Adding Pooled Clause to Lease

West Virginia Mineral Rights Doddridge County, WV
1

Hello,

My wife recently inherited her father's share of mineral rights on two pieces of property in Doddridge county. They are already leased and we receive a very small royalty on them each year. We recently received a letter from Antero, directed to her father about them wanting to alter the lease on one of the locations to allow pooled leasing. I understand what they are wanting to do and can't say I'm opposed to it but was wondering if these companies monetarily compensate for amending a lease? They are offering $1 for us to agree to amend the lease. I'm not sure if that is normal or if they should be offering more to amend the lease. The second question in my mind is why was the letter addressed to her father when these rights have already been switched to my wife? I guess I need to do some research at the Court House in Doddridge to get some more information on these properties. I don't have a copy of the lease on either property and want to get my information together before contacting Antero. Any suggestions anybody may have would be appreciated.

2

1. They should be willing to pay at least several hundred dollars an acre to amend the lease, maybe more. Being a business, they will offer as little as possible, but you can ask for much more.

2. Why the letter to her father? Probably 2 different departments involved. The department that pays royalties has made the change, and the department that does leases (the Land Management department) maybe is working with older records.

3. Always a good idea to have as much information as possible when working with leases and mineral rights. Do you know if your wife's father was the one to sign the leases, or someone before him? I understand the Doddridge courthouse is crowded, so the more information you have to begin with, the better off you'll be when you get to the courthouse. If you know an approximate time on the current leases, and if it was her father or maybe his relative who signed, you can go to the indexes and search under his name. The lease probably isn't to Antero but has probably been assigned to them since the original signing.

4. While there, if you can trace the deed to the mineral rights that would be good. If you know how long it has been in the family, whether a relative owned the surface, etc. you can go to that index and see what you find. It can get complicated, and if you want to do this and have questions, please ask. There are people in this group who have done this. I am not an attorney but have learned a lot about title tracing from my sister, an attorney in a different state, and from reading here and just doing it. I am not qualified to give a legal title opinion, but I know when I have enough information, or have to get more.

5. Antero should be able to give you the information about the leases involved, what lease book number and page for them, etc. but if you can, it is good to get your own information as well.

6. Before signing, it is always a good idea to have an attorney look at the paper you plan to sign. Sometimes the company tries to make other changes to the lease as well as pooling. It is to their advantage to have your wife agree to pooling, so they should be willing to pay more that $1 to get that agreement.

7. If you know where these wells are that you are being paid royalty for, and can research where the new well permits are being granted, you can see if your property is in an active location. Much of Doddridge is active now, so you probably are near that activity. And, I have read (don't know how true it is) that where oil and gas are found in shallower depths, probably there is some at deeper depths. So the fact that your property has current wells is a plus.

Good luck with this, and please tell us how you are doing and if you have any questions.

3

Thank you for the response. I have the name that was on the original lease and haven't had a chance to find the paperwork when the mineral rights were transferred to my wife. The royalties come from CNX Gas Corporation so my guess is they must own the shallow rights and Antero must have bought the deep rights or a portion of it. The letter from Antero states the original lease was signed back in the 1800's so my father-in-law was not the original signer and only owned a portion of the rights. Sounds like some legwork on our part, but definitely worth pursuing.

4

Antero is probably trying to obtain drilling rights through the lease holder. (CNX). CNX is just a middleman on the lease, because they would not be the company who would drill but, Antero would be the driller. I doubt CNX is a big enough company to drill the kind of wells that Antero does. If Antero wants you to agree to anything they should be "willing" to pay. Start Googling online to see what the going rate for amending a lease is. There are lots of postings that may get you a figure. Just ask a lot of questions and be patient. The offer of a dollar was made because they want you to think there is nothing in it for you. Don't you just love it when they act like the crooks they really are??

5

Kevin, you are right about a lot of legwork, I think! but well worth it. CNX is related to Consol. We have wells with CNX/Consol which they bought from Dominion who bought them from Chesterfield. You are likely to find a lot of assignments in the years between the original lease and today. It might get into genealogy also. Your father in law probably inherited from his father or mother, etc.

One way to see how ownership has changed through the years, at least how it works in Ritchie, is to go to the assessor's office and find the current listings, in the Tax district, under your wife's name. Go back year by year until you see where her father was listed. Then go back under his name in this district, until you see where he acquired it, etc.

And DT is quite right about how they think you don't know any better. I certainly didn't know any better a few years ago when I signed a pooling agreement with EQT, for not even $1. I'm so glad we have this group to share information with.

