A seismic permit: letting a survey crew cross your land
A seismic permit lets a crew survey across your land to map the rock below, using heavy vibrator trucks or small charges in drilled holes. It is a permit for the surface. It does not lease your minerals.
What it does
Payment is usually per acre or per mile of line, plus damages. Crews lay out cables or receivers, cut lines through brush, and drive trucks across fields, so routes and timing matter.
The survey data belongs to the company. Some owners ask to see results for their own land. The company may say no, but the permit is the time to ask.
What we mark on a review sheet
Normal
- Payment per acre or per mile, with damages paid separately.
- Restoring fences, roads and fields, and plugging any drilled holes.
Missing
- Times of year to stay off: planting, harvest, calving or hunting season.
- Who pays if a person or animal is hurt, or a water well or building is damaged.
Ask about
- A permit with no end date.
- Language that also grants a lease, an option to lease, or rights beyond the survey.
Questions to ask the company
- When will the crew be on the land and for how long, and will you avoid planting, harvest and hunting season?
- How will damages be set, and will you restore fences, roads and fields and plug any holes?
- Will you take responsibility for injuries and for damage to water wells and buildings?
Common questions
Does a seismic permit lease my minerals?
No. It is permission to survey across the surface. Read it for any added option to lease, and strike it if you do not want one.
Do seismic surveys pay landowners?
Usually, yes: a set amount per acre or per mile, plus damages. Both amounts are worth asking about.
Send it before you sign
Tell us what you got and what you want to know. We reply by email and tell you how to send the pages. A landman reads them and sends back a one-page review sheet.
Email hello@landman.review with what you got and your question, or call (307) 263-8515.