Yes, you need to track down the documents and make copies and send with letter to White Star requesting payment and status of the well. Make copies of all and send certified mail with return receipt. If the well is not producing, you need to send a letter demanding they release (give back) you minerals due to lack of production which basically reestablishes your right to lease again or sell the minerals.
Go to: https://www.ok.gov/tax/ > All Taxes > Click Gross Production > Scroll Down and Click Public PUN Search > Check Search by Legal and fill in Section 24, Township 21N, Range 04W and Hit Search > Select blue numbers for Williams 1-24 and Click Production History.
Clint, Friend me and I will send you some detailed info.
Clint, you may have to call Oklahoma Tax Commission and ask them to verify the status of the well. It shows ACTIVE on the OTC production history report. White Star has to legally shut it in, not just say it’s shut in. You may have to write White Star asking them to provide information on the production capability of the shut-in well in its current configuration and its plans for bringing new wells on production.
Martha - Could you forward link to production info on this well. White Star says it’s been shut in since last April. Would like to check it out. Thanks again for your help!
Thank you ! Thank you!
Good advice. White Star says they received the well in Shut-In status and Devon shut it in since last April. OTC shows active. Tax report shows production past April. Production is not big but there seems to be a disconnect. Worth tracking down.
Shut in is vastly different than plugged and abandoned from a lease point of view. If the well is shut in, then that triggers the shut in clause for your lease and they have to pay you in order to keep the lease active. Check your lease for your particular requirements. Some clauses have a time limit on them (mine), but most do not and can hold the lease indefinitely unless the well is plugged. They have a certain time frame in which to pay you. If they do not, then you can demand a release of lease. Check your lease.
Plugged and abandoned is the official end of a well.
Quite a few companies are dragging non-economic wells (what we think) out far longer than they should to keep leases active until the operators can flip or sell the leases to someone else who will drill (or not).
Also check your Division Order for the $$ amounts. Many of them can hold the money until $100 is built up or they have to pay once a year. You may think you are not getting paid, but your amounts are so small that they won’t pay you for months or only once a year. You can change that and make it $25 by signing a new division order.
There is a natural decline to wells. But that well does not look like it is behaving at all, so not sure what is going on mechanically or strategically.
M Barnes,
They are now having to increase the number of fracks to every 15 feet in some areas. They didn’t in older wells and current price of oil is prohibiting.
I looked at the Oklahoma Tax Commission figures for the Williams 1-24WH. You cannot tell anything about the production from these figures because they represent sales off the lease and not production. Someone from White Star may have tried to see what the well would do and than ended up with a few bbls in the stock tank. You can try to speak with someone at White Star about their plans but they are unlikely to tell you unless you have a working interest.
Many thanks to one and all for your sage advice graciously given from your own experience. Learning curve is steep but I’m up for the climb. This is my first experience with an existing lease being purchased by another concern so I expected some confusion in the hand off between companies. White Star shared with me today that in the transfer of information from Devon, they (White Star) had inadvertently connected the wrong ownership “deck” (or info) to this well. It wasn’t until I called last week to inquire as to status that they discovered the mistake. It will be interesting to see how they remedy going forward. Extremely grateful for this resource (in the form of all of you) as I work on my degree in “mineral rights management”! Again, many Thanks!
Hello to the Garfield County group. Do you all have some recommendations for a local landman that can track down an individual ownership?
Thanks in advance for any recommendations!
G. Win, You can find production history on the Oklahoma Tax Commission website https://www.ok.gov/tax/ , but it’s a little hard to find. If you give me the legal description of the well I’ll look it up for you and research the area.
Chris, Have you tried okrecords.com? You can pay $10 and get names on mineral deeds, oil and gas mineral leases, etc. Or, try landman Monte Hoffman phone # 405-842-1930 with Easton Land Services.
Martha that would be awesome. It is located at SW17-19N-02E Payne County.
Martha, Thanks for the name. FYI: okcountyrecords.com does not have Garfield County online so I figure my only option is someone who can head to the courthouse and lay hands on the records.
Could somebody tell me where to find the production history for a well?? The well is westside of Stillwater. I was getting checks every couple months. They would total around 2500.00 per year. There was road construction by the well. The road was closed until the construction was completed. The construction has been finished for 7 months or so. I received one check for $285.00 for all of last year. Any info would be great. GW
I agree that they are probably trying to hang onto the tract with the well, but I doubt they can re-enter that particular well and use it for a horizontal well. Location in the section is not optimal, well casing size is too small and integrity would be suspect anyway due to age of the well.
Chris, Do you have any idea where the minerals may be located? If Monte can’t do it, I know an attorney in Enid who might be able to look it up.
Chris-I go to Enid 2-3 times a week.If you give me the legal description, I will check it out for you.Bob