New Lease Offer Letter

T145N/R99W Sec 9

Just got a letter indicating an offer of 5Y / $1500 / 19%. The property has been unleased for several years… not sure why the sudden interest. Can anyone share any thoughts or advice?

(I posted this as a reply to another topic… should’ve made it a new topic here, I guess… sorry for duplication!).

There are increasing permits in 145N-98W, so someone may be trying to get ahead of the curve in 99W. Personally, I would not go for the 5 year. My max is three years. Suggest you get an attorney to review the draft lease as it will need changes. There are several groups leasing in the township so you may get more offers.

Thanks…

I now see there is increased activity in 145-98W. I don’t have a lease in-hand yet, just an offer letter. They are also offering 3Y/$800/19% on the same acreage with a 2-year extension option (I’ve never had one of those before…)

We also have a bunch of other sections in that township that were previously leased, (1/2 of 21, 23,29,31, and 35) so when the last lease encompassed all of them at once, we were concerned about Pugh clauses and the like… but I’m not sure it’s such a big concern on this smaller piece… but I don’t see any spacing/drilling units defined up there yet, (at least for S/9) if I’m looking at the map right.

Ah well… time to re-contact a bunch of relatives who own pieces of this… and I guess the holidays are a good time for that. Unfortunately the cousin who held the largest share has passed and I’m not sure who is negotiating for his trust at this point… in the past all the relatives have just asked for the same terms that he got, and it’s worked out pretty well… and those leases got checked by a lawyer.

Never lease different sections on the same lease! Glad they expired. You have have identical leases, but put each section on a different lease. You were right to be concerned.

I never take the extension option. All the balls are in their court on those. To me, it implies that they do not have a clear line of site on a drilling time frame, so I won’t accept the option. I just saw one at 20 years which is very bad for the mineral owner.