Sell Your Mineral Rights in Howard County, TX

If you own mineral rights in Howard County, Texas, you're sitting on acreage that has produced over 141 million barrels of oil — and operators like Diamondback and HighPeak Energy are still actively drilling here. The market for mineral rights in this part of the Permian is real and competitive right now, and it's worth knowing what yours are actually worth before you make any decisions.

ASSET OVERVIEW

Est. per Acre

$1,500–$6,000

per net royalty acre

Active Wells

4,961+

Drilling Activity

Core Basin

Permian Basin

Primary Formation

Primary Resource

Oil

Commodity Type

What's Happening in Howard County Right Now

Howard County sits in the heart of the Midland Basin portion of the Permian, and it's one of the more active counties in the region — nearly 5,000 producing wells and more than 141 million cumulative barrels of oil tell that story clearly. Operators including Diamondback, HighPeak Energy, and Apache are not just holding acreage here; they're actively developing it. If you've received an unsolicited offer from an operator or a minerals buyer in the last few months, that's not a coincidence — it's a reflection of how much interest there is in this county right now. Before you accept anything or sign anything, it's worth taking a beat to understand what the market actually looks like.

Howard County by the Numbers

4,961

wells

Producing Wells (State Regulator Data)

141,310,724

barrels

Cumulative Oil Production

370,092,308

MCF

Cumulative Gas Production

$1,500 – $6,000

per NMA

Estimated Mineral Value Range (per net mineral acre, estimate only)

Oil

Primary Commodity

Who's Operating in Howard County

Diamondback E&P LLC

FANG

Chevron U.S.A. Inc.

CVX

Apache Corporation

APA

HighPeak Energy Holdings, LLC

HPK

Crescent Energy Operating, LLC

CRGY

Citation Oil & Gas Corp.

What's in the Ground

Spraberry

Permian Basin (Midland)

The Spraberry is one of the primary targets in this part of the Midland Basin and has been producing in Howard County for decades. It's a stacked system of tight sandstones and siltstones, and modern horizontal drilling has made it significantly more productive than early vertical development suggested. When operators talk about 'stacked pay' in Howard County, the Spraberry is usually part of that conversation.

Wolfcamp

Permian Basin (Midland)

The Wolfcamp shale is arguably the most sought-after formation in the Permian right now. It underlies much of Howard County at depths generally ranging from around 7,000 to 10,000 feet, and it has been the primary driver of the horizontal drilling boom here. Multiple benches — A, B, and C — provide operators with a layered opportunity that makes acreage more valuable than a single-zone play.

Dean

Permian Basin (Midland)

The Dean Sandstone sits between the Spraberry and Wolfcamp and is an additional zone that operators in Howard County have targeted in multi-zone completion programs. It's not universally productive across every parcel, but where it is present and productive it adds another layer of value to the mineral stack. Knowing which formations underlie your specific acreage matters — and it's knowable.

How a Mineral Rights Sale Actually Works

You Request a Valuation (or Someone Contacts You)

Either you reach out to get a sense of what your minerals are worth, or a buyer comes to you with an offer. Either way, the first step is understanding what you have — how many net mineral acres, what formations are present, whether there are producing wells, and what the royalty interest looks like.

You Get an Offer

A buyer will present an offer based on current production (if any), nearby drilling activity, formation quality, and comparable sales in the area. In Howard County right now, offers for acreage with active production or near active drilling can be meaningful. You're under no obligation to accept, and you can shop offers.

Title Review

Once you accept an offer, the buyer typically conducts a title review — going through the chain of title at the Howard County Clerk's office in Big Spring to confirm you own what you think you own. This is standard and protects both parties. If there are title issues (common with inherited minerals), they're usually solvable, but it can take time.

Closing and Payment

After title is confirmed, you sign a mineral deed, it gets recorded with the Howard County Clerk, and you receive payment. Closings are typically done via wire transfer or check. The whole process from offer to close usually runs 30 to 60 days, though complicated title situations can extend that.

What You're Selling (and What You're Not)

When you sell mineral rights, you're conveying your ownership of the minerals in the ground and your right to future royalties from production. You're not selling surface rights. The deed will specify what exactly is being conveyed, and you should read it carefully — or have an attorney read it — before you sign.

What to Know About Howard County Specifically

Recording With the Howard County Clerk

All mineral deeds in Texas must be recorded with the county clerk in the county where the minerals are located. For Howard County, that's the Howard County Clerk's office in Big Spring, Texas. Recording establishes your ownership in the public record and protects against competing claims. If you inherited minerals and they've never been properly probated or transferred, that gap in the chain of title needs to be addressed before you can sell.

Texas Has No Forced Pooling

Unlike states such as Oklahoma or North Dakota, Texas does not have a forced pooling statute. That means an operator cannot force your acreage into a drilling unit without your agreement. However, if you have a lease in place, the pooling clause within your lease governs whether your acreage can be pooled. Review your lease terms before assuming you have control over this.

