Howdy:
Love this forum and am in learn mode.
Our family owns a 120 acres in Burleson County with a small amount of the mineral rights. Apache operates 2 wells on our land and installed some storage tanks and never paid damages for the land grab. They fracked the wells about ten years ago and left a fracking pond.
We're about 1/2 mile from the Brazos River
I contacted Apache regarding the land they utilized without ever paying damages. The landman initially said they should have and still could pay damages for that but has since reneged and does not answer phone calls.
I went above him and asked for a copy of our mineral lease as well as any surface rights agreements that had been signed. Any thoughts?
As we go forward and the Eagle Ford Shale play is in our area I am very reluctant to do anything with Apache that I do not have to.
This is an active cattle ranch with a home on it. The drought killed the trees that used to block the tanks and noise of the well. Now they are an issue.
Did you have surface damage provisions included in your Oil and Gas Lease?
You might want to look into Acomidation Doctrine in Texas and see if that might fit your situation. Here is a link http://agrilife.org/texasaglaw/2013/07/08/a-cattle-rancher-v-an-oil-company-the-accomodation-doctrine/
If you never got a copy of your lease, it appears that the lease cover your land is in Volume 20, Page 1 of the Oil & Gas Records in Burleson County.
This is a lease from people named Olson to Amoco in 1976
Thank you-- I'm headed to the courthouse for some other stuff and will look at it.
I'm wondering what surface owners with no mineral rights do?
If there is not agreement between oil company signed-- I understand the mineral rights supercede the surface rights and am familiar with the doctrine of accommodation. We've pretty much let them do what they want since it was a 2nd home-- now we are planning on moving there and there are issues.
Hi Again,
I asked for a copy of the mineral lease from Apache. They supplied one from 5 years before we purchased the land in 1981 and acquired a small mineral interest. The mineral lease they supplied was between the previous owner and AMOCO. Apache bought out the AMOCO interest sometime in the 1990s. They fracked wells, left a fracking pond, and grabbed 3 more acres for storage tanks. I've called them to say I think they should have paid damages for the 4 acres they took when they fracked the wells and added pond. Our cows no longer have that land to graze. Thoughts? We've never signed anything with Apache regarding surface rights. We like them as a company and they seem fair.
Thanks. I got a copy of it and both Apache and Anadarko realize Olaf is not the owner. I'm still in wait mode.
Charles Cunningham said:
If you never got a copy of your lease, it appears that the lease cover your land is in Volume 20, Page 1 of the Oil & Gas Records in Burleson County.
This is a lease from people named Olson to Amoco in 1976