Question for anyone....
If person A owns the surface and person B owns the mineral rights...and an oil and gas company wants to dispose of salt water in an old well....and pays oh lets say $500 per month for the first 250 barrels per day.
Does person A, the surface owner, or person B the mineral right owner get that money?
Thanks!
Salt water disposal is a surface owner issue. If you are the surface owner, do your share of research before you sign on.
If a salt water disposal is accepted by the surface owner, and the well had been a 1280 spacing, are the mineral owners of the remaining area within that 1280 unit, pretty much out of luck as to leasing their minerals when their current lease expires? Or does this hold them up from getting released at the expiration date, if no other drilling is pursued?
Leases are Held By Production but not by Disposal :)
Salt water disposal is a surface estate issue and shouldn't affect the mineral estate to the best of my knowledge.
Dear Mr. McBrier,
Since on your profile you noted that your interests are in Texas, I will limit my discussions to Texas.
Absent any lease provision to the contrary, the Operator has the absolute right to dispose of produced salt water from any well located on the landowner's surface over which the producing well is producing. They do, of course, try to compensate the surface owner in some manner.
If the salt water is produced off lease, then there would have to be a permit approved for a commercial SWD well and salt water agreements entered into, etc.
There is production on our land that has water that is disposed of. There is also water from neighbors that is piped over and disposed of. The off lease water has generated a SWD lease and is what is generating the fees.
So..the fees from the off lease water should go to the surface owner?
Buddy Cotten said:
Dear Mr. McBrier,
Since on your profile you noted that your interests are in Texas, I will limit my discussions to Texas.
Absent any lease provision to the contrary, the Operator has the absolute right to dispose of produced salt water from any well located on the landowner's surface over which the producing well is producing. They do, of course, try to compensate the surface owner in some manner.
If the salt water is produced off lease, then there would have to be a permit approved for a commercial SWD well and salt water agreements entered into, etc.
Best,
The surface owner will participate in compensation for a SWD well on their property. Though the degree they participate varies widely and so surface owners should be cautious before signing off on an agreement.
A mineral rights owner will not participate in any compensation for SWD. Though as Mr. Cotten states the "operator", ie... the working interest owner (owners) of the well, will participate in both compensation for disposal and in the operating expenses if their well is used.
Dear Mr. McBrier,
In Texas, yes that is the case. The surface owner is a term that has been misinterpreted by many people. The surface owner is not the owner of the uppermost portion of the earth;s crust. He is the owner from the center of the earth to the heavens, EXCEPT for the minerals if they have been severed.
The surface owner owns the formations that once held the minerals, but not the minerals themselves, for example.
There is production on our land that has water that is disposed of. There is also water from neighbors that is piped over and disposed of. The off lease water has generated a SWD lease and is what is generating the fees.
So..the fees from the off lease water should go to the surface owner?
Buddy Cotten said:Dear Mr. McBrier,
Since on your profile you noted that your interests are in Texas, I will limit my discussions to Texas.
Absent any lease provision to the contrary, the Operator has the absolute right to dispose of produced salt water from any well located on the landowner's surface over which the producing well is producing. They do, of course, try to compensate the surface owner in some manner.
If the salt water is produced off lease, then there would have to be a permit approved for a commercial SWD well and salt water agreements entered into, etc.
Sooo, expertly, put!
Buddy Cotten said:
Dear Mr. McBrier,
In Texas, yes that is the case. The surface owner is a term that has been misinterpreted by many people. The surface owner is not the owner of the uppermost portion of the earth;s crust. He is the owner from the center of the earth to the heavens, EXCEPT for the minerals if they have been severed.
The surface owner owns the formations that once held the minerals, but not the minerals themselves, for example.
Best,
William McBrier said:There is production on our land that has water that is disposed of. There is also water from neighbors that is piped over and disposed of. The off lease water has generated a SWD lease and is what is generating the fees.
So..the fees from the off lease water should go to the surface owner?
Buddy Cotten said:Dear Mr. McBrier,
Since on your profile you noted that your interests are in Texas, I will limit my discussions to Texas.
Absent any lease provision to the contrary, the Operator has the absolute right to dispose of produced salt water from any well located on the landowner's surface over which the producing well is producing. They do, of course, try to compensate the surface owner in some manner.
If the salt water is produced off lease, then there would have to be a permit approved for a commercial SWD well and salt water agreements entered into, etc.
Best,
so if there is an injection well and the surface owner owns the well and is operating it as an injection well, who owns the mineral rights for the land under the well? Do the mineral rights owner(s) or the owner of the well?