Michigan law has provisions to protect the rights of owners or lessees of minerals in cases where not all owners of minerals in a tract agree on terms for development. Where minerals other than oil and gas are owned by more than one person or company, the owner or owners of more than 75 percent of the mineral interests may request a court decree authorizing them to explore for and produce the minerals.
For oil and gas, Michigan law provides for the establishment of drilling units - a tract of land with a specified size and shape that can be efficiently drained by one well. When not all owners in a drilling unit agree on oil and gas development, the owner who wishes to drill may petition the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy for an Order to pool the interests of the non-consenting owner or owners.
Such Orders provide for a development plan and for allocation of costs and proceeds (see our fact sheet entitled “Pooling of Properties for Oil and Gas Production”). In the case of either oil and gas or other minerals, the law provides for fair compensation to the non-consenting owner for their share of the minerals produced.