead.
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 North Dakota to another state · North Dakota mineral rights · Sell minerals in North Dakota
Free written offer with the reasoning explained — no fees, no commissions, no obligation.
Sell Your North Dakota Royalties — Free Offer