Hi! Newbie here, living in Seattle. My grandmother owned property in Goshen County which she sold in 1947 but retained 50% of the mineral rights. My mother inherited the rights and passed them on to my brother and I in 2015. We have 600 acres (equivalent) in Township 20N Range 62W and Township 20N Range 63W. Mom had leased it in 2010 for 10 years at $50 per acre and 12.5% royalties. It expires in March and the company (Charter) is offering the same terms.
Late last summer, another company, Elk Mesa Energy, notified us that they were applying in October for drilling in both areas, but we’ve hear nothing since. In looking at the March 2019 heat map here on the forum, leases in a few sections in the 2 areas were going quite a bit higher than $50. I admit I know very little and am not sure how to proceed in ensuring we’re getting fair value, especially if we’re locking in a 10-year period.
A quick bit of advice: never lease for 10 years or 12.5% royalty. Typical leases in this area are going to be 3-5 years with at least a 1/6th royalty. I would recommend having an oil and gas attorney licensed in Wyoming review these and the other lease terms.
Below is a well map for these two townships. A common trend in Wyoming is for operators to file numerous permits to drill because that ensures their ability to be the operator for the lands and they are relatively easily to renew. In other words, there are thousands of permits that will likely never be drilled (or at least not in the near future). This appears to the case for this area. However, there is enough speculative value that you should be able to find a decent lease offer.
