Oooh, I may have broken the “code”. If I click on each of the 335 wells drilled in wibaux and go to “history” it tells me who has recently bought the lease rights to that well…this is a long process as some wells haven’t been active since the 30s…so far it looks like Denbury Offshore out of Plano Texas bought up some rights in 2011…is this the correct process to use?
Mary, Denbury Resources bought out Encore. Denbury now operates most of the production along the Cedar Creek Anticline (See Fallon Co for more info). I don’t know if they’re actively leasing outside of that formation, though a call never hurts. The other companies in that area are probably better prospects for current leasing. Just to clarify things, you’re looking for the companies in that area not all of those in MT.
The State’s website is cumbersome and I don’t know that I can explain it, but it sounds like you’re figuring it out. Perhaps try the State’s map. Zero in on your area and then you can click on nearby wells. The best I can say is play with it for awhile.
As to the lack of websites, also search for phone numbers and physical addresses. On occasion I’ve had good results by simply sending a letter. It does not matter how you reach them, you just want to learn if they have an interest. Good Luck.
Mary,
very well done and quickly! It would be interesting to see that list and that way if anyone has any experience with any of them they could provide comments. Good work!
Wilson
Oh, and here’s the letter format I used…just changed the names of the addressee for each company:
Dear Sir or Madame,
I own the mineral rights for 59.27 acres in Wibaux County, Montana. Specifically the location is: Township 11N –Range 58E, Sec. 24:N2 and Township 11N – Range 59E, all of sections 26 and 27, known as the Nelson Prospect.
I have recently received a mineral rights lease offer from another company but was dissatisfied with their terms so I’m offering this lease to other companies in an attempt to get a more reasonable offer.
If your company is interested in making an offer, please submit it to the above address. If you need additional information you may contact my daughter, Mary Jones, at [email protected]. She is helping me with this process.
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely
I figure any info we share with one another just makes the process easier for the next person…no need to make it up every time…
Companies will be hesitant to do business and negotiate a lease in public, if they know their terms will be aired here. They then will be negotiating with themselves in the future. These are competitive contracts, and the bonus money is not a matter of public record…and that is done for a reason. Desecration is part of any negotiation. You are not only threatening to take any bid and use it against the company that offers it, but you are threatening to announce terms publicly.
It is my understanding that the purpose of this forum is for owners of mineral rights to share information with others so that we can all negotiate a FAIR deal. A fair deal is one in which both the buyer and the seller feel good about the terms. What this forum CAN do is prevent companies from taking advantage of people who are uninformed about what a FAIR rate should be…this is no different than any other business transaction.
Mary, It really isn’t any of my business or the boards about your Mom’s “needs”, but I ask because it is an element of strategic planning. Since you know the answer to this then you proceed as you are to learn who are the potential suitors for you to shop your mineral rights to.
I understand this parental component. My Dad and I met with a landman while he was terminal with cancer. His thinking was to put a deal together that he would leave behind to his children - the children actually decided against leasing at the time because we were concentrating on his healthcare and just having quality time with him at the end. So we declined the lease offer that was given to us.
Some time later, after Dad had passed, we found out that the gas/oil company had gone out of business. hmmm…
So anyway, consideration of the “bigger picture” is important and it appears you and your Mom have that understanding. Good luck on your search and enjoy the process with your Mom.
Wilson
Gosh, I had no idea this idea of sharing information about what companies are out there would be so controversial. I have to depend on the internet since my mom lives in Georgia and we can’t just “talk to the neighbors” to find out the value of her mineral rights. She has only 59 acres…this isn’t some massive deal…I’m just trying to do right by her since she isn’t able to do it for herself. It would seem to me that the oil companies are in the catbird seat. They have the geological data about where the next big “find” is likely to happen…they have an army of technical specialists to advise them…mineral rights owners usually don’t have access to any of that expertise. I’m unfamiliar with the term, “landman”…is that a person who is the middleman between the seller and the buyer? If so, it makes sense that they want to keep all this information secret so they can maximize their profit. I’m not looking for some huge “killer” deal…just a fair price on a relatively small parcel of mineral rights for my 83 year old mom. If I’ve stepped on anyone’s toes, that was not my intention.
