Have any of you owners of mineral rights found an attorney to represent you in negotiations with land companies making offers to lease your mineral rights? Good article in NYTimes 12/2/2011 (online) covering lease issues with gas/oil leasing, and has interesting references to related sites. One reference is to Lance Astrella, attorney in Denver who represents mineral rights owners. I've started inquiry re 100+ acres and offer from McDonald. Seems like a group of owners would have better bargaining power (hang together or hang separately). Anyone had contact w/Astrella? Astrella has web site Astrellalaw.com, fyi.
I think that, at the very least, mineral owners should stay in contact with one another, and perhaps seek representation from one unifying attorney. Have you contacted Astrella yet? If so, how does he charge for his services in work like this?
I did talk w/Lance Astrella... seems very approachable, knowledgeable and helpful. His advice was to hold off on signing any leases, as prices seem to be rising, and wait for further developments. Keep the door open to leasing agents to future offers, but don't commit to anything now. He represents some large acreage owners in Kiowa Co. now, and would be happy to represent others in future. No charge for this advice, and didn't discuss what fees w/be. Had good advice on clauses that should be in any leases to protect owners of m/rights, so if and when its time to get serious, I wouldn't proceed w/o using him (or someone of same caliber). I'd view any fee as akin to buying insurance. And I think having a group of mineral rights owners for negotiating purposes would make a lot of sense, if there is interest in forming one, either thru this forum or otherwise. In the meantime, I don't think it would hurt for you to send an email to astrellalaw.com, outline particulars of your offer(s), and your plans w/respect to any offers and how you'd be interested in using Astrella in those plans (assuming you'd want to use Astrella). In the meantime, would hurt to stay in touch w/me and others thru this forum.
Received an improved lease offer in last few days. For details, email me @ [email protected]. Sending FYI cc to Astrella.
Linda Stewart said:
I think that, at the very least, mineral owners should stay in contact with one another, and perhaps seek representation from one unifying attorney. Have you contacted Astrella yet? If so, how does he charge for his services in work like this?
If they get enough leases they will come in and drill, if they find nothing then they will be out of here pretty quick. You can wait but I wouldn't wait too long. If they hit something good then you will be fine with various options.
Got 100.00/acre and 15% on 5 years. (Diamond)
Not real interested in making a CO attorney's BMW payment
Ken, I just read your post from 6 weeks ago. I was wondering if you were paid by Diamond per your lease agreement and on time? I have read a lot of negative things on this website about Diamond.
Thanks,
Wilson
Ken Austin said:
If they get enough leases they will come in and drill, if they find nothing then they will be out of here pretty quick. You can wait but I wouldn't wait too long. If they hit something good then you will be fine with various options.
Got 100.00/acre and 15% on 5 years. (Diamond)
Not real interested in making a CO attorney's BMW payment
They have 60 working days to pay the draft I have an acknowledgement from their back with a due date in early April. I really like Diamond I suggest you call Steve and visit with him he is a wealth of knowledge.
Ken
Some of the clauses on landmen.net: http://www.landmen.net/ClausesForms/ClausesForms.htm look pretty reasonable to me, especially after reading the NY Times articles referenced above: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/us/drilling-down-fighting-over-oil-and-gas-well-leases.html
If you have surface rights, you have a lot to protect from these guys.
If you do a google search of Diamond Resources a court case should come up in which Diamond encouraged a surface owner to try to succeed to the mineral interests under their surface. That Diamond continued to encourage the surface owner to keep trying even after the mineral owner came forward. I am not certain but I think it might be a case like my brothers and mine where the mineral owner refused to lease to Diamond and they tried other methods to obtain the mineral rights. The court case you will find by searching is not between the mineral owner and Diamond, it's between the surface owner colluding with Diamond, a falling out among thieves, in my opinion. In mine and my brothers case Diamond even obtained a lease from my brother and recorded a memorandum of lease, before they tried to alter the deal, with the counter offer being a repudiation of the lease with my brother. Then not being able to obtain leases from my brother and I, Diamond sought an emergency unlocateable mineral owner trust, after negotiating with us for 8 months and actually recording a memorandum of lease. Diamond even requested that public notice be waved, as we still have family in the area. To petition for the unlocatable mineral owner trust they had to lie, because it will not be granted if you admit you found the owners. Diamond committed fraud. There are 4 wells involved. I suggest that people only deal with Diamond in writing and that you keep everything. BTW Diamond was still trying to lease my brother and I last year (4 years later), but we weren't going to sign leases so they could sweep it under the rug. I think there are alot more stories about Diamond out there that you will not hear because Diamond finally made a decent offer to keep from being dragged though the courts in matters where they had done such blatant wrong. I wish you much luck.
