If You Find Oil On Your Land In Michigan, Does That Make It Yours?

Don't forget to call Miss Dig of course, if you plan to start digging in an area you may be a little uncertain of, however, let's say you do start digging. You hit a patch under the ground that appears to be oil, does that legally make it yours?

Let's discuss.

You've Struck Oil, Now What?

The chances of becoming rich off such a find, are pretty high, but maybe not highly likely depending on the areas you are in. But this is hypothetical.

You've struck oil, now what?

This is an interesting question and an interesting debate. Just because you own the surface land on your property, does not mean that you necessarily own the rights to any natural minerals that may lie in the ground below your property.

The only way that you can legally claim rights to oil on a piece of land that you physically own, is if one of the following applies to you.

• Lived on the property for twenty years (unless one of the following has occured)
  • Drilling permit issued
  • Oil or gas is withdrawn from severed holdings
  • The land is used for underground holdings
  • A written notice is filled with the count on the Register of Deeds.

Can You Sell Oil If You Have It On Your Land?

Another fair question, because some extra cash has never killed anybody.

As long as one of the following applied to you above, you do have the legal right to mine the oil. However, you will of course have to get third-party investors involved, as most people don't have the proper equipment to mine oil.

There are many different ways to approach this, such as selling a portion of your Mineral Rights to a developer or even selling the minerals directly to a developer. Both are great investments that you would see come back to you.