Severance Tax in Texas

Texas imposes a severance tax on oil production — currently 4.6% of market value for oil and 7.5% for gas. This is typically deducted from your royalty payments before you receive them. It's not something you pay separately; it comes out at the operator level. Just be aware it affects your net check.

Non-Participating Royalty Interests (NPRIs)

Howard County has a long history of mineral ownership fragmentation, and it's not uncommon to find Non-Participating Royalty Interests carved out of the mineral estate. An NPRI gives someone the right to a fraction of royalties without any right to lease or execute. If your title search reveals an NPRI burdening your acreage, it will affect value — how much depends on the size of the interest and whether it's currently producing.

Division Orders and Your Royalty Stream

If you're already receiving royalty checks, you've been sent a division order — a document from the operator stating their calculation of your ownership interest. You should verify that this matches your deed before signing. Mistakes happen, and once you sign a division order, correcting it is harder. If you're unsure what you own, this is a good starting point for figuring it out.

Why Some Howard County Owners Are Selling Now

There's no single right answer here — it depends entirely on your situation. But here's what we hear from people who do decide to sell. Some inherited minerals from a parent or grandparent and are receiving small royalty checks from a fractional interest — the administrative burden of tracking the income, dealing with operators, and managing the tax reporting doesn't match the amount they're getting. Selling converts that into a lump sum they can actually use. Others have watched the Permian cycle through boom and bust before, and with operators like Diamondback and HighPeak actively drilling in Howard County right now, they feel like the market is as good as it's likely to get in the near term. Locking in a sale price removes the uncertainty of what oil prices do over the next five or ten years. And some people are simply simplifying their estates — making it easier for their heirs rather than leaving a fractional mineral interest that will need to be re-probated and re-titled when the time comes. None of these reasons are wrong. The question is whether selling makes sense for you specifically, and that depends on what you own, what it's worth today, and what you'd do with the proceeds.

Questions We Hear From Howard County Owners

I got an unsolicited offer in the mail for my Howard County minerals. Is it a fair price?
Probably not — at least not necessarily. Buyers who send unsolicited letters are starting low, expecting negotiation. They identified your acreage because it has value, which is good news for you. The offer they mailed is their opening position. Before you respond to it, get a second opinion on what your minerals are actually worth. Howard County has nearly 5,000 producing wells and active major operators — your acreage may be worth more than the letter suggests.
I inherited a small interest from my grandmother. Is it even worth selling?
It depends on where it is and what it overlies, but don't assume a small fractional interest is worthless. Even a fraction of a net mineral acre in an active Permian county can have real value right now, especially if it's in a producing unit or near one. The challenge with very small interests is that the title work to sell them can eat into the value — but it's worth at least finding out what you have before writing it off.
HighPeak Energy has been drilling near my land. Does that affect my mineral value?
Yes, it can meaningfully affect it — in a good way. Nearby drilling activity is one of the factors buyers look at when evaluating your minerals. If HighPeak or another operator has drilled a producing well in the same section or an adjacent one, that's evidence the formation under your land is productive. It doesn't guarantee you'll be drilled, but it substantially reduces the speculative risk buyers price in. Acreage with a producing offset well is generally worth more than undeveloped acreage with no nearby activity.
What formations are actually under my Howard County land?
Most of Howard County sits over Permian-age stacked pay zones — primarily the Spraberry, Wolfcamp, and Dean formations. The Wolfcamp in particular has been the target of most horizontal activity in recent years. That said, the productivity of these formations isn't uniform across every parcel. The only way to know what's specifically under your tract is to look at nearby well permits and production data filed with the Texas Railroad Commission — which is public and searchable. We can help you pull that information.
How long does it take to sell mineral rights in Howard County?
If title is clean and straightforward, the process from accepting an offer to receiving payment typically runs 30 to 60 days. The main variable is title. Howard County has a lot of older, inherited mineral interests where title hasn't been updated in years — sometimes decades. If the records at the Howard County Clerk's office in Big Spring show gaps or complications, it can take longer to resolve them. It's not unusual and it's usually fixable, but it adds time.

Find Out What Your Howard County Minerals Are Worth

Fill out the form and a real person will reach out — usually within one business day. There's no obligation, no pressure, and no cost to get a valuation. We'll tell you honestly what we think your minerals are worth and what the market looks like right now in Howard County. If selling makes sense for you, we'll walk you through it. If it doesn't, we'll tell you that too.

Get My Free Valuation

Data Sources

Production and operator figures for Howard County are drawn from U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 5-Year), Wikipedia, and DrillingEdge (state regulator production data). Per-acre values are estimates and not an offer.

EXPLORE THE BASIN

Other Permian Basin Counties

Howard County is part of the Permian Basin. See the full basin overview, operators, and counties we serve.

CITIES & COMMUNITIES

Cities & Towns in Howard County

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