Many people have unclaimed oil and gas royalties of which they do not know about. Every state has an account of unclaimed funds that they are responsible for maintaining in situations where ownership is unclear. Among the most common reasons for the unclaimed royalties are invalid mailing addresses, simple misspellings, or a minor title issue.

In effect, this state requirement allows oil companies to give away the responsibility of administration over these oil and gas royalties after a period of three to ten years, depending on the state. At this point, any records the oil company may have are given to the state, and administering these funds is now a task for the state to handle. These funds now become part of that state’s Unclaimed Property. A separate article titled “Royalty in Suspense” gives information about how to access royalties that are not under state control.

If you’ve recently claimed a royalty and no longer want control of it, the brokers of The Mineral Auction can help you get set on the right path to selling your oil, gas, or mineral royalties. Contact us at (512) 698-2802.