Yes, the 640 acre drilling unit is set by the state of Montana and although it does mean you share your percentage with other owners if you own less than 640 acres, it also means that it increases your chances of receiving royalties if an oil company strikes oil on a property neighboring your property. So, if you have a small property, and a company decides to drill on a piece of property adjoining yours, you will get royalties if you are included with that other property in a 640 acre drilling unit. Otherwise, they could drill on a property right next to yours and you would get nothing.
I spoke the other day to someone who frequents the Court House in Glendive. She said that for all of 2012, until December, there were frequently as many as 6 or 8 landmen researching records. She says that there are hardly any now. I wonder if that means they've finished their work and are ready to expand leasing in Dawson County or whether they've taken their marbles and gone home.
Also, any ideas of what lease rates are in the area of Section 14, Township 16 North, Range 56 East?
The reason the landmen may be gone is that they wrote 3.6M in leases in 2012, the highest amount of any montana county. Hopefully, they know something. Anybody hear about where slawson might be drilling next. My property is just a couple of miles south of bloomfield on both sides of the road
Mr. Burg has a good point. The fishing for leases, most of which were for 5 to 10 years in the area may have depleted the area and the landmen have moved on to new areas so they can get a full net with every cast again, so to speak.
It’s hard living in Texas and having minerals in Gendive, MT. Because can’t follow what’s locally going on so it is nice to have a forum to come to. I’m just curious how things are looking out there in Dawson County. Any activity?
Check out ESER.ORG, if you want to be able to see where wells are being planned, drilled or in production. This is an overlay over google earth which you can zoom in and see your property
ESER.org is ok, I have used it myself some times. The problem with eser is that the information can be a year or more out of date. You can do the same thing with the Montana DNRC webmapper, it's going to be up to date to at least within a month. On the webmapper you can mouse over wells near your area and identify them, their operator, their production and from what zones the production is from. The Mt webmapper is not the most user friendly tool but it isn't that hard to use, just play with it for awhile, maybe 30 minutes. It's worth the time. In oil and gas you need the most up to date information you can get. Eser is ok for history but be aware that it is history and not necessarily recent history.
6 months ago, I and someone else were trying to advise someone on leasing their minerals. The other person was saying that there was no activity in the area. In fact the person wanting advice had had 2 wells, one drilled to either side of their spacing in the last year, both with good production, neither had shown up on eser but were on the state site, which is also free. You really need the best, most up to date information when dealing in oil and gas or it could cost you thousands of dollars. Is the possibility of thousands more dollars worth a half hour of your time to learn to use the state website ?
A lot of good information being shared. This site is vital to good understanding of how all of this works. Being a person that has never had minerals and land…but inherited it …I want to learn as much as possible. Keep the good info coming and I won’t stop asking questions. It’s clear the people here actually do care about fellow mineral owners!!
I've been reading your posts from a while back trying to better educate myself. I just received an offer for a top lease for a current lease that is due to expire this fall. Montana Oil Properties is offering $100/acre and 15% for 5 years. Petro Hunt was who I first leased to but I'm getting the impression they are no longer active in my area (Township 19 N - Range 55 E). What I've read has me thinking this is a typical offer based on a year or two ago, but several people were able to sign for a better deal. I'm not planning to sign on this first offer as others have advised, but also am not sure how to best negotiate a better deal (twice the offered bonus, less time, & a higher royalty rate). I also have a few months to work with before the expiration date, and they are offering "earnest money" now to have the right to lease with me this fall. Sounds like they are anxious for me to sign and start "wildcatting".
Any advise from those with experience is welcome, I'm not sure where to look for current activity. Talking with other mineral rights owners is not providing a lot of information, and the ESER and MT.gov sites are very new to me. Any recommendations are welcome.
I know to be patient. It's not a lot of net mineral acres, but I want to do what's best for my family. Let me know your thoughts - I look forward to your comments. Thanks! JW
Glad for your last comment as I feel like our families are in a "similar boat". Did not have a current lease in effect at the the time we signed for $250/5year-15% with Montana Oil Properties. Did receive recent up-date from them a couple weeks back that their "wildcat" outfit plans to drill 3 wells in 3 conjoined sections in Dawson County in the next 90 days and 3 more 14N-59E in Wibaux County later this summer. They weren"t sure about which sections yet as were "waiting to sign with remaining owners". Nice to hear they are starting to get going, but hope they can go the distance. Sorry, I too am learning the ESER/ Mt. gov sites. I usually start with DNRC for recent permits & completions then go MT. Board of Oil & Gas conservation for mapping and actual production stats, but get frustrated by the appreviations like GIS,BOPD,MCFPD,BWPD ? etc. Please let me know if you find a magic glossary . Never heard of Interstate Exploration though till last May. Hope to have been of some help, WD
Wow, how great that you've received up-dates from the company that you signed a lease with. We signed with Beyond Horizons LLC Black Rock Resources, LLC two years ago, and we have still not heard a thing from then since signing. I have tried looking on the websites that you mention, but with little or no success. Where are the sections in Dawson County where they plan to drill? our mineral rights property is Section 26, 21N, 52E. thanks, Katy
Thanks for your response. Sounds like you got a pretty good lease - how long ago did you sign, and did you have to negotiate or was that MOP's initial offer? If you negotiated can you give me an idea of how long a process it was? Did you have an attorney help you?
I was told too about starting around 19N and heading east toward Wibaux County, and drilling 3 test holes. Nice to hear they gave you an update. Hope they go the distance too.
I realize you have already contracted but there is some good information in these documents. Hope this helps.
I have looked at the DNRC MT Board of Oil & Gas site, but not seeing recent permits & completions... are you speaking of the weekly activity letter? Not sure where on the site to look for production stats either. Are these two different sites or is it all one? I know it's out there, just not sure where to look. Thanks, JW.
Mr. Drake, GIS is usually associated with map, probably the webmapper. BOPD, barrel [bbl] of oil per day. MCFPD, thousand cubic feet of gas per day. BWPD, barrels of water per day. I hope this helps.
Thanks for those websites you mentioned! No, did not learn which three sections they planned to drill in Dawson, but glad to hear it was in the near future. My Mom and brothers each have small net. acres interest in four sections of Wibaux county and decided to take intial offer. Did not negotiate, but found this forum valuable to compare with other offers in known producing Counties to the North. Having worked 15+ years in Prudhoe some of my former geologist friends who have either retired or moved on to ND & CO to gave their updates to current activities. Please note I was not a geologist or petro-engineer but was an employee working for a camp service company doing purchasing. I have been going to DNRC weekly activity report for new locations/completions then to http://svc.mt.gov/msl/mtcadasral try to learn more about what actual wells are producing. JW , again thanks for the inex info. Katy, have you tried looking at the above site to see where Black Rock Resouces, LLC is currently active. Have heard permitting is 90% for drillers and takes the longest. Lets just all keep our fingers crossed.
Sorry must apologize for the the one site I advised yesterday. The other site is http://www.bogc.dnrc.mt.gov/WebApps/DataMiner for actual production stats. The mtcadastral site is great for map references especially for people residing out of state. Althoug am still figuring out how to use it. R W Kennedy is right these sites are very much worth time trying. Thanks to all for your inputs
J.W., Noticed Interstate Explorations, LLC application being approved in weekly activity report. Nice to finally see some movement! Also glad to have seen names like Denbury Onshore,LLC and Petro Hunt,LLC recent permit aplications and activities in both Dawson and Wibaux Counties.