Keep your minerals
Leasing keeps the property in your name, yours to pass down.
Got a forced pooling notice? ยท Free, no obligation
You do not have to sell your minerals.
Most people think a pooling notice means sell fast or get penalized. It does not. You have more options than the letter makes it look, and one of them lets you keep your minerals and earn more. Maybe you didn't even know you owned minerals until this letter showed up. That's more common than you'd think. Send us the notice and we will walk you through all of it, free. No pressure to do anything after.
It takes about two minutes, and you can either upload the letter or simply tell us what it says.
Your options at a glance
Pay nothing toward the well
No well costs, no participation bills, no penalty exposure.
Collect a royalty
A signing payment, then a royalty for the life of the well.
Your options
First, what that notice actually means.
An operator wants to drill a well that includes your interest. The notice is them telling you and giving you a short window to choose what to do. Most states give you somewhere between 30 and 90 days.
Not sure what you actually own? Mineral rights, an old lease a parent signed, a piece of a well? That's normal, and the notice rarely makes it clear. Send it to us and the first thing we do is tell you what you have. The options below cover the most common case, an owner of minerals that have never been leased. If your minerals are already leased, the pooling election usually belongs to the company holding your lease, and your situation is covered in the questions further down.
You have four choices.
The riskiest one
Do nothing
If you let the window close, the state pools you in anyway, on terms you didn't pick. You don't get a bill in the mail. The cost is quieter than that. The operator holds back your share of the production to cover your part of the costs plus a penalty the state sets, so the well has to earn back a multiple of what it cost to drill before any money reaches you. These wells produce most of their oil and gas in the first months and then taper off, so by the time one has cleared the penalty and your share starts paying, the strong production is behind it. Many wells never clear it at all. The penalty pushes your payout so far back that the best of the well is gone before you ever see it.
Participate in the well
You pay your share of the drilling costs out of pocket and take a full share of what the well produces. That can pay off, but it can also mean writing a large check for a well that comes in soft, and the risk is yours. Of the four, this is the one owners understand least, so if you're weighing it, ask us and we'll walk you through the math.
Sell your minerals
You take a one-time check and walk away. It's quick, but you give up everything those minerals might earn for the rest of your life, and they leave your family for good. Usually the worst trade of the four.
Usually the best of the four
Lease your minerals
You keep your minerals. You pay nothing toward the well. You collect a payment when you sign, then a royalty on what comes out of the ground for the life of the well. This is the one we help with.
Why we tell you all this
Now you know your choices.
The company that sent your letter didn't explain any of this. They don't have to, and an owner who isn't sure what to do is easier for them to deal with.
We think you should know what you have before anyone asks you to sign.
Own a piece of a well instead?
Not all notices go to mineral owners.
Some people get this letter because they hold working interest or a lease position, maybe from an old deal, a family business, or an inheritance. If that's you, your choices look different. You can participate in the well and pay your share of the costs. You can sell the position to us for a fair price. Or you can do nothing and face the same delayed payout described above. And if you're not sure which kind of interest you hold, that's exactly what our first call sorts out, at no cost to you.
For leasehold & working interest ownersHow we help
Where we come in.
We help with the lease. It's usually the smartest of your four options, and it's the one with the most moving parts, so it's the easiest to get wrong on your own.
Send us the notice. We read it, then look at the well, the operator, and the nearby production, and we tell you what your options are worth. That part is free, and you're under no obligation to do anything with it.
If a lease with us is the right move, we put a real offer in front of you. The lease offers floating around your area tend to come in low, and we come in higher. You keep your property, you pay nothing toward the well, and you earn a bigger share of what comes out of the ground than the other offers give you. What that looks like for your specific interest, we walk through with you on the call.
And if another path serves you better, we tell you that too. Not every situation is one we should be in.
- You earn more. A royalty above the offers you're seeing in your area, on top of the signing payment every lease includes. The exact numbers depend on your interest, and we'll show you on the call.
- You keep your minerals. You're leasing the rights, and the property stays in your name, yours to pass down.
- Nothing out of your pocket. No well costs, no participation bills, no penalty exposure if the well comes in soft.
- An honest read, even when the answer is that leasing to us isn't your best move.
No notice yet?