Mary, yes “show your minerals” to as many as possible. If your minerals were far from production in a county with no activity you’d be wasting your time. Yet when there already is activity in an area, gather the names of as many companies as possible and contact them before agreeing to any deal. Most people don’t. You should.
$50/acre is a good offer in some place. Elsewhere $1500/acre is too cheap. So where to begin? Research to determine which areas are active with which companies, and note what has been offered to others. Identify all companies leasing in southern Wibaux & northern Fallon Counties. Note locations (Township, Range, & Section) to compare with yours.
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Find company names posted on this website.
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See 2011 & 2012 federal (BLM) lease auction results.
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See 2011 & 2012 State (MT) lease auction results.
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Check www.BOGC.DNRC.MT.Gov for any nearby permits or wells.
Ideally contact six to eight companies who’ve shown interest in your area. Have your (Mom’s) Full Legal Description, Net Mineral Acre Owned, and Gross Acres. Tell each one you’re interested in leasing and are “showing” your minerals to several companies. Some may take a week or two to respond, others may make an offer within a couple days. Either way give it a month or so before accepting anything to see if real competition can develop. Good Luck.
FYI: “HERCO” (ie… Heringer Co) was Chuck Heringer’s. He began back in the first boom of the 1950’s. He’s now deceased and the company is operated by some of his sons. They are experienced and reputable people. Though I’m not smitten with the offer quoted.
Thank you for the good advice. In response to Wilsontownship. Yes, she has a use for the money now so I just want to find a fair deal for her. In response to Eastern MT. I’ve googled and found 21 oil lease companies in Montana. I also looked at the very good reference you provided on lease option results and found a few more companies that had leased oil rights that are not located in Montana. Unfortunately I can’t make heads or tails out of thewww.BOGC.DNRC.MT.Gov website. I tried searching by Wibaux County but the record I get tells me slant, Twp, Range (all of which mean absolutely nothing to me…) but doesn’t tell me the lease company. I can list the 22 companies and addresses I found here but I haven’t a clue as to whether any of them are drilling or leasing in Wibaux County. Help???
I’m finding it interesting how few of these companies actually have a website…even those who spend BIG money on leases…
OK. Looked at surrounding county groups and found some other company names. Have researched and sent out email solicitation letters to five of them (one already returned as undeliverable even though I got the address off their website). Have addresses on several more so I can send snail mail letters. Thank you all so much for your help in navigating this totally unfamiliar landscape. I’ll let you know if I get a good offer in response!
Oh, and I have all the names and addresses in a word document if anyone wants me to post them I will…might save you the HOURS I spent looking. I used the companies who have recently had wells transferred to their names in Wibaux County and looked at the surrounding counties of Dawson and Fallon groups from this site to identify the company names being discussed in those counties. I also googled all the mineral rights companies in MT but couldn’t find any websites or info on any of them (except addresses)…makes me think they are middlemen rather than the company that actually does the drilling so I just have them on my fallback list if I don’t hear back from the big boys.
OK, here is the list. I emailed 5 and sent letters to 5 as annotated.
