[masraum]

What sort of an investment is oil rights?

Hypothetical situation. Lets say you have 50% of some mineral rights for an oil well that has been producing for 10-15 years, and the person that had the other 50% was thinking about selling. It appears as if the going rate for buying/selling is for about 3 years of what the well is paying. Oil prices currently suck. They'll probably eventually go up some, but who knows when, and the assumption is that it won't be back to $100/barrel.

The stock market has also currently tanked.

Question 1-ish: If you can get the oil rights for $10k, and in theory, make your money back in 3 years, how does buying the oil rights sound as an investment? What sort of lifespan do you put on an oil well? With prices in the gutter and the well having been around for a while, how much of a gamble is it to buy these rights?

Question 2: The stock market is down quite a bit right now. If you had that same $10k ^ would you prefer to stick it in the market?

So, what sort of investment is a producing oil well especially considering the current oil prices.

And does the market tickle your investment bone more?