I recently was contacted by oil and gas company and was informed I inherited royalty interest in properties in WV. Upon researching, I discovered that same company signed lease with other interest owner in 2018. Am I entitled to any monies owed if im an owner of same undivided property?
It is quite common to have multiple owners in a well or in a mineral tract. It all depends upon what the title chain looks like and who inherited what percentage.
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Thank you for your reply but perhaps i can expand a bit on question. Another royalty interest holder of same properies (he owns 2/96 of all the gas and oil produced in subject properties) signed a lease with oil drilling company for property that i have interest in and yet i was never approached. Am I entitled to any payment after the fact? It was a three year lease (signed 2019) and has expired w/o action taken, and now the same company is approaching me to sign lease now.
Probably no after the fact payments due you. If your name and address were not filed properly in the county courthouse, they could not find you. Or the leasing agent only had so much money to work with and he/she used up the allotment before he got to your name.
If you have not leased before, highly recommend that you find an attorney to review the lease as the drafts are not usually in the mineral owner’s favor.
It’s unlikely. Leasees give a signing bonus plus a royalty. It sounds like they leased his property but never drilled, hence never paid a royalty. This happens often. If they drilled, in WV they can force pool you, but that doesn’t sound like the case. To be sure, google WV Unclaimed assets and search on your name and your aunts. Actually, here’s the link - https://www.wvunclaimedproperty.gov
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