we recieved a letter from a long consulting firm saying we had mineral rights in wetzel county, my husband has never lived there but his dad was born and raised there, how can i get more info on this? i have parcel numbers?
Same thing happened to me--the letter was from Long Consulting Group who says they're leasing mineral rights in Wetzel County, WV on behalf of HG Energy, LLC. They say I have a tract of land (10 parcels) within one of their proposed production areas and they want to speak with us about an oil and gas lease. I'm in the same boat as you, didn't even know I had these parcels. My Grandfater worked in WV in the oil wells, so maybe it was something he bought and left to myself and my brother.
Recently I've started hearing the name HG Energy. Their web site is here. They're newly formed (2011), but it looks like a spin-off from East Resources, which has been around for a long time, and which itself was a spin-off of Pennzoil Corporation, which was once South Penn Oil, which was the first major oil company here in WV/PA. So they have a pedigree. But that doesn't matter too much for your purposes. I can't speak to their reputation personally as I've had no dealings with them.
The only way to figure out more about the mineral interest is to go to the courthouse and do some research. If you're not close you'll have to hire somebody to do that. I'm an attorney, so you don't want to hire me to putz around the courthouse. You'll have to find a landman who can do that for you. If the landman has any questions about the title you can bring those to me. It'll be a lot less expensive for you that way.
Long Consulting Group's website is here. They look to be lease brokers. They buy up leases and do title work for oil and gas companies. Again, I've not had any dealings with them.
I recommend that you not sign the lease as-is. At very least ask for a No Warranty of Title clause and an Indemnification clause. If they balk at either of those clauses, you should be very, very wary of them.
I can give you personalized advice, as I'm a WV attorney, but you'll have to get in contact with me for that.