I have been approached by a landman concerning an oil & gas lease that I am possibly the mineral rights holder, due to a relative that is deceased. How do I find out if (in fact), I am the mineral rights holder?
First step would be to go the courthouse and see if you can research the ownership on the block(s) in question. Not an easy thing to do if you aren't familiar with the process / terminology et al.
Some counties have data on line (usually for a fee)
Of course, you can always hire a land broker to do this for you - but that can get costly quick.
Have to figure that the landman / his company have already run title to find out all the mineral owners.
Hi Quinton, I am a land broker and yes it can get expensive depending on where your minerals are located and how many mineral transactions took place before your family purchased the minerals. If your minerals are in Oklahoma I would be glad to discuss what it would take to run your minerals. Most times the oil company that is drilling or leasing has already run your minerals and most of the time they are correct in their numbers. I would not recommend spending the money on having them run unless you think their numbers are incorrect or they are saying there is a title problem. I have ran into some cases where they were incorrect, but not often. Hope this helps.
Quintin, I’m a CPL AAPL Landman. Get the complete legal description and name of the party through which you may be an heir. Ask where there is a legal instrument causing him to believe you are an heir, ie a probate, affidavit of heirship, etc.
Once you have that information the county clerk or court clerk in particular county should be able to assist you further. Also, decedent’s date of death and county. Since this Landman wants to lease your purported potential interest he has a lot of info. Kindly request info above from that person. Let me know what happens.
Retain all correspondence and contact info.
Hi, Quinton -
Rock Man and Darla Ragland are correct, preparing a Title Runsheet can become very costly very quickly. It can cost several thousands of dollars to prepare one for each Mineral Tract.
Title Runsheets are what Oil & Gas Attorneys use to prepare Title Opinions on Mineral Tracts. The preparation of Title Opinions can cost several thousands of dollars as well.
The most cost effective way that I am aware of to obtain Title Runsheets and any Title Opinions covering your interests is to include a Provision in your Lease requiring that the company provide you with any that they prepare, have prepared or obtain.
Here is an example of that style of Provision:
It is agreed and understood that Lessee shall furnish Lessor, within a reasonable time following receipt of a written request from Lessor, at Lessee’s expense, with any copies of Landsman’s Title Run Sheets, Abstracts of Title, Title Certificates, Drilling Title Opinions, and/or Division Order Title Opinions together with any supplements to same covering all or any part of said land.
The company may insist that their Title Opinions are proprietary, but they can at least provide you with that portion of any Title Opinions that discusses your interests.
If this is the first time you have ever leased your interests, there are several additional Provisions you should consider adding to your Lease.
If you will accept my invitation to become A Friend on The Forum, I can send you those under a more private cover.
Hope this helps -
Charles Emery Tooke III
Certified Professional Landman
Fort Worth, Texas
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