My family owns mineral rights in Dunn county ND. They have drilled and are in the process of fracturing,not sure what that means either. I read a report on core samples on where they are drilling. Here are some of the termsdescibing samples,intercrystalline,mudstone,wackestone,microcrysalline,anhtdrite,argillaceous limestone,hydrcarbon gas peaks of 17 to 19 units,disseminated pyrite,caleareous,facture orosity sparrycalcite,glauconite no visible porosity,spotty light brown oil stain,dolomite,and dlomite cement,there is more but I guess what i‘m wondering does it sound like there is oil or natural gas or both?
The Bakken Shale Formation underlies the NW of ND, NE of Montana and southern Saskatchewan and Dunn county is in this zone. The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated mean undiscovered volumes of 3.65 billion barrels of oil, 1.85 trillion cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas, and 148 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the Bakken Shale Formation of the Williston Basin Province, Montana and North Dakota. It is thus highly likely that there are traces of hydrocarbons in the boreholes as indicated by the bore hole descriptions but whether they are economically extractable will depend on the geometry and size of the hydrocarbon resource. This can only be established by further drilling and geophysical surveys.
Mineral Rights and Surface Rights do not necessarily go together and most often they do not! It depends on what Caveats are on your land, what the Chain of Title has been and the State Legislation concerning Mineral Rights where you live. It is always different from State to State. You would need to do a Title Search in order to determine who owns the mineral rights!
