Also, make sure that you have your name and address and the probate or title documents filed in the county courthouse where minerals are located. Landman start there when they are leasing for an operator or an interested potential working interest owner.
If you inherited, check www.missingmoney.com for the state of your ancestor to see if they have any money in suspense. If you are held by production, then you may not get any lease offers.
Just like real estate, it is all about location, location, location. Companies are interested in the right geologic formations which will lead to economic payouts. The oil and gas business has had many, many cycles over the years, so patience is required if you want to hang onto the minerals.
Read the Mineral Help tab above as it is a good primer on the business.
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In general, oil companies will approach you if they think your property has enough minerals to be economically extracted. Kind of a situation where if itâs there, they will come knocking at some point.
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Youâre really at the mercy of the Operator in your area. If they decide to increase production on rights you own, a Landman will contact you with a lease offer. As others have pointed out, draft leases are never favorable for the mineral owner so itâs good to have an experienced attorney review it. This forum is a good resource for knowledge and experience. Whether or not an Operator will start exploration is hard to say. With the price of oil down and a slowing economy, it is less likely for them to seek new permits. The US became a net exporter of energy not long ago so there is already a risk of overproduction. The Operators really want an increase in demand and what weâre seeing right now is the opposite. It can change quickly so you just have to wait to see what will happen.
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Thank you, Mr. Garner. I see how my question may have been interpreted to be a political statement. However, I promise, that was not my intention. I truly thought this meant there would be more drilling. I appreciate your drilling economics 101 lesson. I can be patient. I just want to be well informed so that I donât let more time pass if there is more I can/should be doing with this gift my father passed to me. 100+ years ago this land was tapped and produced crude only. It has two capped wells on it. I donât know how accurate my information is but I was told the contract may have run out before the oil and a lower shale was never reached to check for natural gas. Could this be possible? If so, do you know how I might be able to find out who drilled in the past and why they stopped? If they, in fact, didnât have the technology back then to check for gas?
Thank you again. Sincerely
Thank you to Steveco, Aggie, and Barnes as well. This is all very helpful information. I will definitely take your suggestions and try to learn from your experiences. If you read my last reply and happen to think of anything else that might help I would love to hear from you.
You can use the GIS map link above to zoom into your acreage. You can search by location and find the old operator. Oil was king back in the day. The âwhyâ would depend upon the operator. Gas might not have been as economic back then.