I have owned McKenzie County, ND mineral rights since ~1999. 57 wells in a couple different sections. My grandfather’s trust owns the same wells, but a greater interest. The trust has collected 4 Lease Bonus payments in the past.
I have signed Division Orders and received payments from 4 different companies. But I have never received a Lease Bonus, or even seen a Lease. I have only received royalties.
Should I have received similar Lease Bonuses since I own the same property as the trust, and where can I find the terms of these leases?
Thank you in advance for any help you can give me!!
I inherited minerals in a tract where a company was drilling across my tract without leasing from me. Later I learned that the records kept by my deceased relative were not very good. All I own is a non-participating royalty interest (aka an NPR or an NPRI). Additionally, a now-deceased relative had signed some incorrect deeds, creating a title cloud. It doesn’t sound like this is the issue in your case; however, I just thought I would mention it for you to be aware of.
It is possible that the acreage was leased before you inherited and still continues to have production, so no more leases. Also possible that you were force pooled. The best thing is to contact each of the operators and ask for the division order analyst for your wells. Have your owner ID number and section, township, range and well names ready so they send you to the right person. Tell them that you are trying to complete your records and you need to get a copy of the lease or pooling order that controls your royalties. It is possible that you have only non-participating non-executive rights which means the main trust gets the lease bonus and you just get the royalty portion. Division order analysts can be quite helpful if you are very polite. I usually ask for a copy of the paragraphs from their Division Order Title Opinion that pertain to my acreage.
The map on MineralIQ has helped me understand this issue of benefitting from drilling on the next tract over. I have found at least one well that was not paying me who should have been! Thanks for your comment, I appreciate your input!
Thank you so much for all the information! I will call the 4 Operators and request a copy of the lease. I didn’t know this was possible!
A little more info, In case you’re interested: my grandfather’s trust owns 10/1520 and I own 1/1520, which I know is a factor of 10 greater, but it seems like that wouldn’t be enough to force pool everyone else. Also, the trust received bonuses in 2013-2021, long after I acquired the same properties.
A difference might be that Bank of Oklahoma manages the oil properties for the trust so maybe they negotiate leases for the properties they oversee, unlike me?
They may not have been able to find you. Make sure that your name and contact information are properly filed in with the clerk of deeds in each county where you own minerals. A copy of the trust may also be needed.
One thing that I have found is that some operating companies seem to have a very long turn-around time. Many don’t take incoming calls at all; you must leave a voicemail message, or their website will provide an email address if you click on “owner relations”. Sometimes I can call and get a real person. Other times I have had to wait even 2 or 3 weeks for a response to my voicemail or email. But M Barnes is correct that the employees are usually very helpful and very nice too. If you can obtain a phone number or email that goes directly to the person you talk to, keep it with your records, because things do pop up from time to time.