Has anyone received a recent firm offer from Anadarko in Converse County?
Not from Anadarko, but a company in Texas has reached out to me and made me an offer of $5k per mineral acre. I did not entertain the offer so I don’t know how serious they were. I inherited my holdings and am ignorant of the business so taking time to learn as much as I can before making a decision.
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We received a lease offer from Anadarko last Fall, then all of a sudden, they released it because apparently there is a well Matrix has a hold on and won’t release a lease from 1969, and Anadarko may be interested in buying our rights which seems fishy to me, but we know nothing about this business other than people are eager to offer a lowball amount to buy our rights. We have tried to research a little bit and found that Anadarko has been acquiring rights all around our section, so I doubt we’d be able to get a competitive price from anyone else.
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$5K an acre is a very good price (for WY) from what I’ve been told by a landman who may or may not be straight forward. Seems like a lot of us on here inherited our holdings and don’t know the rules to play the game.
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$5000 is still low even while leasing has slowed down. In 2008 the prices for some minerals was as high as $20,000 a NMA. Bonuses are still going for $500 in some spots too for a 4 year lease.
Seriously, if you inherited it then you should keep it for future generations just as your relatives did for you. Just think of what it would be worth if you leased it and it has a new horizontal well on it. Just think about this, “the first royalty check could be worth $100,000 and what is you sold it for $5000?” These companies are going to Low-Ball any offer!
I am third generation mineral owner and my son will be the forth. Ask him what my Eleventh Commandment Is and he will reply “THOU SHALL NOT SELL THY MINERAL RIGHTS”!
Please Reconsider Selling for Future Generations! It is costing you nothing to keep them!
Good Luck, Bill
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Bill, Thank you for your insight and valid points. I am a 4th generation mineral owner so I definitely appreciate what you are saying even though I haven’t benefited from any royalty checks to date.
One question is: are you referring to Texas prices or WY prices? I thought Texas prices are usually higher than other states, but also you referenced the inflated price in 2008 before the recession, so I think it will take several years before it gets back to that price.
2nd question (since you seem to have more experience/knoowledge than what I’ve managed in the past few months): refers to our particular family’s conundrum. There is a lease on the one remaining active well on our section that is unlimited in term and dates back to 1969. Matrix has acquired it and is pumping just enough to not dry it out but make a small profit and send a very small royalty check to my mom. We were offered a recent lease that is now being released because Matrix would not relinquish the lease to Anadarko. I’m assuming behind the scenes Anadarko offered a small sum to Matrix and it wasn’t high enough to get Matrix to release the lease. Other than selling the mineral interests or sitting on the interests without a possible lease for the indefinite future, do you have any other suggestions for options? Anadarko has leased or bought most of the mineral interests surrounding our section. Thank you for any insight or opinions you have, I have very little trust in the landmen we’ve had contact with.
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Depending on how much acreage you have, the spacing unit for the producing well and any drilling close to your acreage, you may want to contact a good oil & gas attorney to see about forcing Matrix to drill to protect your other minerals. If there are new wells being drilled next to your acreage, you may be able to claim drainage and request new drilling or release of your minerals. Also $5000 per acre is low from what info I have been able to get.
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I was talking about Wyoming Prices and the prices in one area seldom has impact on another area or even production zone. And yes, it will take some time before we ever see the leasing bonuses like we saw back then.
As for your “conundrum”, it is kind of that “Damn If I Do, Damn If I Don’t”! Yes you can sell but then if someone does decide to redrill your minerals which is being held by a “Piddle Well {Well barely getting by to hold a lease}”, you are out of any chances of getting another penny. As long as that lease is producing, the operator still holds the lease so you can’t release and the operator can redrill it as many times as allowed by the pooling agreement. On the other hand, you hang on to it and you could be entitled to royalties based on the lease signed back in 1969 which are most likely at a much higher royalty percentage rate than you would be offered now if someone comes in and leases it and then drills a new horizontal well.
As for what you might get by selling, a Check worth a few hundred thousand dollars depending on your NMA… As for what you get by holding on to your minerals, your mom gets a “Piddle Check” Monthly and someday possibly y’all getting a check for several hundred thousand dollars initially and a monthly check for tens of thousands of dollars or even just a few hundred.
Either way, you are getting monthly revenue. If you sell, the revenue ends and the oil companies will be getting what your ancestors hope someone in the family would hopefully get in the future.
The oil companies would not be putting up the amount of money they do if there was not some serious profit in the future for them.
Make that profit yours or your ancestors in the future.
Good Luck, Bill
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$5000 is pennies on the dollar as far as selling value.
yep, shale wells have been super profitable for oil companies. 
I don’t want to think about what’s going to happen when OPEC+ again decides that it’s not in their interest to subsidize shale.
I apologize for being somewhat off-topic here, but I read some of the comments and want to give my point of view. I live in Houston and have always worked in the industry. It’s painfully apparent here that for most oil companies, shale has yet to turn a profit. For instance, Chesapeake is a big operator in Wyoming… if you look at their stock price over the last five or so years, you can see the story of shale.
Two factors that have propped up shale production have been (1) low interest rates that allowed companies like Chesapeake to borrow huge amounts to drill and (2) OPEC+ being willing to cut their own production.
Maybe low interest rates will continue indefinitely, but the stock performance of many E&Ps like Chesapeake suggest that Wall Street is increasingly reluctant to fund drilling that is not profitable. Maybe OPEC+ will continue to subsidize shale, but at some point the $300+ billion that is being invested in electric vehicle production may cause them to change their tune.
All this said, shale production has already been a huge boon to minerals owners as long as they are not having to pay drilling costs (royalty owners vs working interest owners)… grandpa probably acquired his minerals for $100/acre and apparently it’s now 50x that. Not sure if another 50x return is in the cards though. I hope it somehow is, but to very loosely paraphrase Warren Buffett, I’m watching the eggs in this basket very carefully.
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Bill, Fred and Charles, Thank you so much for sharing your input and thoughts. We really appreciate it!
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I have 8 mineral acres in WY for lease. Mineral Rights.
Township 32 North , Range 69 West , 6thPM
Section 15 W2
Would appreciate any info any one could give me on this property and how best to get a lease. Been told too many times the land is too far south and not in the prime working area. Acres are about 10 miles east of Douglas. Again any info would be appreciated
Thanks
Jim Paine PO Box 686 Athens GA 30603=0686
Yes there are royalty scams. Definitely be aware of the ‘royalty lease’ proposals. I think NARO was taking a stand to address these shady transactions.
Are there websites that can help educate us in these matters besides asking on the forums? I feel like the only ones that have come up in searches are click bait for people hoping to low-ball a buy offer.
The latest in our situation is we may try and get the old lease broken because an attorney may have found a lapse in drilling back in 2016, but might have to go to court. Annnd just received letters from Anadarko that they put in 5 applications to drill horizontally on the section adjacent to ours. I am the only family member of the four that have a share in the mineral interests that received any notification from Anadarko. I feel like they are taking advantage of not having to pay to lease our section. I’m planning on calling the title analyst on Monday, but feel like I’m not sure what to ask. The woman at WOGCC who explained reasons for filing an objection to me was very kind and patient, but ultimately not very helpful in terms of rules I or the other family members could use for an objection.
We are in the exact same situation as yourself. Matrix is the producer with a lease from 1969. They have not added any new wells for decades and pump the bare minimum. We did find lapses and our attorney demanded a release which they responded no. Its time to file a lawsuit. We are Sec 34 & 24, T35N , R70W . We also receive a lease from Anadarko that backed out because of the Matrix lease. I think we have missed out on hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years.