Thank you Nancy & Arnold for responding. Still not sure how to look it up with the limited info I have…I obviously have the name in which the land and lease are in, I have the county, acerage, map # and parcel #. With this limited is there still a way to look up permits and/or to see if drilling has occurred? Any chance you can look it up by name of land owner?
Nicole,
Have you received a Certified Mailing from the production company, notifying you of a “Plat Survey” on the parcel?
You are welcome to send me the ‘vitals’, names, acreage, parcel map numbers, district, etc. via email on this site and I will attempt to do some research on your behalf.
WJ
Good one DT!
I would be more interested in the heir being “taken to court”. If the company is filing a partition suit against him, the company may not win. If the heir defends the suit all the way to the hearing, he has a good chance of the ruling going his way. If that’s the case then drilling will be delayed without his leasing and they may go around the tract. A lot of scenarios to look at on this. That is why these companies want forced pooling. The partition suits before Judge Sweeney don’t seem to favor the company.
Nancy…Anything you can add on any partition suits that have went to hearing?
Nothing specific DT about the partition suits but as you said Judge Sweeney seems to favor the mineral owners.
Charlene, I think it depends on the well how much they get.
Go here to the database of production, most recent 2014. Select your county, then try recent years (maybe 2013-) for permit issue and see what you see.
Thank you DT. the question was for a friend whose well is about to be drilled on. I am worried about the heir going to court. Even though Antereo told us not to worry that it would all be straightened out I got the feeling they weren’t so sure themselves. Their lawyers, whom I spoke to briefly wouldn’t give any comment about the case but I guess we will just have to wait see how it goes. what happens if they don’t get his signature? is the lease void or what? this is my first time dealing with something like that.
Charlene, kind of like saying don’t worry we got everything under control. Same with AR attorney. The attorney only has info that the company provides to go on. A lot of times the attorney has info that is misleading and they end up with egg on their face. Doesn’t seem to bother them though because, they will keep at it until they finally get it right. That may involve making the mineral owner out to be the problem. Imagine that??? Remember this: The companies in play, will spend whatever they have to get a tract that is in their major plans. They will also make you spend your money to defend it…
Nancy and Steph have his stuff down and can handle any and all comers. We have some people on these sites who could do this for a living. If everyone had their knowledge 3 years ago no one would have gotten a raw deal from the oil companies on here.
Nancy, another thing since we are talking about the companies taking shortcuts. I wonder how many lost and unknown heirs have had their signatures forged on a lease. Some people would say a company would not do that…that would be illegal. Imagine that?? There is one of ours that you looked up that would not be a surprise if that happened.
How much oil and gas do they actually take out of a well in a day or what have you? what else do they take besides oil and gas? how do you find out the difference in what they actually take out and what they say they take out? we’re still waiting on one heir to sign. they are in process of taking him to court to get him to sign so they can start drilling but i was just curious about what a well produces and what all they take out.
I have found some great answers to questions on here. thanks for letting me join. 
Nicole,
I have found the ladies in the assessors office are very friendly and will share the names of the others who are paying portions of your MR as listed on your tax ticket. I was able to go into the Doddridge County records to find out more information after I had the names of the folks who actually had them properly transferred into his/her name. Be VERY aware that your tax bill needs to have YOUR name on it. If it is c/o you and your mailing address, legally it isn’t yours and you need to be working on the transfer ASAP. Mine is in my name, but I have a cousin who I am assisting who has a hornets nest because of the c/o nonsense.
Stephanie,
Message me if you run into something you might need from Ancestry. I’ll be happy to look it up. I also bought a trial to newspapers.com. I don’t think I am going to keep it, but it has been helpful finding some information as well.
Nancy,
I find it amusing that they “couldn’t find you”. You are so obviously hiding from the world…
DT,
I think forging signatures is only the tip of a very, very, very large iceberg that is starting to surface. =)
I wish this would let us comment on the individual posts! lol
Charlene, I think that if an owner (heir often but sometimes a purchaser) won’t sign a lease and survives a partition suit, the company can try harder to negotiate a lease acceptable to that owner, or wait for the Forced Pooling bill to pass. Meanwhile your lease is valid until the expiration date. They just can’t drill without all signatures. My understanding.
DL,
I came across a copy of the final ruling of Pleasants County, Civil Case 14-C-9, in which the ruling was in Favor of the mineral owners. Unfortunately, all I have is the final ruling, but you are welcome to a copy if you wish to contact me via the site email.
WJ
Charlene,
You said you spoke with the lawyer. Did you contact that person directly? Lawyers aren’t always as helpful as they could be. I have found that sometimes, other mineral owners don’t even know there are other people in the same corner. I contacted a lady who owns one of our 7 shares, she had no clue that there are wells on the site…nor that someone tried to steal her share. If you need help finding them, let me know. I am getting pretty good at stalking folks online. =) (Hopefully, his name isn’t Bob Jones)
Hi Wilson: If Nicole owns the land or part of within the pooling area and they plan to drill than she should have received a plat survey, however if she only owns the mineral rights she will never receive the survey. Nicole, we are here to help, don’t hesitate to ask for it.
Arnold,
It is my understanding, after reading WV House Bill 401, that a production company is required to notify the surface and mineral owners, prior to stepping foot on the property to do the survey. I appreciate the production company will not convey the actual survey, but the notice that is mailed, has all of the vital information that is helpful in tracking permits.
I am not an attorney, nor do I profess to understand legislation, however here is a link to House Bill 401 and if you scroll approximately 1/2 through the document to Section 22-6A-10 Notice To Property Owners, Subsection (A)(3) you will see the required notifications.
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb401%20enr.htm&yr=2011&…
Again, the notification of Plat Survey will provide great detail in assisting in locating permit information.
WJ
Thanks for the link, Wilson. I have not been notified but my sister received the notice about the survey. We only own part of minerals, no surface. They said my notification went to me, certified mail, but it didn’t make it to my house. No permit yet. For another tract, no notification but permits and wells. Maybe some companies comply better than others.
Nancy, from what I can tell, some of these companies only do what people in the know make them. Just an instance of a law breaking agent who went to “lost” son’s home for a modification. The son called me and gave some details on the signing. I asked him if the agent took him to a notary. He said no. So the signature was void without being notarized. I would say this happens over and over where the agents go back to the office and a notary signs the paperwork. Nancy your last sentence could read: “Maybe some companies lie better than others”. Lol
Imagine such things DT! There are remedies for those things, but many people are not aware of the problem so don’t know there are remedies.
Also Charlene I forgot to say about how do you know if the reported production is the actual production. My understanding is that the Mineral owner has the right to have an attorney request the numbers from the pipeline company who buys the gas from the well, or at least transports it from the well. There should be two meters, one owned by the pipeline company and one by the producer. I don’t know more than that. Some states have much better laws from the viewpoint of the Mineral owner than West Virginia.
If I may add my two cents worth, an Audit Clause is a wonderful addition to a Lease or Pooling Modification.
Below are two links, the first is a link to a State of Michigan document that gives some insight, Section H is very helpful, especially Section H(5). The second link is to the Oil & Gas Lawyer Blog that highlights the importance of an Audit Clause / Audit Provision.
WJ
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/OilAndGasLeasePR4305_183829_…
http://www.oilandgaslawyerblog.com/2011/01/the-importance-of-audit-…