In most countries of the world all mineral resources belong to the government. This includes all valuable rocks, minerals, oil or gas found on or within the Earth. Organizations or individuals in those countries cannot legally extract and sell any mineral commodity without first obtaining an authorization from the government. Read more »

A new salary survey reveals that American oil and gas industry professionals’ wages have held up well despite uncertainty in the wider economy

The Salary Guide, produced by Hays Oil & Gas in partnership with specialist jobsite Oil and Gas Job Search, shows that US oil and gas professionals’ salaries have remained resilient, with wages marginally higher than last year at US $117,000.

Daily contract rates, a key indicator of future salary trends, registered slight growth, from $820 last year, to $840 in 2011. Read more »

Why invest in mineral rights. Because mineral rights in and off themselves can be of value regardless if wells have been drilled on the land. Non producing mineral rights can appreciate significantly as operators move into the area and the prospects of obtaining royalty income for the mineral rights improve. Further royalty income can increase as operators drill more wells on a given piece of land. Read more »

Who owns mineral rights has become a hot issue in parts of the Southwest, particularly in the Fort Worth and Dallas areas, where a huge reservoir of natural gas was discovered in recent years.

Right now, most of the mineral-rights purchases and leases are being made in what's known as the Barnett Shale region, which underlies 5,000 square miles of north Texas, although it's quite likely that new exploration technologies will soon be uncovering mineral and gas deposits in other sections of the country. Read more »