Oil and gas exploration company Apache, based in Houston, Texas, announced on Wednesday, September 7, that it has made a remarkable discovery in West Texas’s Permian Basin – roughly 75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and over 3 billion barrels of oil.

The new field is situated on the southern side of the Delaware Basin, basically in Reeves County, south of New Mexico. The field is called the “Alpine High” because it is near the Davis Mountains. In effect, it’s discovery and development have increased Apache’s estimated capital spending this year to about $2 billion.

The company has pieced around 307,000 acres at around $1,300 per acre and has drilled 19 wells in the Woodford and Barnett. Apache expects to deliver a combined $4 to $20 million per well, where $3 covers each cubic foot of natural gas and $50 covers each barrel of oil.

“… as we focused on organic growth opportunities. These efforts have resulted in the identification of an immense resource that we believe will deliver significant value for our shareholders for many years,” said John J. Christmann IV, Apache’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

If you own property that has deposits of minerals or oil, you may be interested in selling the rights to those minerals. Contact The Mineral Auction at (512) 698-2802 to learn more about the benefits.

In most countries, the government owns all rights to all mineral resources such as oil, gas, minerals, and rocks. Entities are prohibited from unearthing and selling mineral commodities without proper authorization.

However, in the United States, ownership of mineral resources, found below the surface, belong to the individuals or organizations that own the surface. This means that they own both “surface rights” and the “mineral rights.” The owner is free to lease, sell, or bequest his or her mineral rights to other people.

Most states have laws governing the transfer ownership of mineral rights, mining, and drilling activity. When you sell your mineral rights, the buyer and all future mineral rights owners will have the right to mine on the property. It is also possible that the new mineral owner’s goal is to sell the mineral rights to a mining company who will later extract the minerals for profit. Mineral rights owners can come to the land above their minerals at any time. So it may be a few years before sellers see anyone come calling for the mineral rights they’ve sold.

If your property has mineral deposits, it may be a good idea to sell your mineral rights. Contact The Mineral Auction at (512) 698-2802 to learn more about how beneficial it can be to sell your mineral rights.