Missed being included in O&G Leases

I'm new - discovered that 4 sections in Lincoln County where I own mineral rights were leased by two different land services, and I was not contacted. This was partially due to my failure to file probate documents until after these leases were signed - except for one of them. All 3 leases for these sections are still in force (e.g. until Jan 2017, April 2015, July 2015).

What can I expect when I call the two companies (Reagan Resources & Universal Land Services)? Can they refuse to offer me a lease? If they do refuse, what happens if they renew the leases? Any advice for me?

Thanks, Sharyn

Sharyn,

It sounds like they have leased only and there is not any drilling or production. At this time they are under no obligation to offer a lease to you. It may or may not be in your best interest to lease anyhow. That changes somewhat once a pooling application is made. If you have filed the documents correctly with the Lincoln Co then they are under an "obligation" to make an offer to lease prior to attempting to force pool you.

They can "lease" around you, but they cannot "produce" around you.

Force pooling sounds like a bad thing, but it is nothing to be scared of in Oklahoma. While the laws are not perfect, this does protect your rights.

This is over-simplifying it and all of the different situations that can be part of it. Your ownership amounts, personal financial and lifestyle, and several other things can come into play in making a decision to lease or not at this time.

Thanks Rick

Rick Howell said:

Sharyn,

It sounds like they have leased only and there is not any drilling or production. At this time they are under no obligation to offer a lease to you. It may or may not be in your best interest to lease anyhow. That changes somewhat once a pooling application is made. If you have filed the documents correctly with the Lincoln Co then they are under an "obligation" to make an offer to lease prior to attempting to force pool you.

They can "lease" around you, but they cannot "produce" around you.

Force pooling sounds like a bad thing, but it is nothing to be scared of in Oklahoma. While the laws are not perfect, this does protect your rights.

This is over-simplifying it and all of the different situations that can be part of it. Your ownership amounts, personal financial and lifestyle, and several other things can come into play in making a decision to lease or not at this time.

Can anyone tell me from this document says what was found and if anything is producing. Also does it matter where like SW or NW if its in your section? I found out by calling that I was sent division orders but never recieved them and now the company wants to verify I am entitled to royalties as to how I inherited the small tract. Well if they sent them in the first place why are they checking again? The first sale was June 27th of what I’m not quite sure, so when is the company supposed to send a division orders and a first check? The tract is only 1.25 acres? I know its small but I’ll take what I can get. Here is what I found:

Initial Test Data Test Date Formation Oil BBL/Day Oil-Gravity (API) Gas MCF/Day Gas-Oil Ratio Water Cu FT/BBL BBL/Day Pumpin or Flowing Initial Shut- In Pressure Choke Size Flow Tubing Pressure Jul 09, 2014 HUNTON 58.39-Oil BBL/Day 43-oil 47-gas 805 2862 PUMPING Completion and Test Data by Producing Formation Spacing Orders Order No Unit Size 618128 640 Perforated Intervals From To There are no Perf. Intervals records to display. Acid Volumes There are no Acid Volume records to display. Fracture Treatments There are no Fracture Treatments records to display. Formation Name: HUNTON Code: 269HNTN Class: OIL Formation Top CHECKERBOARD 2730 OSWEGO 3538 VERDIGRIS 3657 PINK LIME 3860 INOLA 4025 BROWN LIME 4200 WOODFORD 4993 HUNTON 5065 SYLVAN 5254 Were open hole logs run? Yes Date last log run: May 23, 2014 Were unusual drilling circumstances encountered? No Explanation: Other Remarks

I forgot to add its supposedly only gas producing.


Rick, will sound dumb of me, but after digging more in old files it appears that I only have a Non-Participating interest in at least one of these, which explains why I didn't get a lease offer. Learning as I go.

Rick, how do I search occeweb to find pooling orders without a case or order #, with only a land description or company name?

Nearest I can decipher it given the reformatting of the information is:

The well was tested on July 9, 2014 and is part of a 640 acre unit.

It is producing the Hunton formation between 4993' and 5065' deep.

At the time of the test it was pumping 58.39 barrels of oil per day and 805 MCF/day.

There is a spacing Order #618128 which should be locatable on the Corporation Commission Website.

A non-participating interest generally means you do not participate in the costs of drilling the well. Those costs are borne by the participating interests.

You may want to check the Corporation Commission website to see if you have any royalty payments being held in escrow. A lot of times wells are drilled and those mineral owners who cannot be located have their royalty share paid into escrow with the state. If you had not probated the estate or filed the final order, chances are the operator couldn't locate you to lease your interest. They still have to pay you, but the burden of proving ownership is now yours.