I thought the maximum size for a unit for an oil well was 40 acres, unless the state gave some sort of okay to forget the rules bypass.
The reason I ask is because right in the middle of our land is an oil well that I checked the P4s on and it shows it produced a lot of oil a few years ago, and my aged/disabled mother who really should be in a nursing home and have her affairs looked after by someone she trusts did not check her RI checks which should have been for an undivided .1275 interest. Instead she was getting 1/16 with no other owners around and the damn well located approximately 200 acres away from the North, South, East and West property lines. I was off serving our country at the time and did not find out about this until after I got back and would like to get some other's feedback before I hire a mad dog lawyer that has an office assistant hiding in the can to serve the company officers with papers every time they think they are getting away for the solitude of a dump. (As you can tell, I am a little peeved at the way this company ran roughshod over a 92 y.o. woman, who herself was an Army Nurse Captain in WWII and was with a medical unit that was attached to Third Army.
Your information is a bit vague/conflicting: you state her interest to be 0.1275 then say her check detail is 1/16 (0.0625), was that supposed to be 0.125 rather than 0.1275? That being the case of 0.125 it is suspect of their being an outstanding 1/2 of the royalty to some 3rd-party interest, not an uncommon occurence in mineral titles. Contact the oil company/operator and request a copy of the Title Opinion/Division Order before you spend money at the lawdawgs. Also, say the well is located "200 acres" from the property lines: acres are a unit of area, not distance.
It is my understanding that every oil field play has its own rules. For example - some oil plays state the maximum unit production acreage is 160 acres, others 640 acres,etc. Find out what shale or oil play they are drilling - for example - bonesprings in texas is an oil play with its own field rules. Field rules for each formation have different defined oil unit production units. To make it more complicated - horizontal or vertical drilling within an oil play also are defined differently.
I would suggest contacting your states oil authority (like the Texas RailRoad Commission) and ask them what the field rules are for the formation they are drilling. They should be able to tell you what the production unit will be. They should also be able to help you identify what formation or oil play is being drilled.
Hope that helps..
Folks, don't confuse spacing field rules or statewide spacing with pooling. Two different things. Pooling comes about generally from the pooling provision of your lease. Drilling units and proration units have no effect on the leases, per say. It has to do with sufficient unassigned acreage and allowables based on acreage. The first key is to see what your lease provides for.
http://www.mineralrightsforum.com/profiles/blogs/the-basics-of-pooling-and
Jack,
What state?
Did your mother get a spacing order? If not, if you are in Oklahoma, call OCC and ask what the spacing is on. Each sand may have a different spacing. The oil company has to have proof that the sand or shale is able to produce in paying quanity and present it to OCC that they will space the well on 40 acres in certain sand. If the oil/gas isn't good, it may be a 80 acre spacing.
Check with the oil company as they will probably be able to tell you who owns the other 1/2 of the minerals under the land. Lets say, your mother sold 1/2 of her interest in 160, she only has 40 acres left. That could be why she is only getting 1/2. If she hasn't sold it and did have the whole, then you need to head to the county clerks office and see what took place.
Virginia,
He has Texas minerals according to his profile.
I was correct when I said the unit is marked on the plat as 40 acres and is located (I had to redo the map using a triangle with a scale) and it is 140 acres on each side from the boundary of the unit the well is in to the fence line, and yes our mineral interest is 1/8th but she is only getting 1/16th and I would like to no who is getting the other 1/16th.
In other words <-140 ac to fence line (40 ac oil unit in the middle) -> 140 ac to other fence line.
JACK
Call the oil company and find out.
If the well is spaced on 40 acres and she is to get 1/8, and no one has sold any of the minerals, something is wrong.