If you or someone you know is looking for legal advice regarding real estate, property or land rights, please call us. Our experienced lawyers are ready to advise and represent you individually. But have you ever thought about what`s going on beneath the surface? Does your title deed allow you to do what you want with the underground resources beneath the land? There are two types of land ownership, namely mining ownership and surface rights area ownership. We will talk about surface rights. Unlike mineral rights, surface rights are rights to the land surface. Well, surface rights and mineral rights in the United States usually start together as simple unitary or paid property, but landowners can choose to separate these rights if they own both. In the case of surface rights, you can legally transfer or sell title, but you cannot lease or sell land to oil or gas companies or mining companies for extraction or exploration. You are not legally entitled to these rights. As a surface rights holder, you must comply with local land use law and building laws. Apart from that, you can do whatever you want with any of the physical structures of the campaign.

You cannot lease the land to oil and gas companies or participate in surface extraction activities. Instead, these activities are the domain of the person holding the mineral rights to the land. It is just important to remember that those who have mineral rights have the right to come to your land and mine that mineral in the surface rights area. It is easier if you own both mineral rights and surface rights, because you can include certain provisions in the oil or gas lease you are protecting. Last year, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that state law does not give landowners the right to seek judicial review of well permits issued by the Department of Environmental Protection (see Shale Daily, November 29, 2012). The arguments of Matthew Hamblet, a resident of Doddridge County, “are based on the idea that surface owners have an unlimited right to enjoy their property,” according to the decision. “However, the rights of a surface owner are subject to the rights of the owner of the ore.” In some states, surface and mineral rights are granted upon sale of the property. For landowners residing in states that divide ownership, mineral rights are not secured when purchasing land. Mineral rights allow landowners to explore, extract and sell natural features discovered on their property.

During oil and gas production, water is a prerequisite; Companies use water resources on the land on which they drill. If water from the local land is used during the drilling process, the surface owner may be compensated. If water sources on land are damaged, the company pays for the damage. Thus, all subsequent owners of the property only hold the surface rights. Surface rights are subordinated to mineral rights, which means that the owner of a mineral easement can access the surface and use it to extract minerals from below. [10] If you want to avoid this, make sure you acquire both surface and mineral rights. 2. If the mineral rights are held by a third party, this may affect your future use of the Surface. Mineral rights include ownership of all minerals underground. This includes the right to resources, minerals, oil and gas and other underground things.

A landowner with mineral rights can explore, exploit and sell natural deposits below the surface of the land. However, surface rights refer only to exclusive rights to any physical ownership of the land. The above is the necessary information on surface rights on a property. If you are interested in buying land, you should consider acquiring a parcel of land with surface and mining rights. In 2011, citing a 1923 Supreme Court decision, the district court said the term `just the surface` was ambiguous on its face and subject to modern interpretation,” Ketchum wrote. The High Court overturned part of this earlier decision in its decision, saying it did not believe it was a “healthy law” and overturned the District Court`s decision. Here are examples of superficial damage clauses that you can add to a lease if they apply to your situation. If you are considering buying a property or are currently a property owner, it is important to understand your legal level of ownership. Some sales include only surface rights, while others include surface rights and mineral rights to the land. Often, inexperienced landowners don`t know how to distinguish between the two and make purchasing decisions that are not in their best interest. The definition of “surface” has been clarified several times in West Virginia courts and legislatures since the 1800s. Setting aside Ramage, the Court now notes that “the term `surface`, when used as a transport instrument, generally refers to the exposed area of the land, improvements made to the land and any part of the subsoil actually used by a surface owner in addition to the use of surface (for example, the root environment of growing plants, groundwater, wells, roads, cellars or foundations of buildings). In states with shared ownership laws, land can be sold to contain only surface rights.

This means that if there is oil or gas underground, the landowner has no legal rights to it. When an oil or gas company approaches for exploration or production, the owner has no ownership of what is in the ground. To legally own and manage minerals, oil or gas underground, the landowner must also have mineral rights. Last month, a district judge reconsidered her decision to refer a major surface rights case to the Supreme Court of Appeal and instead ordered both parties to submit proposed discovery plans in Cain v. XTO Energy Inc. et al. (No. 1:11-CV-111) (see Shale Daily, May 29; April 4). The dispute concerns whether XTO, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp., is authorized to drill horizontal wells on 105 acres in Marion County, WV. XTO also plans to build oil and gas pipelines through the property.

Court records show that a delay of 3. July for disclosure of rebuttal experts and a deadline for the expiration of the discovery period until October 31. Ownership of surface rights includes all physical structures on the land and the right to use or manage surface resources such as trees, plants, water resources. For example, if you want to install a septic tank, you can dig to do the installation. However, these rights do not give you permission to access underground resources. Thank you for the wonderful article. But do mineral or surface rights holders own other underground activities – for example, subway tunnels, pipelines, geothermal energy? If the property rights (mining rights) are linked to the purpose of the activity (mining), who holds the non-mineral mining rights to the underground space? In other words, could I just dig a tunnel under a skyscraper and build an underground parking lot? Texas law provides a housing doctrine to guarantee the rights of landowners who only have surface rights to their property. If another party holds mineral rights to a property, mineral owners must plan and limit exploration if it conflicts with current surface use.

If the land is located in a metropolitan area, there may be restrictions on exploration and extraction. The transfer of ownership or purchase agreement will describe these rights. When you buy land for the first time, you may not know what is actually included in a transaction if only the surface rights are transferred. If your property is damaged in any way to extract its minerals, you should try to negotiate a payment that will compensate you as the owner of the surface rights for all current and future losses. As you read above, there are certain clauses you can add to a surface damage agreement that limit the surface operations allowed. You can restrict access to the surface of your property as a surface owner.