Ignore the word Zip. Phone inserted when a wrong key was struck in unison with an adjacent key.
They tend to over request for the zones that they are interested. They are only allowed to produce from the approved ones. Sometimes, they do not know which ones will be best, so they request several. They have to drill through some or all of them to get to the best one. And often, they drill to the deepest so that it will hold the acreage by production and then they come back and drill the shallow ones later. Think of a layer cake with multiple frosting layers. You want the swipe the frosting, but you have to drill through the cake to get it.
Hi Martha,
Thank you for the reply. Once I drill down to the Oil and Gas database link off of the Oil and Gas Public Assistance link to the Case Processing Web Application from the Web Information and Database Links page, all I get is that the Plug-in is not supported. Is this what you meant?
I can not access any case# processing utility. So, if you would please. Let me know if there is anything else involved for you to get that info over to me.
Thanks,
Dano
Just fyi- i have same issue- even after jumping through every troubleshooting hoop they give I can’t get in the front door. But I can get in by clicking a link to a well/document (there are numerous ones in other conversations on the forum). Then I can search the data base from there.
The search engine is almost impossible to use for the cases. If you give me a section, township and range, I can look up the case numbers for you. I use a subscription that works much better. I don’t always have time, but will help when I can. Once you have the numbers, you can use the “Imaged Documents” part of the website and pop right into them. Here is the case files site.
http://imaging.occeweb.com/imaging/OAP.aspx
Here is the well records site. This one is easier. You just need the section, township and range of the surface location or the name of the well. Test
HI Martha! Thank you so much for all of the information. I will get back to you regarding my success, or not in using the system. I appreciate your offer to help me out. Thank You.
In the mean time, I do have a question. Actually, I have two:
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Is it be possible for me to receive a royalty payment from an oil operator where my name would not be found listed in either the pre-OCC hearing notification document that is required by law to be sent by the oil operator to identified mineral owners called a “Notice of Hearing” that is sent to the all of the “respondents pooled” list, nor the “Respondents Pooled” list of the post-OCC adjudicated order? And, which list do the oil operators use to pay owners? Pre or post respondents pooled lists?
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Shouldn’t my name appear on both documents in order for me to get paid?
Thanks in advance…
If you have an older lease or are held by production, you will not be pooled and won’t be on that respondents list.
I look at the other cases associated with the well such as the spacing, horizontal permission request, location exception, etc. I look for my ancestors, my name, relatives, etc.
Before drilling, the leasing companies run a title search to look for the rightful owners of minerals in the proposed section(s). They lease based upon that list. After a well is drilled, the operator runs a more vigorous title search in order to determine whom they will actually pay since the Division Order is a contract for payment. That is the title search that is the more important one. They can still make mistakes, but it is usually closer to being right.
Martha, if Their searches are so vigorous and well done then why would they tell me how a family member came to inherent some minerals or at least tell me the name of the Lawyer that did the Title Search and Opinion ?
Then why would they not tell me the name of the either the Ancestor or the name of the Lawyer ?
It depends. You can ask for the paragraph from the title opinion that pertains to your acreage. I have asked nicely in the past and gotten those few lines. They will not give you the entire title opinion as it costs thousands and thousands of dollars to do. They may not tell you who the lawyer is that did it. Usually, the paragraph will have the ancestor in it.
Why won’t they tell…???.. I think it is usually because of money. If they tell you and you gain title - you will be able to ask for a higher price for a lease than if they pooled. However, if you are dealing with a landman he will usually be interested in you gaining title so he can produce a lease with you --which he can get a commission on. — I am not an attorney and this is just my opinion.
If you can get any hints as to the names / dates / of your minerals it may be very worthwhile spending a day or so in the County clerk Records room looking at the INDEXes for the dates and location of interest.
Thanks for the Thought. I, did go to the Court house and look in those Huge Red Books beginning with the Primary (plat) Book and subsequent books. I saw no names that looked Familiar.
OK — this may mean that someone died and didn’t deed the minerals to an heir. If that is the case they are still in the name of the dead person. This makes it more difficult. And I had a landman calling me about some minerals that I had never heard of before. When I asked where my name had come from he indicated he just had a list of names and addresses he got from a researcher who had gone through Probates and Wills on file that referenced a section whicj was of interest. I never did find any ownership records and decided that it was an error by the person who did the County Clerk records search. I wonder how much revenue OKLA receives from lost heirship records?
