Our family owns property still being held by production in the Central Basin Platform in Lea County, New Mexico. We have not received a royalty check in two years. Could this property be classified as "Open to Lease"?
Stephen,
Well financed operators and geophysical companies are trying to determine the locatdion of the points at which the Central Platform transitions into the Delaware Basin where several zones of the Bone Spring and Wolfcamp have been proven to be very prolific using horizontal drilling technology.
Many of the operators; both new and old, have incentive to maintain old leases for their advantage during this time by keeping mineral owners in the dark. I have found that opportunities for both new leases and mineral sales abound with the companies using questionable HBP lease provisions.
Your are wise to question the validity of old leases but your success will be in having a copy of the recorded lease, the potential for future development in your specific area, and the help of a NM law firm to satisfy the question of lease validity. Anyway, that's the way I work the problem.
Gary L Hutchinson
Thank you Gary,
I have started working on obtaining the lease agreement - it was a long time ago and several members of our family own minute shares as well. We are checking it out in the NMOCD files but have not located anything yet.
Thanks again!
Stephen Watkins
Accept my friend request with more detail and I'll look up the details.
Gary L Hutchinson