You opened an envelope from a Tulsa company you have never heard of, about minerals you may barely think about. Reasonable reaction: who are these people and how do they know what I own? Both fair questions, and we answer them below before we ask you for anything.
Public records, every time. Mineral ownership in the United States is recorded at the county courthouse, and production, spacing, and pooling filings are public at each state's oil and gas regulator. We run title on sections we are interested in, the deeds and probate filings lead to names, and names lead to mailing addresses. Nobody sold us a list of your private information, and nobody at your bank, your operator, or your accountant told us anything.
It also means the letter may be wrong. Records go stale, heirs get missed, and people share names. If your letter is addressed to a relative who died, or to someone who sold that interest years ago, tell us and we will correct our records.
Because something about that section caught our attention: a new horizontal permit nearby, a spacing or pooling application on the docket, an operator changing hands, or simply an area we already own in and understand well. We write to owners in places we would be glad to own more. It is not random, and it is not a sign that anything is wrong with your minerals.
It is an honest opening number based on what public records show, which is usually less than what you know. If you tell us your actual net acres, your royalty rate, and what your checks look like, the number frequently moves, and it moves up more often than down because owners typically own more than the courthouse makes obvious. If it moves down we will tell you exactly why.
What we will not do is the bait and switch you may have been warned about, where a big number gets you to sign and then gets negotiated away at closing over "title issues." Our offer letter and our closing check are the same number unless we find something real, and if we do we show you the document.
Then do not. Say so, or say nothing, and the mail stops when we next update our records. Ask us to remove you and we will. Nobody will call you six times.
Plenty of people who get our letters should keep their minerals, and we wrote an entire page about when not to sell because it is true often enough to matter. If you want to know what you own without any conversation about selling, we will still look it up for you free. Send the letter back with a phone number, or use Ask a Landman.
Do all of this, and do it with any buyer who writes to you:
A conversation, then a real number with the reasoning shown: which wells, what decline, what nearby activity, what we think the remaining reserves look like. If you like the number, we prepare the deed, pay every closing cost, and typically fund within 30 days. If you do not, that is the end of it. See how it works for the full sequence.
You can also sell part and keep part. Owners do it constantly, taking cash off the table while staying in the upside on the acreage they believe in most.
Text a photo of the letter to 918-984-1645, or just text your name and the county. It goes straight to Stephen. You can also call the same number, or fill out the short form below and we will reach out.
Text Us About the Letter Call 918-984-1645Tell us what you want and we will do that, including taking you off the list.
Berlin Royalties buys mineral and royalty interests for its own account and holds them long term. We are not a broker and we do not resell your information. If you would rather we never write again, say the word and we will remove you.