Where we buy
Uinta Basin
The Uinta produces a crude oil so waxy it’s solid at room temperature — and over the last several years, horizontal wells have quietly turned this once-sleepy basin into one of the most active corners of the Rockies.
The rock, in plain English
How the Uinta really works.
The modern play drills horizontal wells in the Uteland Butte and neighboring benches of the Green River formation, stacked above the basin’s long history of vertical production. Results in the core of Uintah and Duchesne counties rival better-known shale plays.
The crude is the basin’s signature: black and yellow wax that must move in heated trucks and rail cars rather than ordinary pipelines. Takeaway capacity and the price discount that comes with specialty crude are real inputs to what a royalty is worth here.
Because the horizontal renaissance is recent, many Uinta owners still think of their minerals in vertical-well terms — and many mailbox offers are happy to leave it that way. If your acres sit in the active fairway, what’s being drilled around you matters more than what was drilled under you.
What moves the money
What a fair offer in the Uinta accounts for.
These are the lines we’ll walk you through before any number goes on paper.
Fairway position
The horizontal core of Uintah and Duchesne counties carries dramatically more value than the basin’s edges. We’ll show you where your tract sits.
Waxy-crude differentials
Uinta barrels sell at a discount that moves with trucking, rail, and refinery appetite. Valuations that ignore the differential overpromise.
Vertical past, horizontal future
Old vertical checks say little about horizontal potential. We value them as separate line items — and show you both.
Development pace
A handful of operators set the basin’s rhythm. Their rig schedules — public record — tell you when undrilled value might become real.
On the map
Counties we see most.
Where the Uinta files usually come from — though we read every county in the basin.
- Uintah
- Duchesne
By state
Selling rules differ by state line.
Pooling, title quirks, and taxes follow the state — our state guides cover them.
Want a number to anchor on first? The value estimator has the Uinta’s rule-of-thumb ranges built in, and the hold vs. sell comparator uses its decline assumptions. No email required for either.
No pressure, ever
Whenever you’re ready — even if that’s never.
Tell us a county and a name — we’ll do the the Uinta homework at our cost and walk you through what you own, whether or not you ever sell.
No automated calls. No mailers with sight drafts. No follow-up unless you ask for it.
Rather talk to a person? (970) 444-7374or email hello@eldoradomp.com