I would appreciate any guidance that can be provided.
In the late '90s my mother inherited mineral rights and received royalty payments for producing wells named: JL Lemmer 9, 10 and 11.
The Brazoria Co. Assessor Property location listed is: County Road 98 (near Manvel)
The Legal Description is: A0366 THOS SPRAGGINS TRACT 39 (UND 1/270 INT) ACRESS 0.55.
When my mother passed, my father failed to follow through with filing the needed paperwork (Affidavit of Heirship) with Brazoria county and the operator at the time (Venoco Inc.). At that time Venoco advised that the royalty payments would be suspended until the heir(s) were properly identified.
I’m now assisting my father by picking up where he left off and filing the needed affidavit. However, it appears that Venoco Inc. went bankrupt in 2017. So I’m wondering how to determine if the wells are being operated by a different operator at this point, and if they are still producing/paying royalties or have been abandoned.
Wells called the J.L. Lemmer # 9,10 & 11 are currently producing in the Thomas Spraggins Survey but the Railroad Commission’s records aren’t showing a connection between those wells and the company called Venoco that you mentioned. It looks like Texaco drilled the #9 well in the 1960’s. Could that be the name?
The records show a company called North Central Oil drilled the #10 and 11 wells in 1997. Below is RRC’s map of the area showing the location and API number of the three wells.
In 2015 Denbury Onshore, which is a subsidiary of Exxon/Mobil, took over as operator of all three wells. Here’s a link to Denbury’s Owner Relations section where you can try checking on your mother’s interest. https://www.denbury.com/owners/
You might also check the Texas Unclaimed Property website to see if the State is holding money in your mother’s name. https://www.claimittexas.gov/