Hi Martha,
It seems that oil producers would very careful in resolving who gets paid. So, let me ask…if I am not listed in “respondents Pooled:” list of an OCC anointed pooling order, would it be possible for an oil producer to associate name - by pooling order# - with a royalty payment resulting from said pooling order?
Outside of owning the land and, therefore, the “bundle of rights” - that would include the minerals - or inheriting the mineral rights, or just being give them outright, what are other major ways that you know of to come by mineral rights ownership?
Thanks,
DW
Probably a question for an attorney, but I will take a general stab. You can own the minerals outright. If you own the surface and the mineral rights, you have the whole bundle of sticks. You can own just the mineral rights and have executive rights to make decisions. You can own mineral rights and not have the executive rights because someone else has them. You could have royalty rights only on just the products. You could have a lease on those mineral rights and would not be covered by a pooling order. You could have a pooling order because you did not lease. Someone who owns mineral rights may have passed them to you without your knowledge and you would either be leased under their lease, pooled under their name and it reverts to you, etc. Or the title opinion just has a big mistake due to a “same name” “wrong person” situation. Operators run the DIvision Order Title Opinion because they want to be very sure that they are paying the right folks.
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Hi Martha,
Thanks again for the solid info. Info I can actually use. 
I’m beginning to get the impression that this so-called “respondents list” may not be all it’s cracked up be. I’ve been doing some research (Oh No!) and I have been able to compile a list of all the land owners in a section. I have also been able to corroborate this list of land owners with current and past county real estate tax information for these owners, all with matching legal land descriptions. This is to say, that a name in the list of land owners that I put together could be found as the tax paying entity for a matching name and STR in the county tax records.
My question is, why wouldn’t names in the land owner list that I put together not appear in the “respondents list:” of an OCC anointed pooling order directly pertaining to the section of land detailed in the “Lands Covered:” clause found within the first page of the order? The land owners are current on their taxes. Shouldn’t those land owners be a Respondent? Obviously, I’m missing something. If a land owner decides to lease and not pool, wound’t they be considered “dismissed”? That’s the only reason I can come up with(at this time) as to why a land owner wouldn’t be found in the respondents list?
Thanks…
Hi Martha,
Another lame question…The entities listed in a “Respondents pooled:” list does not indicate that these entities will necessarily be getting paid? Right? It doesn’t represent a list of actual payee’s. Is this correct or at least, a generally reasonable assumption? It may be that the entities listed may need to receive notification(s) for a particular reason.
Thanks…
The pooling list is usually a small subset of the actual mineral owners. Many people choose to lease ahead of time. That is why I look at the other cases such as spacing to see a larger list.
Mineral owners in OK do not pay taxes upfront. We pay when the wells produce as a percentage of the product stream. Surface owners do pay taxes. If the minerals are severed from the surface, you may not see their name on the tax rolls. Conversely, a land owner frequently does not have mineral rights due the severing, so you will not see them on a lease list or a pooling list. I would say that is more common than not. Very few landowners in a section and hundreds of mineral owners.
Your other question. The title opinion that goes with pooling might be done years ahead of the actual pooling. Based on a fairly cursory title search. Cheap to lease and pool. Lots can happen between the time the list was given to the title firm and when pooling actually happens. Leases could have been filed, folks could have moved, died, sold their interests, etc.
The Division Order title opinion is the one that really counts. That is done by a different firm and is in much more depth as the Division Order is a contract for actual payment of the royalties. Much more up to date in timing (although it can still have errors). They will clarify who has clear title and can be paid and who has clouded title that has to be fixed before they can get paid.
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Dan: The “respondents list” is nothing more than a notification to persons or entities that own, may own, claim to own an interest in the acreage stated on the application. It is only to give notice, nothing else. When we put together a respondents list, we name anybody & everybody, including what you will see as “known & unknown heirs, successors, etc” that might have an interest in the unit.
There are many different types of filings at the OCC, serving different purposes, for the same unit. Therefore, different sets of respondents. It depends on what type of relief the Applicant is seeking.
Todd M. Baker
Martha; When preparation for a Division Order is being executed in the Research phase for a Title Opinion, What records and/or documents are looked at ? Are these something not available from a Records Search I would have access to in the Courthouse ?