Mineral rights
in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania produces more natural gas than any state other than Texas. That production is concentrated in two distinct centers, both within the Marcellus Shale. The northeast dry-gas core sits under Susquehanna, Bradford, Tioga, and Lycoming counties. The southwest wet-gas window, where gas comes up with valuable natural gas liquids, sits under Washington, Greene, Fayette, and Westmoreland.

Pennsylvania mineral title is older and more tangled than in most western states. Many tracts were severed (mineral rights split from surface rights) in the late 1800s, often during the early oil and timber boom. Inheritors today sometimes own mineral interests they never knew existed, alongside surface owners who never knew their land was severed. Sorting that out is part of what we do.

Pennsylvania is also unusual for what it does not have. It does not have a state severance tax. It does not have effective forced pooling. Mineral owners in Pennsylvania have more leverage than counterparts in many neighboring states, simply because operators cannot drill across an unleased interest the way they can in West Virginia or Oklahoma. That leverage cuts both ways and worth understanding before you sign anything.

The Marcellus Shale extends across roughly two-thirds of Pennsylvania, but it produces very different fluids depending on where in the state you are. The dry-gas core, the wet-gas window, and the deeper Utica/Point Pleasant each have their own economics and operator preferences.

Five counties account for most of the active Marcellus drilling, three in the northeast and two in the southwest. Several others have meaningful mineral ownership and occasional development activity. If your minerals are in a Pennsylvania county not listed here, the easiest thing is to tell us where you are and we will let you know what we know about it.

Pennsylvania's operator landscape is dominated by a handful of large independents, with regional sub-specialists across the northeast and southwest windows. If you receive royalty checks from Pennsylvania minerals, they are likely from one of the operators below.

Pennsylvania's regulatory framework is unusual in two important ways: there is no effective forced pooling, and there is no state severance tax (only an impact fee). For mineral owners, the practical effect is that operators must obtain voluntary leases from every owner in a unit before they can drill across that unit. That gives unleased owners genuine leverage and makes lease negotiations more meaningful than in pooling states.