Pennsylvania sits on top of two of the most productive natural gas formations in North America — the Marcellus and the Utica — and for two decades, oil and gas companies have been mailing lease offers, purchase offers, and division orders to Pennsylvania mineral owners who were never told what their rights are actually worth.
Oliver Natural Resources was founded here. John Paul Oliver spent 50+ years in western Pennsylvania real estate before founding ONR in 2002, and the firm still works out of the same region — reviewing offers, negotiating leases, and selling minerals for PA owners through a competitive process that makes buyers bid against each other instead of against you.
What Pennsylvania owners are up against
Old leases are Pennsylvania's biggest trap
PA has more than a century of oil and gas history, which means family land is often burdened by leases signed generations ago — sometimes held by a single marginal well. We examine whether old leases are actually still valid and whether 'held by production' claims hold up. When they don't, your acreage can be re-leased at today's rates.
PA's minimum royalty is not a fair royalty
Pennsylvania's Guaranteed Minimum Royalty Act sets a 12.5% floor — and operators treat the floor as the ceiling, then erode it further with post-production deductions. We routinely negotiate 18–20%+ with deductions excluded. The difference compounds every month for the life of every well.
Royalty deductions are a statewide problem
PA courts have allowed significant post-production deductions under many lease forms, which makes the lease language — not the law — your only real protection. Getting deduction language right before signing matters more in Pennsylvania than almost anywhere else.
Active PA counties we work in
Drilling activity — and therefore mineral value — is concentrated in specific counties. If you own minerals in any of these, the offers in your mailbox deserve a second opinion:
Own minerals in a county not listed here? We still want to hear from you — activity moves, and buyers pay for acreage ahead of the drill bit.
Pennsylvania owners ask us
What are mineral rights worth in Pennsylvania?
It depends on your county, formation, nearby production, and — more than anything — buyer competition. Core Marcellus counties like Washington, Greene, Susquehanna, and Bradford routinely command several thousand dollars per acre for leases and far more for purchases, while less active areas trade lower. The offer in your mailbox tells you the floor, not the ceiling. A competitive process among hundreds of buyers is the only reliable way to find the real number.
What is a fair royalty rate for a Marcellus Shale lease in PA?
Operators open at Pennsylvania's statutory minimum of 12.5%. In competitive areas we routinely negotiate 18% to 20% or higher — and just as important, we negotiate deduction language, because an 18% royalty with unlimited post-production deductions can pay less than 15% with none.
My family's land has an old gas lease from decades ago. Are we stuck with it?
Not necessarily. Old Pennsylvania leases are often held by marginal wells whose production may not qualify as 'paying quantities,' or contain terms operators have failed to honor. We review whether the lease is actually still valid — and when it isn't, your minerals can be re-leased at modern bonus and royalty rates.
Do I have to accept the lease offer my neighbors accepted?
No — and you usually shouldn't. Operators lease areas in waves and count on neighbors anchoring each other to the first number offered. Your acreage, title, and timing are your own, and terms are negotiable even when a landman says the offer is 'standard.'