Do you own the minerals under your land? How to check in North Dakota and Montana

Surface and minerals can belong to different people

North Dakota law allows the mineral interest, which people call mineral rights, to be severed from the surface, and the Divide County recorder's office says that's what makes tracing ownership complicated.^[1] When minerals are severed, Montana State University Extension calls the result a split estate. At the other end is a unified estate, where one person owns the minerals and the surface together.^[2]

The same extension guide says severed minerals come about in two ways. In Montana, the federal government often held back the minerals in homestead patents, especially after 1916, and the guide puts the federal severed minerals at about 12 million acres, mostly under privately owned surface. The other way is a private owner splitting them off, which can happen when land is passed down or when somebody sells the minerals and keeps the ground.^[2]

Ownership can also be fractional. If a father leaves each of three children a third of the minerals, each child owns a third of the whole tract. The guide notes that fractional owners are usually tenants in common unless the deed says otherwise, and that the surface and mineral boundaries don't have to line up. One surface parcel can sit over several mineral owners, and one mineral owner can have several surface owners above.^[2]

Start with the papers you already have

Montana State's guide says to begin with your deed, since it may spell out the mineral ownership. It warns that not every document does, and that a standard title search won't always turn up the minerals.^[2] Look for a mineral reservation in your deed and for any earlier deed that mentions oil, gas or minerals. Whatever you find, write down the legal description of the land (section, township and range). You'll need it for everything else, and the guide lists it as the first step whether you research it yourself or hire someone.^[2]

Searching the county records

Ownership is a matter of recorded documents, so the county recorder's office is the place to look. In North Dakota, documents affecting real property are recorded in the county that contains the land. The Divide County recorder says documents are indexed by township, range and section, and some counties also index by grantor and grantee. It also says the recorder can copy specific documents but can't do the research, which has to be done by you or by a private land record researcher.^[1] Williams County says the same thing in plain words: its recorder's office can't determine mineral ownership, and you'd need to hire someone like a landman.^[3]

A growing share of this is online. Williams County reports that its historical images, documents and tract index books are digitized and searchable from patent to present, and that you can search by land description, party name, book and page, date or document title.^[3] NDRIN, the North Dakota Recorders Information Network, hosts records for member counties. Its FAQ says 50 North Dakota counties are members, that its documents include mineral leases, rights and deeds, and that you can preview documents without charge but need a paid account to print. The prices are on its FAQ and they change, so look there. NDRIN also cautions against using the site to prepare an abstract of title, because document availability varies by county.^[4] If a county isn't a member or something seems to be missing, call that recorder's office.

In Montana the records sit with the county clerk and recorder. Montana State's guide says to find the correct plat book, locate the property and note the deed numbers, then read each deed to see whether the minerals were ever severed or withheld. If they were, a separate mineral deed should be referenced. It also warns that land that was once part of a railroad grant can be treated differently from land that passed by homestead.^[2]

State and federal minerals

In North Dakota, the statute says that in every transfer of land by the state, 50 percent of the oil, natural gas and minerals is reserved to the state, and a transfer made after February 20, 1941 without that reservation is read as if it had one. The statute also provides that land sold back to the person the state got it from, or to that person's spouse or lineal descendants in the first degree, is sold free of the reservation.^[5] So a surface owner who bought land from the state may own only part of the minerals. The Department of Trust Lands oversees nearly 2.6 million acres of state-owned mineral interests, and its site has a search for state mineral tracts and leases.^[6]

In Montana, the federal minerals mentioned above are leased through the Bureau of Land Management.^[2] If your deed or the records point to a federal reservation, that's a different leasing process from the private-lease world most of this site covers.

If the owner can't be found, or the minerals look abandoned

Two states, two different answers. North Dakota has a statute that treats a mineral interest as abandoned if it hasn't been used for twenty years and no statement of claim is recorded, and the title can then pass to the surface owner.^[7] The details matter a lot, and we cover them in our dormant mineral law guide.

Montana works differently. Montana State's guide says mineral ownership never lapses there, and dormant mineral legislation hasn't been passed. When an oil and gas company can't locate a mineral owner, the guide says it goes to district court to set up a trust account, and the proceeds are held until the owner or an heir is found.^[2] If a relative owned Montana minerals, that's worth keeping in mind.

Once you know, see what's happening nearby

If you do own minerals, or you think you might, check for wells around your land. For North Dakota, DMR's mineral owner page tells you to open the GIS map server, click the Find Section tab, enter your legal description and zoom to the section, and it says you can run a Well Search by section, township and range to find wells with a matching surface location.^[8], [9] The page also says the Oil and Gas Division has no information on the leasing of any lands. Leases are recorded with the county recorder.^[8] For Montana, the Board of Oil and Gas Conservation's online data system has a Wells Search that takes township, range and section among other fields.^[10]

Surface owners who don't own the minerals still get some protections. The Montana Board's page for mineral and surface owners says a surface owner has to be given notice no fewer than 20 days and no more than 180 days before surface-disturbing activity, and that compensation for damages from drilling is governed by chapter 82-10-5 of the Montana Code.^[11] The extension guide is clear that a split-estate surface owner can't prevent development of the minerals below.^[2]

When to hire someone

Tracing a chain of mineral title is real work. Montana State's guide says you can hire an attorney, a title company or an independent landman, and that a mineral search typically costs more than a standard surface title search because the records are more complicated.^[2] The Montana Board's page also recommends talking to an attorney about leasing and royalty issues.^[11] If what you find shapes a sale, a lease or an inheritance, have an attorney read it before you rely on it.

Our land services directory lists landman and land service companies and the associations active in the Bakken. If you've confirmed what you own and you're curious about the money side, our royalty estimator lets you try your own numbers, and the FAQ answers common mineral owner questions. For the five counties we follow, see Williams, McKenzie, Dunn, Mountrail and Divide County.

A note on our interest

Fort Union buys minerals and royalty interests, so we have a commercial interest in this subject. Nothing in this guide depends on selling to us, and each statement comes from a public source listed below. Our editorial standards explain how we source and review our pages. If you ever want to know what we'd pay for your interest, the offer page is the way to reach us.

Sources

These are the sources behind this guide, in the order we first cite them. We read the parts of each one that this guide relies on, on October 25, 2026.

1. Mineral Research Information — Divide County, North Dakota, Recorder, viewed October 25, 2026.
2. Understanding Mineral Rights (MontGuide) — Montana State University Extension, viewed October 25, 2026.
3. Search Recorded Documents — Williams County, North Dakota, Recorder, viewed October 25, 2026.
4. Frequently asked questions — ND Recorders Information Network (NDRIN), viewed October 25, 2026.
5. N.D.C.C. chapter 38-09, Exploration and Production on Publicly Owned Lands (sections 38-09-01 to 38-09-01.6) — North Dakota Legislative Branch, Century Code, read October 25, 2026.
6. Minerals Management — North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, viewed October 25, 2026.
7. N.D.C.C. chapter 38-18.1, Termination of Mineral Interest — North Dakota Legislative Branch, Century Code, read October 25, 2026.
8. Mineral Owner information and frequently asked questions — North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas Division, viewed October 25, 2026.
9. Oil and Gas GIS map viewer — North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, viewed October 25, 2026.
10. Montana Board of Oil and Gas Online Data (DataMiner), Wells Search — Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, viewed October 25, 2026.
11. For Mineral and Surface Owners — Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation (DNRC), viewed October 25, 2026.