BENTON, Ill. — John Simpson tends approximately 2,200 acres of corn and beans each year in southern Illinois, but he only owns about 1,700 acres of that land. The other 500 acres is leased, with separate owners holding title to the three distinct parcels.

So when Simpson saw workers boring samples from one of the parcels adjacent to his 1,700 acres, he wanted to know what was going on.

“They said they were there to do a little exploring, and toward the end of taking samples, one of them said they were a bit surprised at the amount of coal they believed is there,” he said.

Simpson’s next step? “I think our family has all of the rights to the land I have, but I’m not sure about the other parcels. At one time, we had that land in our family, but we sold some of it years and years ago, when I was just a kid.”

Determining who does have an interest in any of the mineral rights attached to one’s land is the key first step any farmer needs to take if they are approached to consider having an oil well sunk on their property, two independent attorneys said.

Within the Illinois Basin, which stretches some 53,000 square miles across most of Illinois, southern Indiana and western Kentucky, some 40,000 individuals were cut royalty checks totaling $700 million last year on sales of crude oil, said Rick Sumner, vice president of exploration for CountryMark.

That $700 million came from sales through just one company, CountryMark, which operates the lone refinery in Indiana and is American-owned. Sumner estimated another 10,000 farmers within the basin have royalty arrangements with other companies.

Started in 1919, Indianapolis-based CountryMark began as an effort to provide a consistent and independent supply of fuel for farmers. Today it buys more than 12 million barrels of crude oil, all from about 22,000 wells in the Illinois Basin, and produces some 400 million gallons of fuel annually. Farmer cooperatives operate 100 fuel stations throughout Indiana.

Sumner said the company remains “aggressive” in pursuing new oil supplies throughout the basin, and typically it will contact landowners to begin discussion about extracting minerals from the land.

“What everyone should remember is that just about any issue related to mineral rights, where we can set the facilities, for instance, has minimum restrictions and has been litigated over the years,” Sumner said. “Wells can’t go anywhere near a structure. Some things certainly are negotiable, and I would advise any landowner first to know how much of the mineral rights they own.

“That’s the No. 1 tip: Know your mineral rights.”

A mineral search ought to be conducted by someone with experience locally because records usually are based at county courthouses, said Rae Payne, senior director of business and regulatory affairs for the Illinois Farm Bureau, and general counsel Laura Harmon.

“Any surface owner should know who owns every mineral interest, so a mineral-interests only title search would be in order,” Payne said.

Depending on the status of such rights, a search could be as inexpensive as $200 or as expensive as $2,000 or more, Sumner said.

Over time, land in some families is handed down from one generation to the next, and sometimes mineral rights are split among children, other family members or other interests. Whenever possible, consolidate mineral rights, Payne and Harmon advised. “Sometimes minerals agreements can be complex, especially with fractured interests. If you do own all of your mineral rights, you’re in the driver’s seat and can negotiate from a better position,” Payne said.

Typically a landowner will be offered a lease agreement for up to five years that allows a company to “explore” for oil, natural gas and coal. For that right, landowners receive a typical per-acre lease fee, a negotiable amount ranging from $10-$100 per acre, Sumner said.

If the company determines it would like to sink a well or wells, the owners of the rights typically receive at least 12.5 percent royalty on gross revenue sales of the minerals. In the case of a well that produces $100 in crude a day, the mineral holders would receive about $4,560 a year.

Following a mineral search, a landowner ought to hire an attorney with specific mineral rights experience – someone from their region, Payne and Harmon said.

Sumner noted not all parts of the Illinois Basin contain recoverable oil, but as new techniques and extraction methods become available, some land thought not to be worth pursuing for minerals instead may become attractive. The deepest well now in the basin is about 5,700 feet. In the 1950s, the deepest well was in the 3,000-foot range, he said.

“Just because you think you didn’t have opportunities before doesn’t mean you may not have them now or in the near future, so it makes sense to be prepared and know where you stand with your rights,” Sumner said.