Hello. We recently signed a lease in January 2019 for some mineral rights we own in Howard County located in Block 32 section 19, 20 and East 3/4 of 30 in T1S. We are completely new to the oil industry and we are trying to learn as much as we can. We have been researching the Texas RRC website but it sure is confusing. However, it appears that there may already be a well that has produced in section 20. Can anyone confirm any production that has taken place in Block 32 Sections 19, 20 or 30 in T1S?
What we discovered on the RRC site is that it appears that SM Energy has a well that has produced. That well number is 0844WA. It looks like that well is currently shut-in. We are trying to find out if any royalties are due to us at this time.
I’m not familiar with Howard County but since no one else has responded to your question I’ll pass on what I’m seeing on RRC.
I agree the well you mentioned (#0844WA) has been producing in Section 20 since October of last year. Reports on March production were due to RRC today and nothing is shown for that well, but I’m thinking it may not have been posted yet since those reports are supposed to show a zero if a well was shut-in for the month.
When you were checking RRC’s map on that well did you see a second well SM has there (0845WA) , and that they also have two more wells that involve part of Sections 19 and 30 (1944WA and 1945WA). Based on production reported under Pending in RRC’s production reports and on the State comptroller’s website CONG it looks like those wells have also been producing since October.
Is the mineral interest you own in Sections 19, 20 and 30 located in specific tracts that you know the location of, or do you own an undivided interest in the whole section (or part section in the case of 30)?
When you signed the lease in January did you know about any of that activity and is it possible you were an unleased mineral owner in some of those SM units? Have you tried contacting SM’s land or owner relations department?
If you can post some additional information maybe someone active in that area will share their opinion.
Thanks for the reply Dusty1. I really appreciate the time you took to help me out. Your help tells me that are reading the RRC website correctly. We are very new to the oil and gas industry.
We did see that there are other wells being operated by SM Energy in the sections we own. And I don’t believe that our lease agreement said anything about specific tracts so we must just own an undivided interest in those sections.
Also, we were not aware of the activity in the sections when we signed the lease. We were contacted by a landman in Oct. 2018 and negotiated the lease that was signed at the end of Jan. 2019.
I have sent an email to SM Energy but have not heard back from them. However, I just filled out a form from their website. I will look into contacting their owner relations department.
Thank you very much for your reply and guidance. It is thoroughly appreciated.
Hello Diesel. I have received zero cents from SM Energy. Those wells have been producing since Oct 2018 and haven’t received anything. The run around is what I have gotten from, at first TPLM, and now SM Energy. I keep being told that SM Energy is under-staffed and will eventually get around to it… but…
We have other interests in Howard County and have had trouble working with SM for some time now. I actually do believe they are struggling to keep up with the work provided. We just got in pay on a well with backpayments being underpaid for 4 years. The DO analyst just took a look at our chain of title and put us in corrected pay.