4 ms·

I saw this same thing. https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2013/01/16/169511949/a-mysterious-patch-of-light-shows-up-in-the-north-dakota-dark https://www.npr

• Scottopherson 5y ago
  "Many farmers in North Dakota can't prevent drillers from drilling — even if they'd like to. Decades ago, the rights to the minerals below those farms were separated from the rights to the land itself — which is why today, energy companies can move in, create drilling pads where they please, move in trucks and workers, without the farmers' consent." Am I reading this right? A company can just plop drilling operations on a farmer's land?
  • ewhanley 5y ago
    That's right. You can't prevent a mineral rights holder from accessing their resources - even if you hold the surface rights. The company developing the minerals has to compensate the surface owner for roads/pads/etc.