Hi Bobby. Attorney here. Still working on the reputable part… Kidding, of course. If you need help with your situation, message me. No pressure, of course. I think you should get a little more money since the acreage has increased. If it had decreased, they would have asked you for money back. They probably would have backed off if you said you didn’t have it, but they would ask.
There is lots of development going on in Doddridge County. Antero is the main driving force there, but there are a couple other small players. There are pipelines going in all over the place and there’s a new processing plant in Harrison County. It’s a big deal right now.
Nicole, once the lease is signed an o/g company is usually not going to contact you until they owe you royalties. To keep track of them, contact the Office of Oil and Gas at the WV DEP in Charleston. They’ll be able to send you notices of any proposed wells in your county. If you’re pretty good on the internet, you can go to the DEP’s website and find all this info there. It can be a little difficult to navigate to, though.
Thank you Kyle for your response. I have another question if I can hopefully ask it so you understand what I’m trying to say. I read some where that there needs to be 40 acres around a well being drilled (not sure if this is true) but if it is…I leased 20.88 acres so let’s say they drill wells near my property but not on my property and they get an active well. Would I also receive royalties off the gas and oil produced, Since my property gave them the acrage around the well that they needed to be able to drill? Or is it only if the well is drilled directly on your property? Do most oil companies try to drill on all the properties they lease? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated
Hi Nicole, not Kyle but I know a little about what you asked.
You leased 20.88 acres. If your lease included a pool or unitization clause you can be placed in a unit made up of your acreage and adjacent tracts, and the well could include oil or gas under all that acreage. You get paid your share for that. For simplicity, say all your 20.88 acres is in the pool, and the total pool size is 208.8 acres. You have 1/10 of the acres, so you would get 1/10 of whatever % of royalty you signed for times what they made from selling the oil/gas (simplified, and there are other factors).
About whether they try to drill all properties leased, maybe someday. Sometimes leases expire with no drilling. Sometimes they find out that neighboring acreage produces no gas/oil when drilled and they decide it is not a good gamble to continue in that area. Sometimes they have so much leased that they just don’t have time or money to get to all the acreage. Big complicated question!
I’ll let Kyle help me out here with this, see if I told you wrong. He does this for a living, I just read a lot!
Hi Nicole, Nancy is extremely well informed and explains things really well. I only have one thing to add, and it’s really more trivia than anything else.
You probably heard about the 40 acres in conjunction with spacing regulations. A lot of states require that an oil well be put on 40 acres, and that a gas well be put on 80 acres (or in some places 640 acres). They did this to avoid having twenty wells on an acre, which would deplete the reservoir pressure too quickly to recover all the gas/oil possible. Google “old oil wells” and check out the images that come up. You’ll see what the spacing regulations prevent now. Here is WV with the Marcellus boom we don’t have to worry about spacing. The nature of the shale formation and the technology used makes it so that the companies naturally space wells.
We are currently under a lease, and have 3 producing vertical wells. We have been notified that our current operator wants to assign the Marcellus Shale horizontal drilling to another operator. This means we must sign a ratification of current lease. Before signing, should we be hearing from the “new” operator regarding signing bonus and royalty percentage OR when they get ready to drill (who knows when) then they will be in touch? We have felt the “pressure” also, but insisted that we needed time to sort through and affirm our position. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
The ratification only gives current producer the permission to assign the Marcellus Shale rights to the top of the Onondaga Formation (or 6,000 feet down) to another operator. When we first signed the lease, we intentionally deleted (crossed out) the pooling clause. So this new operator will have to ask us to modify that part or sign another agreement with him…I guess. This is where it all gets sketchy to me; especially since there has been no mention of signing bonus, royalty shares for new operator, etc.
LYR, do some research on the new operator. If they’re shady in any way, tell the current lessor that you have reservations about the new operator. Or tell the current lessor that you signed with them because you trusted them and that you want them to do all the development. See what they say. You might get them to start talking bonus and royalties. Their comeback is going to be that the new operator is ready to drill now, or that the current lessor doesn’t have the resources to drill you now, or something along those lines. Just stick with your same argument and see what they say.
Hey, his is a great forum! Thank you to whoever started it.
Kyle, how does one find a trusted O&G attorney? I live out of state a couple of hours away from Doddridge, and the Landman sent me a letter (thank you grandparents).
I’m a suspicious person and I would tend to imagine the Landmen, drillers, attorneys occasionally run into each other at the lunch counters or the IGA. I know the laws are supposed to cover all this, but all the same, I would feel that I am the outsider. I work at a place with hundreds of attorneys, and I don’t think my suspicions are all that unfounded.
Jim Ross, you just tossed me a nice softball. I am a trusted O&G attorney. Well, I’m an O&G attorney anyways. I don’t have much in the way of conflicts as I came here to WV from OK about five years ago. I worked as a landman for a couple lease brokers, the most recent just a year ago. I’ve been a solo attorney since. Message me if you’d like me to represent you on anything.
the West Va. Office of Oil and Gas, search permits and choose Doddridge County from the list, then put in recent dates and you can see what permits have been issued. Just getting a permit doesn’t mean a well is drilled but it gives an idea, and of the operators. A very interesting website. This won’t give lease terms or bonus money but shows how much activity there is.
Regina, just flat out turning down a lease without explanation has been one of the most effective negotiating techniques I’ve seen in oil and gas.
Different heirs can get different bonus and royalty amounts on the same tract. They sign separate contracts on separate mineral interests, even though the interests underlie the same tract.
If you work together with the other heirs you will get a better deal.
Our family has been approached by CNX to lease a parcel. My cousin told me that it is best to hold out, that gas companies have a drill date in mind and when they get closer to the date they are more willing to cut a better deal. Is this true? Also I have noticed that some folks have gotten deals like 1500acre/14% and other up to 2500/17%. Can different heirs get different rates on the same parcel? Is it best to show a combined front or will the hold outs get more?
We signed an oil and gas lease approx 2 yrs ago. How/when will we find out if they have actually started to drill, if they are drilling directly on our land and if anything has been produced?
and subscribe for Doddridge (or any county). You will be emailed a notice any time a well permit is filed, with a link to a map showing where it is (you have to put in the API number which is in the email). In my experience, when going to the link on the day I get the email, it says no well found. The next day, it works.
and check the Permits issued. Just the last few weeks they have had this list arranged so that you can see the county and only choose to view what you want. Earlier lists require that you scroll through the complete list looking for the counties you want. There is also a service you can subscribe to (hundreds of $) to have info sent to you. http://www.wvcopy.com/
This is listed on the Office of Oil and Gas website under Resources then Related Sites. I haven’t used this, but I think it is the same info that is in the weekly reports, just more specific to your county.
HEY EVERYONE, LONG STORY SHORT, WE HAVE HAD A LEASE SINCE 1986, NOW CONTACTED FROM COMPANY ABOUT A POOLING CLAUSE. AM I ABLE TO STILL ASK FOR AN ACREAGE BONUS? AND ANYTHING ELSE HELPS
