Murelene
Read the option language in the lease, and what is required to exercise the option. Does it require your signature on the option documents? If not, best to visit with your attorney.
I am not a big fan of relying on internet legal advice from people who have not seen the documents, and may or may not know what they are talking about.
So i read this extension thing and it says indian 1870. I have been trying to prove my Chickasaw indian heritage for a few years now. I have never seen this on any other paperwork.
S4-T6N-R2W
Does anyone know who is leasing for S4-T6N-R2W? I see activity on county records and received a change of operator filed by Conner and Winters. I talked to a Diana Wilson (no relation) in June 2017 but have heard nothing. Anyone have any guidance on this?
Alice,
BP Pooled that section in late 2017.
You should have been named in the pooling or held by an existing lease. I don’t see a lease less than a year old.
Brentwood Resources and Capstone Land took most of the leases.
Murelene, the third paragraph from the bottom of page one of your 2015 lease gives Dudley the right to assign the lease to anyone he wants, and the addendum on page 3 gives whoever holds the lease at the end of the primary term, apparently EOG, the right to extend for an additional two years for the same bonus paid to you in 2015.
By all means, see your attorney, but unless he can find fault with something else in the lease (I didn’t read ALL the fine print), it appears to me that EOG has every right to extend you for an additional two years at the old price. I am not a lawyer, but I did oil and gas title work for a major oil company for thirty years and that’s my opinion for what it is worth.
Murelene,
Very basic…
An oil and gas lease is more of a sale than a lease.
You basically sold the property with a down payment up front with the rest to be paid based on a percentage of the sale of the goods produced from it. If they don’t produce any product in 3 years, the property is returned to you. This is called the primary term (in your case you approved them to extend it “if they chose to do so” for an additional 2 years). If they start producing it then goes into the secondary term, which is as long and that well is producing as a commercial well. This means it can hold the lease “forever”.
This is “standard” and has been for 125+ years. Lessee (land agents, operators) have been selling, assigning, and transferring leases for the same amount of time.
This is not happening to 300 people. The assignment of leases is happening to hundreds of thousands of people.
For most of the counties, the clerk records can be researched on okcountyrecords.com
“Inherited” does not necessarily pass clear ownership to the heirs. I suggest probating your father’s estate in Oklahoma to complete the process to ensure you are paid on the production.
Murelene, it doesn’t do any good to fret over what you did in 2015. You are doing the right thing now by learning, and you will do better on the next transaction. The fact is, sometimes drilling prospects go cold and don’t get drilled at all, or not within the extended term of your lease.
Your situation brings to mind the Bob Seger line: “Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then”. Or “I’m happy 'cause I’m dumb.”
Thank you Fred Morris and Rick Howell At least you pointed out some things. I am sure I am not the only one that has all these questions if this is happening to 300 people.
I inherited this from my father when he passed away. I didn’t even know I had it until Kim from T.S Dudley contacted me back in 2015. I remember my grandfather telling me how important mineral rights were and to never sell them. They just get passed down from generation to generation. M Barnes has been so helpful with all this.
I am coming to Oklahoma in July-Aug to not only see my many relatives but to go to the land office there and see all this paperwork. Seems like a lot of you know about my lease paperwork that I don’t. Is it online somewhere?
Andrew the letter states the lessee is T.S Dudley then below that is EOG lease #0271098-12 but that is
I leased to T.S Dudley land Company on 4/15/2015.
This extension is for a lease to EOG resources. My original lease does not say anything about EOG resources. It looks like T.S Dudley subleased the lease which also there is nothing in the original lease about them subleasing it. I have an appointment with my lawyer on Monday who has been involved with the original lease. We will see what happens from there.
Marelene,
I’ll be frank,
You indicated your attorney was involved in that original lease. If that is correct and he recommending you entering into that agreement, I have serious doubts about his experience in Oklahoma oil and gas law. I’m not an attorney but I would have advised you to walk away from that lease as written.
Andrew is giving you good information. Unfortunately by agreeing to the 2 year option, you just learned a VERY tough ~$100K lesson.
I see many more problems in this lease other than the option. And I see indicators that you might not have marketable title on this property. When an oil well is drilled and it comes time to pay on the production, I predict your payments will be suspended until you cure the title issues.
For what it is worth, T.S. Dudley has never drilled an oil well and they have been in business at least 20 years.
They assigned your lease to EOG on 30 Sep 2016 along with 300 or so others. EOG hired them to gather those leases in their name for subsequent assignment to EOG. This is the most common method for operators to lease.
Murlene,
Check okcountyrecords.com. Do a search under your name and your dad’s. For a small fee, you can download a copy of your lease. If you have trouble, send me a message and I can walk you through it.
Martha
I forgot to say if you query by section, township and range, you have to use the format used by that county. McClain County format is like: 6 6N4W. But, you can also query on your name.
Murelene,
Here’s a link that I use to look at records for McClain County. Most of Oklahoma’s records can be found here but some counties use another system. I bought the lowest priced package for $10 a month, but you can cancel at anytime.
Thank you Rick for being honest. I have hired an Oil and gas law firm so we can get this all straightened out. I was the sole heir to my fathers estate.
I just found out my position at work is being eliminated so I took an early retirement and will have plenty of time to learn all about this going forward.
If you can swing it, OK-NARO has an upcoming convention that will have numerous educational opportunities.
Sign up quickly if you want the discounted room rate at the Skirvin. It is a Hilton if that makes any difference. I asked if there were better rates for AARP or AAA and the NARO rates were the best.
This year’s OK Chapter of NARO is May 2-4 in OKC at the Skirvin hotel in downtown. The forms are on the naro-us.org site on the OK chapter page I think. Just signed up last week. It is super helpful for a mineral owner that wants to understand what is going on.
Hello Murlene, I second Rick Howell’s suggestion to attend the upcoming NARO convention. It’s really designed to help owners like us understand more about this complex business. An excellent opportunity to learn and to network with other owners and people that you interact with on this forum. Welcome, and hope you can make it!
Murelene,
It is mostly held in the Tulsa and OKC metro area. There is a National Convention that will be held in the fall in Denver. I’m biased, but I think the Oklahoma convention would better serve your needs. In the next 10 days or so, there will be some more changes to the events and agenda than what is current published.
There is some good info posted here under “Mineral Help” on the banner above. Link
This Link will take you to some info on the OCC page on pooling, but look at the bottom for other links.
Also take the time to look at these. Link
Thank you for the invite. Where is this convention being held?