Hey guys,
We were just given an oil, gas, mineral lease to consider. We have 20 acres in Walker, LA. Any ideas on the area and what potential it might have? I believe we're going to consult an attorney because we have no clue as to the verbiage in the agreement.
Land located at Section 31, Township 6 South, Range 4 East.
Do yourself a favor and do not just go see a local attorney. Find someone who specializes in mineral leasing or a mineral manager.
Any recommendations?
I had a friend that leased with a major operator. He brought the lease to the attorney that he had normal dealings with and ending up signing a producer 88 lease with 3/16th royalty. No good clauses and free use of everything.
After that I started to look for an oil and gas attorney in Louisiana. I wanted to find one that only worked with royalty owners and not operators. I found a few, but they mainly focused on the environmental aspect of the business or did deals with operators. Most royalty and mineral owners in Louisiana have very little acreage and it is probably not too lucrative for an attorney to only do that kind of work here.
There are many mineral managers here and elsewhere. If you go with one that only gets you a higher percentage and more bonus, then you probably could do that yourself. If you want good clauses you need to talk with someone with good leases. With that said, I have not seen an operator pay an owner to the terms of a good lease without the owner making a claim for it. It is not how their accounting systems work.
Basically unless you or a friend/family are in the business, you will not get a good lease without help. You will not know exactly how good your help was until you start getting paid and audit your production. At that time, you may find that your lease is not as good as the other guys and by then it is too late.
I know that this is not exactly what you want to hear, but it is what it is. I have audited some recent leases in Texas and if the lessor used the attorney I usually deal with over there, the checks would be 40% larger than they are getting.
Who is the lessee and what did they offer?
Thanks for all the info, I don’t have the paperwork in front of me so ill have to get back to you. It’s hard for me to determine who’s who…I believe the lease appeared to be from Strand Entergy. We’re still trying to understand the verbiage but if I remember correctly the terms were really low in terms of money…25 an acre annually and $100 + other valuable consideration initially (whatever that means)
1/5 royalty
Hey Donnelle..small world! :-) Hope all is well.
Chad,
If you send me a private message I can recommend a few attorneys.
Looking for an update...can anyone tell me if there's been any drilling activity by Strand Energy, or anyone else near our land? How would I research this on my own? Thanks!
Land located at Section 31, Township 6 South, Range 4 East.