Two Estates, One Piece of Land
In Texas, ownership of the surface of a piece of land and ownership of the minerals beneath it are legally separate property interests. They can — and frequently do — belong to different people.
When you purchase a tract of land in Blanco County, you are buying the surface estate unless the deed specifically conveys mineral interests. If a previous owner reserved or sold the minerals decades ago, you may own the surface of the land but have no ownership interest in any oil, gas, coal, uranium, or other minerals beneath it.
This is not a technicality. It has real, practical consequences for how you can use your land.
The Dominant Estate
Texas law historically treats the mineral estate as the dominant estate. This means that the owner of mineral rights — or a company holding a lease from the mineral owner — has the legal right to access the surface to explore for and produce those minerals, even over the surface owner's objection.
In practice, this means that on land with active or potentially active mineral interests, a surface owner can face:
- Placement of roads, pipelines, and well pads without their consent
- Noise, traffic, and disturbance associated with drilling and production
- Damage to fencing, pasture, and vegetation during operations
The surface owner is entitled to compensation for damages under the Texas Surface Damage Act, and operators must make reasonable accommodations — but the fundamental right of access belongs to the mineral estate.
What to Look For in the Title Commitment
The title commitment you receive during the due diligence period will list all exceptions to title — including mineral reservations and outstanding leases. This is where you find out who owns the minerals and what encumbrances exist.
Common language to understand:
- "Grantor excepts and reserves unto Grantor..." — a prior seller retained mineral interests at some point in the chain of title. Those interests may have been further conveyed or subdivided over time.
- Oil and gas lease — an active lease grants a lessee (typically an energy company) the right to explore and produce. The lease has a term; if it's expired, that right has lapsed unless production has maintained it.
- Royalty interest — the right to receive a fraction of production revenue without bearing exploration costs. A prior owner may have reserved a royalty even without retaining full mineral ownership.
Have your real estate attorney review the mineral exception language carefully. The title company will not interpret it for you.
Blanco County Context
Blanco County sits outside Texas's most active oil and gas producing basins. The Permian Basin lies to the west; the Eagle Ford Shale to the south. Blanco County has seen limited but not zero oil and gas activity historically.
The practical risk of active mineral development on Blanco County land today is lower than in many other Texas counties. However, that does not make mineral estate review optional. Severed mineral interests affect title, affect value, and in some future scenario could affect your use of the land.
Additionally, other minerals — limestone, caliche, gravel, and aggregate — exist in Blanco County in commercial quantities. These are surface-adjacent minerals with their own ownership implications.
Surface Use Agreements
If you're purchasing land with an active oil and gas lease or known mineral activity, a surface use agreement (SUA) between the surface owner and the operator can provide meaningful protections — specifying where roads and well pads can be located, requiring reclamation, establishing compensation rates, and limiting operations in sensitive areas.
An SUA is negotiated separately from the real estate transaction and requires its own legal counsel. It does not eliminate the mineral owner's right of access, but it creates an enforceable framework for how that access is exercised.
Types of Mineral Ownership: Working Interest, Royalty, and Executive Rights
When people say "mineral rights," they often mean mineral ownership in general — but the mineral estate can be divided into several distinct interests, each with different rights and obligations. Understanding these distinctions matters when evaluating what a seller is conveying and what the title commitment actually shows.
- Working interest — the right to explore for, develop, and produce minerals. The working interest owner bears the costs of drilling and production. This is typically held by an oil and gas company operating under a lease from the mineral owner.
- Royalty interest — the right to receive a percentage of production revenue without bearing exploration or production costs. A mineral owner who leases their rights to an operator typically retains a royalty (commonly 1/8th to 1/4 of gross production). A royalty interest can also be sold or reserved separately from the rest of the mineral estate.
- Executive rights — the right to execute (sign) oil and gas leases and negotiate their terms. Executive rights travel with mineral ownership by default, but they can be severed. If a prior owner sold the executive rights separately, the current mineral owner may own royalty income but have no ability to negotiate or sign leases on their own minerals. This is uncommon but does appear in Texas titles, particularly on properties with long ownership histories.
- Non-participating royalty interest (NPRI) — a royalty interest that is not tied to working interest ownership and does not require participation in lease negotiations. A prior seller may have reserved an NPRI in a deed decades ago, creating an ongoing obligation against the mineral estate that survives all subsequent sales.
These distinctions matter in practice because a property where the minerals appear to be "included" may actually convey only partial mineral interests — for example, the right to future royalties but not the executive right to sign leases. Title review by a real estate attorney with mineral experience is the only reliable way to understand what's actually being transferred.
How to Research Mineral Ownership in Texas
Mineral ownership in Texas is established through the chain of title in the county deed records. Every conveyance, reservation, and exception in the history of the parcel determines who owns what today. Here's how a buyer or their attorney investigates:
- County deed records (abstract search) — the definitive source. A mineral title search traces every deed in the chain back to the original land grant, identifying every reservation and conveyance of mineral interests along the way. In Blanco County, deed records are maintained by the County Clerk and are searchable through the county's online portal or through a licensed land abstractor.
- Title commitment Schedule B — the title company's search will flag mineral reservations and outstanding leases as exceptions. This is not as thorough as a standalone mineral title search but is the first place to look during standard due diligence.
- Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) — the state agency that regulates oil and gas in Texas. The RRC's GIS viewer (rrc.texas.gov) shows active oil and gas wells, permits, and lease records by location. A check of the RRC map tells you whether there is active production on or near the property.
- County Appraisal District (CAD) — in some cases, mineral interests are taxed separately and appear as separate accounts in the county appraisal records. The Blanco County Appraisal District's records can show whether mineral interests are being taxed as a distinct ownership, which may indicate who holds them.
For most buyers in Blanco County, where active mineral development is limited, a review of the title commitment's mineral exceptions combined with a RRC map check is sufficient to understand the situation. For properties with complex mineral histories or known production, a standalone mineral title opinion from a licensed attorney is warranted.
What You Can Do
- Review the title commitment's Schedule B exceptions carefully with an attorney
- Ask the seller directly: what mineral interests are being conveyed with this sale?
- If minerals are available, negotiate to include them in the purchase — or understand what you're giving up by not having them
- Check the Texas Railroad Commission GIS viewer for any active wells or permits on or near the property
- Research whether any active oil and gas leases are in effect and when they expire
- Understand whether executive rights travel with any mineral interests being conveyed
- Consider a surface use agreement if the mineral situation warrants it
