I have a mineral rights lease from 2010 with Chesapeake. It was a five year lease. The lease was turned over to Southwestern (I believe without pulling my records) for a short period of time and then apparently sold to Antero and they started paying mineral royalties in 2017. When Antero took over I sent an email to Antero to discuss and renegotiate the lease terms. They came back telling me my lease was reviewed the primary term will stay in effect as long as oil and gas is being produced on the lands.
The lease agreement had (what I believe is) standard language about extending the lease an additional five years which was ‘lined out’ as not part of the agreement. Once the wells were driven and started producing I have been receiving royalties.
Am I able to force them to renegotiate my lease? We have shared acreage of a little over 75 acres and although small and minute, I do remember Chesapeake could not proceed with drilling until everyone came to agreements on their leases. I have no idea who else shares this with me. Does anyone know where I might find that information?
Lots of questions I know. Also, I live in SC. I know I’d need to obtain or talk to an attorney in WV about any of this so can anyone provide me with the names of attorney in the Monogolia county area that represent solely land and/or royalty owners and not these big oil and gas companies?
Let’s start here. I’m sure I’ll have more questions down the line but if anyone can help, please provide with names/numbers/websites, etc so I can start searching for answers. I can make a trip up to WV if need be. Originally my hubby became paralyzed with something called Guillain Barre Syndrome but he is now ‘toddler walking’ so it is much easier to transport him when I go out. Thanks again.
Dear reginto,
What you are really questioning is something called a Habendum Clause, which is an essential part of the oil and gas lease.
Although there are numerous variations of habendum clauses, a typical habendum clause will read substantially as follows:
This lease shall remain in force for a term of ___ years from this date, and as long thereafter as oil or gas or either of them is produced from said lands, or on lands pooled or unitized therewith.
Find that specific clause in the existing lease and you will see that the lease has likely moved from the Primary Term of the lease into the Secondary Term of the lease.
Congratulations on having production and getting royalty checks.
Best,
Buddy Cotten
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According to the Habendum clause, once production is established, you move into the secondary term and no, you may not renegotiate the lease as it is still in force under the original terms. The county courthouse in Monongalia will have all the ownership records (hopefully). It may or may not have online access, thus saving you a trip.
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I found this site Monongalia county records
Worth a try.
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I found that and on my lease (with Chesapeake) the ‘secondary term’ is there but crossed out as part of the original agreement. I guess this is what I am basically questioning. Does another lease need now be put into place?
So you may have an issue, you may not. First, if the drilled or commenced drilling the well prior to the expiration of the primary term, then the original lease stays in effect and they do not need to renegotiate.
If they drilled or commenced drilling after the expiration of the 5 year primary term and did not renew it pursuant to terms in the lease, usually this means a payment that renews for another 5 years, then they have committed trespass, essentially producing your gas without a valid lease, and in that case you need to get a lawyer.
Really everything hinges on when they started drilling the well, which is information you can find on the permit documents on the WV DEP website. Use the API number off your checkstub and the website is pretty easy to navigate.
Previous posters may not be aware of how common it is for wells to be drilled after the lease has expired in WV, but due to poor title being done by various companies and faulty assumptions about every lease being a “5 and 5” this is a common occurrence. It has happened on 7 tracts at the company I work at and we used the leverage of a possible trespass lawsuit to get very favorable lease terms, royalties, and bonus money. Every instance of this was with leases originally done with Chesapeake. I believe the issue is they were not entirely forthcoming with information to their assignees.