Already got a lease offer?
Maybe nobody's forcing your hand yet. An operator just asked to lease your minerals, and the first offer is sitting in front of you. The first offer is rarely their best one. The royalty rate, the bonus per acre, the lease term, the deductions they pull out of your check later. All of it is on the table, and most owners don't know that.
Send us what you were offered. We'll tell you what's fair for your area, and we'll show you what we'd put on the table instead. If Oxbow is the right partner, we'll prove it. If we're not, we'll point you the right way.
Why people work with us
Why people call us back.
Clear explanations
We walk you through what you own and what it's worth, and you'll never have to look up a term to follow the conversation.
A better royalty
Our lease offers come in above the standard rates in your area. You earn more on everything the well produces, for as long as it produces.
You keep your minerals
You lease the rights, the property stays in your name, and it stays yours to pass down.
An honest recommendation
If leasing to us isn't the right move for you, we'll tell you so, because we'd rather give you good guidance than push a deal that doesn't fit.
The process
How it works.
Tell us what you got
Send the notice or the letter. Or just tell us what you know. A name and a state is enough to start.
We research it
We pull the title, the well plans, and what nearby wells are producing. The homework is ours.
You hear back
You'll either get a lease offer at a better royalty or an honest explanation of why this isn't a fit, and either response comes with the reasoning behind it.
We paper the lease
If you accept, we handle the documents and the title work. You keep your minerals the whole way through.
You start earning
A signing payment when the lease is done, then a royalty for the life of the well. No costs out of your pocket, ever.
Common questions
The questions we hear most.
What is a forced pooling notice?
It's a legal notice from an operator who wants to drill a well that includes your interest. It gives you a window to decide: participate, lease, sell, or do nothing. Each choice has a different result. Most states set the window between 30 and 90 days.
What happens if I just ignore it?
You get pooled in anyway, on terms the state sets for you. You won't get a bill. The operator holds back your share of the production to cover your part of the costs plus a penalty the state sets, so the well has to earn back a multiple of what it cost to drill before any money reaches you. That delay is the real damage. These wells produce most of their oil and gas in the first months and then taper off, so by the time one has cleared the penalty and your share starts paying, the best of the well is behind it. Many wells never clear it at all. The well gets drilled either way, and you miss the part that was worth having.
What if my minerals were already leased?
Then you still own your minerals. The company you leased to, or whoever holds that lease today, owns the leasehold interest, and the pooling election belongs to them. Your lease keeps paying whatever royalty it set. Leasing again isn't an option, and neither is participating in the well, because that right went with the lease. If you'd rather have money now than royalty checks over time, selling your minerals is the one path open, and we'll give you an honest read on any offer in front of you before you take it. Send us the notice and we'll confirm exactly where you stand.
Do I have to sell my minerals?
No. That's the whole point of what we do. We lease your rights and you keep your minerals. You stay the owner, you pay nothing toward the well, and you earn a royalty for the life of it. Selling is usually the worst of your options, and we'll tell you so.
How is your lease offer different from the others?
Two ways. The royalty is higher, often meaningfully higher than the standard offers in your area. And you keep your property. Other deals ask you to sell and walk away. We want you to hold what you have and earn more from it.
How do you decide what royalty to offer?
We look at the well plan, the operator, the rock, and what nearby wells are producing. The stronger the position, the more we can put on the table. Then we make you an offer that beats what you're seeing elsewhere and we explain how we got there.
What does this cost me?
Nothing. We don't charge fees, and you pay nothing toward drilling the well. You collect a royalty. We carry the costs and the risk.
How fast does it happen?
We move quickly because pooling deadlines do. The sooner you reach out, the more of your choices stay open. Miss the deadline and the state decides for you, so earlier is always better.
Why should I trust you?
Fair question. We're a Texas land company working across six states. Ask us for references. Ask to see our recent deals. We'll show you both. This business runs on reputation and we know it.
Start here
Send it over.
Whatever showed up in your mailbox, send it to us. We'll read it and tell you what we think. If a lease with us is the right move, we'll show you the offer. If it's not, we'll tell you who can help. You keep your minerals either way.
Hold leasehold or buy and sell interests professionally? We buy positions too. Start here.