If you’re in a complex ownership situation I would strongly suggest a lawyer. Once you sign a lease and Draft then they go to work to determine who "really" owns the rights if it is not cut and dry then you will have issues.
well thank you kind sir - now deleted; it's gone gone gone... well living on in the thread history below; lol
r w kennedy said:
Little blue X in the top right hand corner of your post to delete. I know it perplexed me for a little while also, looking for the delete button.
Wilsontownship said:comment removed; posted in wrong location and I can't figure out how to simply delete this sentence?!
Thanks Ken. Please keep us posted.
Was there ever a hint who Diamond was representing? I have read they often represent Continental. However, in this business, a subtle play on words and Continental may actually be Continental Land Resources who is an authorized Chesapeake broker. It may or may not matter; the gascos often use a landman firm to lease anonymously for them. Hopefully you'll have no need to pay an attorney's BMW payment!
Wilson
Ken Austin said:
They have 60 working days to pay the draft I have an acknowledgement from their back with a due date in early April. I really like Diamond I suggest you call Steve and visit with him he is a wealth of knowledge.
Ken
Our ownership was pinned down, we owned what was described in the lease. Diamond wanted to change the deal and lease fewer acres than my brother had negotiated for. It was not that he didn't own them. I think that Diamond figured that recording the memorandum of lease would remove my brothers options to lease to someone else and then they would renegotiate from a stronger position. Recording the memorandum of lease and then sending a counter offer is slander of title and setting up the emergency unlocatable mineral trust is fraud. It was not unclear to either side what we owned at the time of the lease.
Ken Austin said:
If you’re in a complex ownership situation I would strongly suggest a lawyer. Once you sign a lease and Draft then they go to work to determine who "really" owns the rights if it is not cut and dry then you will have issues.
Rumor: Pioneer Natural Resources out of Dallas, TX
Wilsontownship said:
Thanks Ken. Please keep us posted.
Was there ever a hint who Diamond was representing? I have read they often represent Continental. However, in this business, a subtle play on words and Continental may actually be Continental Land Resources who is an authorized Chesapeake broker. It may or may not matter; the gascos often use a landman firm to lease anonymously for them. Hopefully you'll have no need to pay an attorney's BMW payment!
Wilson
Ken Austin said:They have 60 working days to pay the draft I have an acknowledgement from their back with a due date in early April. I really like Diamond I suggest you call Steve and visit with him he is a wealth of knowledge.
Ken
We are in the Las Animas Arch
"The U.S. Geological Survey, using a geoscience-based assessment methodology, estimated mean technically-recoverable undiscovered continuous and conventional resources that total 495 million barrels of oil, 27.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 410 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the Anadarko Basin Province; this assessment includes the Las Animas arch area of southeastern Colorado. The province is at a mature stage of exploration and development for conventional resources. Mean undiscovered continuous resources are estimated at 79 percent of oil, 90 percent of natural gas, and 81 percent of natural gas liquids in the province"
REF: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2011/3003/
There going to make an oil play for the Miss shale
Do you have access to similar Map for Kiowa County?
Jordan stevens frazier said:
some updated infom for our area
Thanks, sure hope they find what there after.... Not sure how be a play this could be I'm just not finding the data that the geologist are looking at .... yet!
Well we signed I don't think 160 acres put us in a strong negotiation position and doubt it’s going to make us rich either.
Also CHK likes pulling their leases which Diamond says there not representing.
the geologist i have talked to call it the atoka shale. There is a company trying it in lincoln county. But there is also a map that sandridge made of the Miss play that extends over NE colorado. It might be the same zone with differnt names. One thing is for sure. SOmebody wants this acreage. $750 at the State lease sale with no well results... these companies have done their homework. The logs look great!
What logs?