Depth clause

has anyone ever had a lease held by production with no depth clause and took it to court siting it was unfair from what I have been been told you can do this and with a fair chance at success win with the result be that lease is held at what ever the existing depth its so this means you can lease to new company at a different depth meaning bonus higher royalties I need input I'm tired of the people in this industry taking advantage of the families that have owned these land for generations like mine I'm just being honest these our are families home and how we make a living so you understand I married a wounderful lady name tracy lynn Kuntz ill bet some you recognize the name Kuntz my job that I take a lot of pride in is taking care of her and make her fater grandfather and great grandfather and her great grandmother ulga Kuntz proud all of these people worked hard for their family so if any one has any input that my help please advise

Your lease needs to have a retained acreage clause which limits the lease to 50 or 100 feet below the deepest producing formation. This allows the mineral owner to lease the deeper rights when the deeper formations become feasible to drill. And, the retained acreage clause needs to have a provision where lease terminates automatically for the undrilled acreage when the shallower formations are classified as non-producing. If your lease does not have a depth provision in the retained acreage clause you will not be able to place the deeper rights up for bid until a court decides you have the right to do so. I have never found the court rule in my favor to get deeper rights released from the leased acreage of a producing well. Maybe someone else has had such luck.

Thank you for the info have you heard of a person without those clauses winning in court and thank you your trying to help from our family thank you

Know I have not. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission rules will govern, but you could call an oil and gas attorney and ask.

No, I have not either.