Ownership of Oil and Gas Rights: Implications for U.S. Farm Income and Wealth

Claudia Hitaj, Jeremy Weber and Ken Erickson

No 276228, Economic Information Bulletin from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Abstract: With the shale revolution, annual oil and gas production in the United States grew by 69 percent from 2005 to 2014, and almost 67 percent of the production occurred on farmland in 2014. The effect of oil and gas development on farm sector finances is not well understood. Limited nationwide information exists on issues such as the extent that farm operators and landlords own the rights to the oil and gas beneath their land, the value of the rights, or the timing and prevalence of leasing with energy firms. Subsurface ownership affects the ability of operators and landlords to benefit financially from development and to shape the terms on which it occurs. Using data from USDA’s Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey, Drillinginfo, and USDA’s 2012 Census of Agriculture, this report quantifies the farm sector’s oil and gas wealth and income, and provides a basis for understanding how booms and busts in oil and gas production and prices might affect farm-sector finances.

Keywords: Financial; Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uersib:276228

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.276228

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