Gramson Resources
1601 Lewis Avenue, Ste. 205, Billings MT 59102-4126
33 Oil & Minerals 404 N 31st Street, Billings MT
Bakken Oil LLC212 S Central Avenue, Sidney MT
Cox Minerals LLC 2812 1st Avenue N # 402, Billings MT
Cranston, Monty 2906 1st Avenue N # 306, Billings MT
Dick Padon Oil Gas Coal 4934 Arapaho Trail, Billings MT
Gramson Resources 1601 Lewis Avenue, Ste. 205, Billings MT
Grizzly Run Service 950 Cougar Drive, Bigfork MT
Herco 2812 1st Avenue N # 311, Billings MT email sent 21 May
J & L Oil & Gas Inc 2812 1st Avenue N # 411B, Billings MT
Lonewolf Energy Inc6543 Elysian Road # 1, Billings MT
Neuhardt Oil & Gas Pc2110 Clark Avenue, Billings MT
Paul E Nordstog Oil & Gas1629 Avenue D # 9, Billings MT
Pega Petroleum Inc116 2nd Avenue S, Shelby MT
Robert H Scott Oil1910 Mulberry Drive, Billings MT
Robinson Oil CO LLC100 N 27th Street # 250, Billings MT
Schellin CO209 New York Street, Chinook MT
Scott, Robert H1910 Mulberry Drive, Billings MT
T Bar S Oil Inc175 N 27th Street # 1303, Billings MT
Whiting Oil & Gas Corporation 1700 Broadway, Ste. 2300
Denver, CO 80290
Note: sent email on 21 May…returned as undeliverable so sent letter
Magnum Producing LP
500 N. Shoreline, Ste. 322
Corpus Christi, TX 78401
DENBURY ONSHORE LLC sent solicitation email on 21 May
5100 TENNYSON PKWY
PLANO, TX 75024-4930
Harvey Mineral Partners, L. P. 3811 Turtle Creek Blvd., #2150 Dallas, TX 75219 Note: sent letter
Interwest Petroleum Corp. PO Box 1414 Dickinson, ND 58602-1414 NOTE: sent solicitation email on 21 May
SM Energy
Billings, MT
550 N. 31st Street Suite 500
Billings, MT 59101
Main telephone – (406) 245-6248 Note: Letter
Continental Resources, Inc.
P.O. Box 269000 Note: Letter
Oklahoma City, OK 73126
Petro Hunt L.L.C
12801 County Rd. 324 Note: Letter
Lambert, MT 59243
Transcontinent Oil
621 Seventeenth Street Suite 2501,
Denver, 80293 Note: sent email 21 May
ConocoPhillips
600 North Dairy Ashford (77079-1175) P.O. Box 2197
Houston, TX 77252-2197 Note: sent email 21 May
Oh if you see any “good ones” that I didn’t contact, please point them out and I will remedy the situation. Thanks!
Mary-you are absolutely correct. This is a mineral owners forum. Education for us all. Oil companies will take advanntage of the un-informed. That is what they count on. Thanks for posting all the information.
Daniel Dayton is a landman (per his profile page). So of course, he doesn’t want landowners to shop for competitive bids and especially doesn’t want that information shared here. Oh well, looks like his company will not be getting your land and likely will be getting even less land as more landowners (mineral owners) become more and more savvy and do their best to learn all they can instead of just signing the first $50 dollar offer that comes along.
You keep doing what you are doing. If a gas/oil company doesn’t want to participate - that’s fine.
Wilson
Lease Terms and Royalty amounts are public record once the lease is recorded. Bonus amounts are not. Bonus values can vary from mineral owner to mineral owner, and even per mineral owner in a tract, depending on the varying situations in a tract or the amount of minerals and owner has and were, but within a certain dollar range.
Negotiate with as many companies as you can. Compare offers. Ask for more or if that was the best offer…all smart, and ok. Ask if they will be the operator of the well, or it’s a broker, are they flipping the lease, or hired by an operator, and can they say who the operator is.
Mary you were fine, right up until you declared you were going to go full public with all your negotiations.
If you want to get the top dollar, here’s what you do…don’t lease. Make sure your mother’s ownership is properly on record in the county you own minerals in. The Oil Companies when they are serious about an area, will find you. Also…don’t be the first to sign…but don’t be the 51% to sign either. You’ll know when it’s time, as you will get several calls in a few months period.
I agree with what Eastern MT said and in particular this excerpt:
Yet as Mr. Dayton states, it may be detrimental to post a blow by blow account where every offer is publicized. I’m not suggesting you hide your results, just focus on getting your deal negotiated.
Wilson
If the oil company wants to keep their business secret, I guess they have that right. My business on the other hand can stand the light of day and I don’t mind if everyone knows, and that is my right. Eastern MT is right that some operators may walk away, that doesn’t change the fact that they need acres and they can’t walk away from all of them or they are out of business. The landman who doesn’t get the acres he’s tasked to get on a fairly consistent basis may also find himself working for a different company, possibly in a different field. Luckily for them I hear that 85% of mineral owners sign the first lease they lay eyes on, but that may change.