First well

On August 9, 1949, the first successful oil well in western Nebraska was established, effectively ending 60 years of unsuccessful searching and continuing the drive for mineral resources in Cheyenne County.

According the Nebraska State Historical Society, Marathon Oil Company completed the discovery, known as Mary Egging #1, located five miles southeast of the town of Gurley.

A historical marker on U.S. 385 between Sidney and Gurley reports that interest for oil in western Nebraska first occurred in 1889, near Crawford, in the northwest corner of the Panhandle.

"The first recorded drilling operation there took place in 1903 near Chadron, also in the northern part of the Panhandle," the marker explains."In 1917, the first exploratory well to drill in the southwest Panhandle, near Harrisburg, failed," it adds.

In most countries of the world all mineral resources including but not limited to oil belong to the government. People in those countries can not legally extract and sell any mineral commodity without first obtaining an authorization from the government.

The United States is one of the countries that differ on this topic, ownership of mineral resources were originally granted to the people that owned that given piece of land.

Deputy Director Stan Belieu of Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said those initial property owners had both "surface rights" and "mineral rights."

In the most basic type of land ownership, the owner controls the surface, the subsurface and the air above a property. The owner also has the freedom to sell, lease, gift or bequest these rights individually or entirely to others.

Going back in time to the days before drilling and mining, real estate transactions were simple transfers, however, once commercial mineral production became possible, the ways in which people own property became much more complex. Belieu said now land owners may own all or even partial rights to their properties.

"Over the last few years when we were seeing a lot of leasing in Cheyenne County, we were getting quite a few inquires into mineral interests," said Belieu.

All of the mineral rights records are kept at the county court house, said Belieu. Most states have laws that govern the transfer of mineral rights from one owner to another. They also have laws that govern mining and drilling activity.

"Nebraska state statue allows a property owner to petition for unclaimed mineral rights to be returned to the surface owner after 23 years unclaimed," Belieu said.

Oil is not the only commodity encompassing a a mineral right ,Belieu said Some examples include uranium, precious metals, sand, gravel and even gold.

According to the Nebraska State Historical Society, by 1966 western Nebraska oil wells produced more than 216 million barrels of oil.

According to the Oil and Gas Commission statistics, last year Cheyenne County yielded 169,188 barrels of oil.

Belieu said currently Nebraska's oil production is approximately 2.5 million barrels.

For more information on oil drilling or statistics in Nebraska visit http://www.nogcc.ne.gov.