I am getting a few offers for my minerals. Do these people making the offers have any more info than I have as far as the potential of the well that is being drilled?
Thanks
Gracie
Yes, they have quite a bit more information as that is their business and they have ways of finding out through business contact, subscriptions to activity, Landmen working for them, etc. They plan to make a profit on the offers they make. Mineral owners need to try to find out what activity is in their area by posting on the forum in the section, township and range (or abstract) in the proper state and county. Ask questions of your neighbors, search www.okcountyrecords for deeds nearby you, read the newspapers, online blogs, etc.
Without a doubt. Does a car salesman have more information than do you? For that matter, does your banker know more about interest rates than you? Probably. It’s their business to know.
Irrespective of whether you are dealing with a reputable, professional, experienced mineral buying or leasing entity, or an independent youngster in a cubicle cold calling mineral owners, you can bet they (or their boss) know more than 99.999999% of citizen mineral owners about a particular tract of land of which they are “working”.
Just remember it’s the Wild West in the oil-mineral leasing business. Usually offers are VERY LOW – always ask for a much higher price. The lower they can get it from you the more they can make when they flip it. Of course the more acres you have the better.
The lease document is not in your favor – always add your terms in an Attachment. — look at the County Records for leases with terms of benefit to the lessor. Or ask an local attorney for his advise for an attachment.
Thank you all for your replies!
The two offer letters I have received for minerals were followed up by telephone calls. Both stated they wanted to purchase my 6.0 nma. I actually have 10.5. Where is the nma that I own recorded with the actually acres shown? When I asked where they got their information they said it was off old records. Since I acquired the minerals it has always been 10.5 acres.
Thanks.
The description on the original deed is helpful. Through time, the acres may diminish due to generational fractionation as acreage is handed down. A river could have moved. You could be right and they could be wrong. Many things could account for the difference. If you decide to sell, then you really need to make sure they have the correct title chain. Right now, you can ask them for the paragraph from the title work that says they have less than you think. You in turn, may have better records.
Depending upon where you are in Grady, you may or may not want to sell depending upon future activity chances.
Where is the nma that I own recorded with the actually acres shown? [/quote]
I was wondering the same question of my own nma’s. Is this something we can call the county courthouse and find out? Thank you for any replies.
www.okcountyrecords.com You can search back to the early 1990’s for free. You have to pay a small fee to print. Older records would have to be pulled by hand by you or a landman. The clerks may or may not be able to help by phone given how snowed they are right now.
The original deed may or may not have the total gross acres by number on it. You then have to trace the title as it goes through different folk’s hands either by deed or probate. You can start with asking the landman for the reasoning behind a different number.
I called the Grady County Courthouse. They tell me the nma is figured from the legal description and they do not know how to figure it. Anyone know how to do this?
Gracie- The only way to know what you own is to have complete title done on your interest. This requires a landman to go backwards from the document(s) wherein you received your interest to the original land patent. The reason the deed or document into your name can’t be counted on as accurate is the person conveying the interest to you (or probate) can only convey what they own. So if your deed says 10.5 acres and the granting party only owned 6.0, you can only have 6.0. If your interest is HBP, you can usually trust that a title opinion has been done providing complete title for every party owning an interest. If producing, you can take the division order number, multiply times the unit size, divided by the royalty percentage of the lease, and that number will be the number of acres you are being credited with. Example: DO # is 0.00029296875. Multiply that by 640 acres, if that is the unit size and then divide by the royalty (say 3/16ths or 0.1875) and you get 1.00 net acres. There can be many other variables to consider such as the unit being a correction section or multi-unit section wells that have another calculation to add, but these are the basics. Hope this helps.
Thank you Todd. Yes, my interest is held by production and the calculation that was used with that well was 10.5 acres. The deed nor the lease show the number of acres. I thought that a bit strange. I did get concerned when the people making offers to purchase were saying I owned 6 acres. I am not selling but I did want to make sure that I get paid for the correct acres with the new well.
Thanks again.
Most leases and some deeds do not show the NMA. You will need to go back the chain of ownership until you find the true amount you own. This will usually be the TOTAL ACRES / the PERCENT actually owned – and I have normally found this information in a PROBATE. If a Will was not Probated you may need to have that done to establish your ownership. However,!!! it is up to the Buyer or Lessor to be satisfied with whatever documentation you have… it’s their money they are putting up — and don’t sign or deliver any lease or title/deed without cash in the bank from them (cashier check, money wire etc) …Too many flippers out there - after a quick buck without paying…
Don’t sell for the 6.5 nma amount until you know how much you own — the lease/deed may not list the Net Acres and if they (know ) discover you own more (NMA) they can flip for the larger number.
Put the legal description here and one of us will let(try) you know your holdings. ( don’t put the Township or Range-- to stay anonymous) Also needed is the percent you own of the legal description…
I found the division order from Anadarko who drilled my old well. I re-figured the royalty interest and it was based on 10.5 mineral acres. I am pretty sure Anadarko would have done a title opinion. I think I will wait for the division orders on the new well and since I know how to figure it I will check for the correct nma. Thank you for your help.
You bet Gracie. Remember if the new well is a multi-unit well, there will be an additional calculation and that is to multiply your current DO’s net revenue interest times the perforation percentage for the perforations in the section where you own minerals. This percentage will not be readily available as it has to be approved by the Corporation Commission.
Camino requested a 50/50 split on the original paperwork. We will see. Thanks for your help!
I get two or three offers every month it seems. I always assume the firm or person making the offer knows more than I do and plan on passing my royalty interests on to my children.
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