Powder River Basin Mineral Rights

A Powder River Basin tract can carry two entirely different stories depending on depth: an old coalbed methane well that's largely played out, and a newer stacked-pay oil well that's part of the basin's current growth story.

The Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana had two very different booms. The first, coalbed methane development through Campbell and Sheridan Counties in the late 1990s and 2000s, largely wound down as gas prices fell and shallow coal-seam wells reached the end of their economic life, leaving many CBM wells now shut in or plugged. The second, more recent boom targets stacked oil-bearing intervals, the Niobrara, Turner, and Frontier formations among others, using horizontal drilling in Converse County especially, and remains an area of active development.

Sorting out which of these two stories applies to your specific tract, or whether both do at different depths, is the essential first step, because the CBM legacy and the newer stacked-oil activity are priced in almost opposite ways.

We also see interests spanning both the Wyoming and Montana sides of this basin within a single family's holdings, often accumulated through ranching operations that predate any oil and gas development entirely. Evaluating both states' portions together, while respecting their different regulatory frameworks, is something we handle routinely.

Sheridan County, further north than Campbell County, saw somewhat less intensive coalbed methane development historically, and tracts there sometimes carry a different production profile worth understanding on its own terms rather than assuming it matches Campbell County's more heavily drilled history.

What's Left From the Coalbed Methane Era

Most CBM wells in this basin are now well past peak production, and a meaningful number have already been plugged and abandoned as their shallow coal-seam gas depleted. If your interest is tied primarily to CBM production, we price it conservatively based on current, actual production rather than historical peak volumes, and we'll be direct if a well appears to be nearing the end of its economic life.

Some mineral owners hold CBM interests they haven't checked on in years, assuming the modest checks that used to arrive have simply stopped due to an accounting issue. Often the honest answer is that the well has gone off production entirely, and confirming current well status is something we do before any conversation about value.

Converse County and the Newer Stacked-Oil Play

Converse County has emerged as the focus of the basin's current growth, with operators developing multiple stacked oil-bearing intervals in the same wellbore corridor, similar in concept to the multi-bench Permian model but at different depths and formations. Tracts here can carry meaningful undeveloped value if permits show near-term multi-well development planned, which is a very different valuation conversation than a played-out CBM interest two counties over.

Confirming Which Depths and Formations You Actually Own

Because this basin has such different production histories at different depths, we check whether your mineral deed carries any depth limitations from prior partial conveyances, which can matter more here than in a single-formation basin. A deed that only conveys rights below a certain depth, for instance, could exclude you from the shallower CBM zone while including the deeper oil-bearing intervals, or vice versa.

Closing on a Wyoming or Montana Tract

We confirm current well status and operator, check for depth limitations in your deed, and quote based on the actual activity, CBM legacy, stacked-oil development, or both, tied to your specific tract. Closing typically runs three to five weeks.