We have been getting some pretty lucrative offers for our interest in the Chinaberry unit operated by Comstock in the James Moss Survey, San Augustine County.
Aethon seems to have some great wells all around it. Does anyone have any knowledge of Aethon acquiring the units from Comstock?
I keep hearing that it’s just a long term hold. I call BS on that. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Aethon has approached me about putting a 20 acre drill site on the surface of my timber tract in San Augustine Cty (Galender Svy). I am trying to find out what the market is for surface damages in the area. Would you happen to know?
See what they are offering then triple it. When they balk take double.
Do you have any good contacts at Aethon? I’d like to reach out to them.
You need to determine the value of the surface, lost timber now and in future and other factors as this will be a permanent loss of use for you. Is this for wells only for minerals under your tract so that minerals have precedence? If not, then also look at charging per foot or per rod for a pipeline (ie the wellbore under the 20 acres and any other of your surface) for each well. What about fee for access road through surface outside the 20 acres? What about fee for pipelines that will cross your surface outside of the 20 acres? You should consider getting experienced legal counsel to help you negotiate a surface use agreement that properly compensates you. It will be well worth the cost.
TennisDaze-Thank you so much for your response. I have a fair amount of experience with negotiating oil and gas leases and surface use agreements and we have experienced counsel. I have two sources that have negotiated surface damages in the range of $50,000/acre in this area. Aethon is offering $11,000/acre. The value of the land is probably in the range of $4000-$5000 so there seems to be no direct relationship to the land value in these $50,000 deals. It seems to be more about what the market will bear. That’s my challenge. I’m trying to find a reason to come off my current offer in the interest of reaching an agreement with Aethon and avoiding potential litigation. We do not own the minerals, so that is not a factor.
This topic was automatically closed after 90 days. New replies are no longer allowed.