# What Are Mineral Rights Worth in California? (2026) > How California mineral rights and royalties are actually valued: producing versus non-producing, what the current rigs and permits do to the number, which counties are active right now, and the math a buyer should show you. From a buyer. Source: https://www.berlinroyalties.com/mineral-rights-value/california/ Publisher: Berlin Royalties, a veteran-owned oil and gas mineral and royalty buyer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, buying for its own account since 2014. Call or text 918-984-1645. License: free to quote and cite with attribution to Berlin Royalties and a link to the source URL. Value · California · Updated 2026-11-02 ## What are mineral rights worth in California? Not a number per acre. The honest answer for California depends on whether your interest produces, what the wells around it are doing this quarter, and what the state's law lets a buyer deduct. Here is how we value California minerals when we buy them, with this month's activity, so you can check anyone's offer, including ours. [Run the Calculator](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/mineral-rights-value-calculator/) [Text a Check Stub](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/text-your-check/) Updated 2026-11-02 with Enverus activity. Written by [Stephen Clayman](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/stephen-clayman/), career landman and owner of Berlin Royalties, a buyer in California. Read it knowing that. **Information only, not an offer.** Nothing on this page is a price, a quote, or a commitment to buy at any level. It explains how California minerals are generally valued so you can judge offers. A real offer, ours or anyone's, is built from the specific wells, title, decimal, and market on the day it is made, and it can be higher or lower than anything this page might lead you to expect. ## What are mineral rights worth in California, in one paragraph? A producing California royalty is worth a multiple of what it pays, set by how fast the wells are declining and what gas and oil are expected to sell for: commonly expressed as some number of years of current checks, lower for mature wells and higher for young ones, and only a tract-specific valuation says which. Non-producing California minerals are worth what the drilling around them makes likely, which ranges from nearly nothing in a quiet county to thousands of dollars an acre ahead of active rigs. Any offer that does not say which of those it is pricing is a guess. ## What is being drilled in California right now From Enverus, as of 2026-11-02: **5** active rigs in California, **68** drilling permits approved in the last 90 days, and **0** wells reporting first production in the last 90 days. Moderate activity: location value exists in specific counties and is close to zero elsewhere, so the county matters more than the state. ## Which California counties carry location value this quarter **Rigs running now:** [Kern County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/kern-county/) (5 rigs, 65 permits). **Permits or new completions, no rig at the moment:** [Fresno County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/fresno-county/). **Quiet this quarter** (producing interests valued on cash flow; non-producing acreage priced conservatively): [Colusa County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/colusa-county/), [Contra Costa County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/contra-costa-county/), [Glenn County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/glenn-county/), [Kings County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/kings-county/), [Los Angeles County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/los-angeles-county/), [Monterey County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/monterey-county/), [Orange County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/orange-county/), [Sacramento County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/sacramento-county/), [San Joaquin County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/san-joaquin-county/), [San Luis Obispo County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/san-luis-obispo-county/), [Santa Barbara County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/santa-barbara-county/), [Solano County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/solano-county/), [Sutter County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/sutter-county/), [Tulare County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/tulare-county/), [Ventura County](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/ventura-county/). Each county page carries its own counts, formations, and the operators permitting there. ## How we value a producing California royalty Start with the checks: the last twelve months of statements, or a single stub, which carries the operator, your decimal, and the property. Pull the wells in the unit from public records and Enverus, fit a decline to their production history, apply a price deck, discount the stream, and add a risked value for any undrilled locations the operator's permits suggest. Then subtract what the law allows to come out first: severance tax. The method, with a worked example, is on our [valuation methodology page](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/research/mineral-valuation-methodology/), and the [value calculator](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/mineral-rights-value-calculator/) runs the lump-sum-versus-hold comparison on your own numbers. ## How we value non-producing California minerals Off the map, not off a formula. The questions are: is the tract inside an active unit or a permitted one, what did the nearest wells make in their first year, how many undrilled locations the spacing allows, and how likely the operator is to drill them in the next few years given its rig count and its permits. A tract three miles from a rig in California is a different asset from a tract three miles from nothing, and the price difference is a multiple, not a percentage. Our [non-producing minerals page](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/who-buys-non-producing-mineral-rights/) walks through it. ## Who is running the wells that set California values By producing well count: [CALIFORNIA RESOURCES CORPORATION](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/operators/company/california-resources-corporation/), [CHEVRON](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/operators/company/chevron/), [SENTINEL PEAK RESOURCES](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/operators/company/sentinel-peak-resources/), [E&B NATURAL RESOURCES](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/operators/company/e-and-b-natural-resources/), [CALNRG OPERATING LLC](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/operators/company/calnrg-operating-llc/), [CRIMSON RESOURCE MANAGEMENT](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/operators/company/crimson-resource-management/). The operator on your check is not offering to buy your minerals, but its permits and its rig count are the best public signal of what your acreage is worth next year. ## The California price-per-acre question People ask for a price per acre because that is how land sells. Minerals do not sell that way, and the per-acre figures that circulate online are averages of unlike things: a producing Haynesville royalty and a quiet tract of the same size can differ by a hundredfold. We will give you a per-acre number for your tract, with the wells and the permits it came from, free. We will not give you one for California, because there is no such number. ## How to check any California offer - Ask which wells, what decline, and what price deck the number assumes. A buyer who did the work can answer in a paragraph. - Compare the implied multiple of your annual checks against the [offer checker](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/offer-checker/). - Check the buyer in the county records: see [who buys mineral rights in California](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/who-buys-mineral-rights/california/). - Read [when not to sell](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/when-not-to-sell/) before you sign anything. ### Want the actual number for your California minerals? Text a photo of a check stub or a deed to [918-984-1645](tel:9189841645), or send the county and a legal description. You will get a written number within two business days with the wells, the decline, and the price deck it came from, and it holds for 7 days while you check it against anyone else's. Free, and the same answer whether or not you sell. [Get a Free Valuation](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/free-valuation/) [How the Preliminary Offer Works](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/preliminary-offer/) ## Related - [Sell California mineral rights](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/california/), the state page with counties and formations - [How mineral rights are valued](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/mineral-rights-value/) and the [methodology with a worked example](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/research/mineral-valuation-methodology/) - [Mineral rights value calculator](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/mineral-rights-value-calculator/) and [royalty decimal calculator](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/royalty-decimal-calculator/) - [Inherited mineral rights](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/inherited-mineral-rights/) and [unclaimed royalties](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/unclaimed-royalties/) Rig, permit, completion and operator counts are from Enverus as of 2026-11-02. Berlin Royalties is the trade name of Berlin Resources LLC, a mineral buyer and landman shop in Tulsa, and a potential counterparty to any sale you make, which is why we would rather you checked the arithmetic than took our word. This page is general information, not an offer, an appraisal, or legal or tax advice; any offer we make is a separate written document and may differ from anything described here.