I own mineral rights in Leflore County, Oklahoma in Sec. 23-1-26...Is there any information
that would be encouraging about this location that anyone knows of?
Bob Myers
@John_Donat, I have no idea why LeFlore County has absolutely NO discussion on here? In fact I can’t find any info anywhere really & If I’m correct LeFlore county hold one of the top 4 producing wells in Oklahoma if not more. Seems like there would be much more discussion!.. can u tell me anything at all that you know?
There has been very little activity in LeFlore County. In the last 2 years, I show 1 well permitted and completed. There have been 43 wells plugged in the same tire period.
Jasper energy has a spacing and pooling application in 19/20 8N-26E so maybe things are looking up for a possible Woodford well.
Finally, someone that has information! Mr. Howell, I inherited my royalties from my great grandmother in 2009. Just the past couple of years I’ve tried to learn anything I can about the whole process. I live in Arkansas but I know where my wells are at & I have interest in 4 of them, to my knowledge only one is plugged. Now some of my questions are these Stephens Production people (whom own their own gas trucks, drilling equipment, appraisers, everything the process intells from start to finish basically), how many years do they get this lease? I know back in 2014 or around that time they drilled a new horizontal way in to one of the wells, I expected to see a monetary increase in my check but I did not. I do not get papers every year about the lease renewal? And now I’ve found out my wells are involved in the chieftain lawsuit. Does that mean Stephens Production is somehow connected to Chieftain? I believe they are the only wells in LeFlore County that are involved in that lawsuit. How do I go about finding out non bias information and advice?
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Inherited is a word often used that has meaning for different people. Was ownership transferred to you with an instrument of conveyance, such as a deed or probate order? Or are you a potential heir from the death of your grandmother.
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What does the lease say about the term? Yes, it is important to find that lease that your grandparents or great grandparents had. This is part of the Habendum Clause . Usually it is a 3 year primary term, but it will always have a secondary term contains language such as “continues so long as oil and gas is produced in paying quantities”. If they start operations in the primary term, you could be held by that lease indefinitely.
I’m not familiar with the lawsuit.
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Me. Howell,
- The answer to these questions is yes on both, I was her soul hier AND I switched the deed o legally to my name a couple of years after her death just to have everything on point.
- Now this question is where it gets hard. I have read the original deed many years ago, it goes back to my great great grandfather & I can tell you it’s not who has it now. As far as ever seeing another deed, that’s where I’m confused because I have not ever seen one. I read all of the time on here and different sites people talking about renewing their leases ect but I’ve never gotten any papers besides the court documents from 2014 when they wanted to drill the horizontal well. That’s it. That’s where I’m stuck. And if I had a say so I’d for sure let someone else try to pump my minerals just to see if there would be a different outcome. *** As for the lawsuit, I don’t know if too many people do know about it? If it weren’t for me trying to find out all of the info I could here recently I wouldn’t have known about it. I do know my wells in LeFlore county are the only ones listed in that county. But there are hundreds of other wells involved in the lawsuit. Royalty owners are owed something like 80 million on a first wave and 40 million on a second wave (don’t quote me on those numbers) the president of XTO resigned & there’s been a lot of selling & buying and changing names every since. You can see the legal documentation if you just google chieftain XTO lawsuit …
Let’s skip all the lawsuit stuff for now. That is another lawsuit in which some mineral owners were charged with improper deductions for post production gas costs. Don’t let those big numbers excite you. Unless you own a significant parcel of property, you will not realize much on this. Let’s start with the other issue. I saw your other related post. It is much more important to get into payment status and release suspended funds. Then try to collect on settlement funds due.
Exactly how did you switch this? It may only be the terminology you are using, but you can’t switch a deed. A deed is an instrument of conveyance from one person (or entity) to another. It is not switched or changed. A subsequent (correctly created and executed) document is filed which will effect the transfer to the subsequent order.
A “title chain” Is the string of all of the documents that show each step of the transfer.
Was your grandmother’s estate probated in Oklahoma and did you place an order of distribution with an inventory showing the description on file with the LeFlore County Clerk’s office? Was it in a trust prior to her death and a trustees deed was created/submitted to transfer these to your name?
I don’t know where you could have seen that, but I think you misunderstood something. This is what it says on the XTO website.
Q: What happens when the interest owner of a property passes away?
A: Please contact our Division Order Department at the main toll free number. Upon notifying XTO Energy’s Division Order Department, XTO will send you a letter of instruction, outlining the documents necessary to transfer the interest to the proper heirs or devisees.
Although I cut some of the text out of it this is the relevant part of the other guidance there.
Q: How do I report a change of ownership A: XTO Energy will not process a change of ownership without receiving the request in writing, accompanied by a recorded conveyance document from the record title owner. This conveyance must clearly describe the property to be transferred, along with the conveyance recording information for the county in which the property is located.
Nothing that you do with XTO changes the ownership of the property. That has to be filed at the LeFlore County Clerk’s office. Anything you do at XTO only changes the ownership of that portion of the distribution to be paid to the subsequent owner.
So, before we go forward with the other stuff, let’s work on the ownership some more. What exactly did you do to transfer the ownership (switch the deed in your words)?
What was your grandmother’s name?
What was her state of residence at her death.
Was there a will involved? Or previous conveyance (deed with life estate, transfer on death deed)? Or placed into an entity prior to death? (trust, llc)
If a will, was that will probated in the state of Oklahoma?
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Well I have 40 acres I want to sell. If you hear of anyone, please let me know. I spoke to 3 companies and they said not interested. No production in my area.
Ok Mr Howell, I am going to try to answer these questions the best that I can. First I’ll say I’m assuming I’m looking at a different website than you on XTO. The website I was reading was chieftain-xto.com. I do agree with the small amount that’s probably owed. So moving on to the important issues, I think I need to go back and make sure you know I said at the beginning of this that Stephens Productions (based out of Ft Smith) is my leaseholder, not XTO. I’ve never even heard of them until recently. My grandmother, Ina Faye Resch died in Arkansas, nothing was in Oklahoma as far as legal paperwork all of that was in Arkansas (although for many years she lived on the land where the current mineral rights are). As far as a will, believe you me I wish I could answer that question, probate- I wish I could answer that as well. That is a big bunch of family mess and I’ll probably never know the real truth. I do know I was supposed to be her soul hier. A year or so after she passed away I asked Stephens Productions what they needed from me to change thier records, I remember my lawyers drawing up the papers & me signing them & turning them into Stephens Productions. I know I did not take anything to LeFlore county & have them file anything there. I’m assuming that rule should apply no matter what company I’m dealing with? I wish I could remember more but that was 8-9 years ago. I have however received checks on a yearly basis from Stephens Productions (in my name) after turning in all of that paperwork to them. So, how was I supposed to know I needed to change all that legal documentation with xto, a company I’d never heard of? How do I go about getting access to at least read the current lease?