My personal opinion is that the lease agreement would not be seen. When we as a family receive a lease offer, we go to our Powers Lake, ND attorney and have her look it over and add/subtract, what she feels is right. We then sign according to her changes and our wishes. I don’t think they are listed in a courthouse though? I might be wrong. Our lawyer is Amber Feisel and she’s up todate with what is needed on oil mineral leases.
Our family minerals are in Burke county. 161Township, Leaf Mountain area. We are a year into a 4-year lease right now. We were given a pretty good offer, royalties, etc. As a family we have close to 500 mineral acres total.
If you want to scroll through the Confidential Oil well list, go to Confidential Well List (nd.gov) and you can see all the wells that ‘might’ be drilled. Some have dates. But look for your township, range and section to see if there’s anything close to you. This is a free site.
I generally just sign up for the minimum period as I only need occasional access. The counties are no longer on the same service
It is true that the bonus money is not on the lease, but that is why I visit this blog as many of us post the per acre bonus amount. Others will do so if asked. Another source is what the government is getting for its leases.
Years ago, I got an offer purporting to unilaterally impose a confidentiality requirement. Yeah, right. I responded that I never agreed to that and that I had the right to shop my property.
Leases or memorandum of leases are filed in the county courthouse where the minerals are located. Some states and counties have their files online and others do not. The bonus amounts are not recorded.
I’m have acreage on the east side of 162-96. I know after talking with the landman that there’s interest in 162-93, 162-94, 162-95 and the few open sections not HBP in 162-96. In my opinion things are just starting to heat up again.
Thanks! Contact was made by a different Bismarck outfit from Northern or Dakota. So there are at least three players in this close area. I guess this is the usual situation?
Is there a feeling that they make agreements among themselves to split up who they contact?
I am under the general impression that the land men are competitors, but the oil business is somewhat lawless so who really knows. It is likely that there is only one oil company which wants this area and that the land men are hoping to flip to that company.
They likely start out by waiving a few lowball dollars around hoping some mineral owners are desperate for some cash. I think some are tired of dealing with me, so thought my sister would be a softer target. They are so wrong about that.
In looking via NDRIN (thanks, Mary_Beth!) at leases recently filed, I see that almost all in 162 94/93 are from Northern Energy, Energy Land Services, or Dakota Energy Partners.
I’m wondering where the other counties that pulled out are filing their lease information. I always believed the best place was a county courthouse to inform the public with information about past leases and documentation.