6

Hi Kevin: Lo & behold, just received from Antero a modification on a 240 ac. partial that I have leased with CNX. I own 1/10 of royalty rights and receive a very small check for 3.50 a month. Now to complicate matters worse within that 240 ac, I also own 1/4 interest in 44 ac of that same track, no mention about that track from Antero. There offer for the Modification was a whopping $1:00. So until I have time to investigate further I will not sign this modification. Please contact me and maybe we are talking about the same track. The track is located in Grant District, Doddridge County, if so maybe we could put our heads together and give Antero NIGHTMARES>

7

Ours is in the McClellan district. So apparently, this is a standard first offer from Antero to modify a lease. I'm digging into this mess and looks like I need to make a trip to the courthouse to see if I can figure this out. Our was a partial royalty just like yours and we receive a very small check as well. Unfortunately there was no copy of lease handed down and we pay taxes on two parcels and I'm not sure if they are under the same lease or not. I know one member of the family has already accepted the lease modification for the $1but from what I've learned that doesn't effect other partial lease holders, you can still negotiate. Maybe we won't get anything more, but it is worth a shot. If you don't mind, keep me posted on your progress and I'll do the same and maybe we can learn from each other. I'm somewhat new to this, but learning more each day. Takes some time and legwork, but I think it will pay off in the end. Thanks

Arnold L Stuart said:

Hi Kevin: Lo & behold, just received from Antero a modification on a 240 ac. partial that I have leased with CNX. I own 1/10 of royalty rights and receive a very small check for 3.50 a month. Now to complicate matters worse within that 240 ac, I also own 1/4 interest in 44 ac of that same track, no mention about that track from Antero. There offer for the Modification was a whopping $1:00. So until I have time to investigate further I will not sign this modification. Please contact me and maybe we are talking about the same track. The track is located in Grant District, Doddridge County, if so maybe we could put our heads together and give Antero NIGHTMARES>

8

I've dealt with a couple Modifications from Antero. They're pretty hard nosed about the signing bonus. But the amounts I've seen have been between $500 and $2,000. It's not per acre. However, some other companies will pay per acre, and I've negotiated $500 per acre to sign a Modification. I don't see why we shouldn't negotiate with Antero to get their signing bonuses increased.

9

Thanks Kyle. I'm still trying to gather some more information before we discuss with Antero. I may be needing some more advice and might contact you in the future. Thanks again.

10

Kyle: I am trying to do the same as Kevin. The lease that Antero is trying to modify is a lease signed in 1907 between Hope Nat's Gas and a person named Carr, somehow my Grandfather got involved, how I do not know, however I do have a deed signed in 1934 by my Grandmother purchasing 44 acres of the 240 with mineral rights, so before I sign any modification I believe that I should negotiate for a bonus and royalty interest for the 44 acres, I have contacted Antero and gave them the title info on the purchase of the 44 acres and am waiting a reply. WHAT A KEG OF WORMS.

Arnold

11

Arnold, good luck. If they don't sign you up, you should double check your title and then hold their hind ends over the fire if you're right. I'm not sure if I gave this advice about Mods earlier, but you can always request a No Warranty of Title clause and an Indemnification clause. They shouldn't have any problem giving those.

12

Glad to help out. I've been absent from the forum for a while. It's good to be back.

Kevin Damewood said:

Thanks Kyle. I'm still trying to gather some more information before we discuss with Antero. I may be needing some more advice and might contact you in the future. Thanks again.

13

Kyle: Thanks again for the advice, I have an old suitcase filled with History that my Mom saved with tons of old deeds, some sold, some still active concerning my interest in Doddridge County WV. I have been through that old suitcase a hundred times, but since this new subject came up with the Modification I could have overlooked something that I could use, so tomorrow I will get in that old suitcase AGAIN and hopefully something will show up.

14

An old suitcase full of old documents. That sounds like fun, actually. Tedious, but fun. I think that's the only time I'll ever use those two words in the same sentence.

15

how is this coming along? I just received the exact same thing a few days ago and was wondering if you were able to negotiate a signing bonus or a modification of your royalties.

16

No progress on a signing bonus on a modification. Antero says that their incentive is that a well will be drilled and you will receive royalties. They supposedly have several rigs in the area drilling wells so they are committed to the area. There was an issue with the lease and Antero is slow to respond to correct it. Still waiting on them. Bottom line is that I don't think we are going to get any kind of signing bonus for a lease modification.

17

You won't get your lease corrected either if you cave. People have taught them that they need not give them consideration, people will have to change their minds.

Oil companies are expert at ignoring things until you start a lawsuit..... unless they need something from you. I had ownership under 4 wells, the company ignored me. They became party to a lawsuit I initiated and suddenly I am deluged with division orders where before they doubted my ownership in all wells, go figure. My brother with identical interests is still confirmed in one well and penciled in on another, two they still don't know, this after five years. If you have something they need, don't give it up or you can kiss any consideration of your issues goodbye, until you file suit as I did.

Kevin Damewood said:

No progress on a signing bonus on a modification. Antero says that their incentive is that a well will be drilled and you will receive royalties. They supposedly have several rigs in the area drilling wells so they are committed to the area. There was an issue with the lease and Antero is slow to respond to correct it. Still waiting on them. Bottom line is that I don't think we are going to get any kind of signing bonus for a lease modification.