Hi. My family has property in Ward County but we live in California. There's been so much activity, we want to hire a service to drive out there every few months and take a look around for us. Does anyone know where to start? We've checked with Monahans and Midland Chamber of Commerce and neither had any suggestions. Thanks
I question how beneficial someone driving out there a few times a year would be for you. I would think that best way to monitor what is happening with respect to your property is to initially utilize an online resource like the Tx RRC as to production info, new permits and new completions.
Have you leased your minerals? To who? How large is your tract? Not trying to be nosy here but the size of your asset (and to whom you are leased) will dictate the degree of "overview" that you should initially be thinking about.
From personal experience, just driving out to an area isn't very eye opening. Aside from finding the correct area (not easy in West Texas - it all looks the same), it is difficult to monitor well activity unless there is a rig on location. Active wells are difficult to monitor since access is limited.
Just my opinion on all this.
Hi, Diane:
I bet you can find a real estate agent or pumper that would do that for you for a fee. An independent pumper might be the best to try first, as those guys are out and about every day. An independent land man could be a good choice, as well, if you can find one that is not too busy. The Monahans Chamber of Commerce could probably give you some names in all three categories. I don't know if Grand Falls or Royalty are large enough to have chambers of commerce, but if they do, it might be worthwhile contacting them, as well.
If none of my suggestions work out, give your post a little time. As more people that follow Ward Co. on this site read it, you may find someone who lives in Ward Co. that will respond to you with more specific information.
Good luck!
Where is your property located? Block and section as well as abstract number would be ideal to locate it
Diane, I’m retired and live in Reeves county at Verhalen, but I was born in Kermit, raised in Wink, and worked all over Winkler, Loving, Ward, Reeves and Pecos counties…I know the area well. Being retired and worthless, I could drive over and check your property once or twice a week when I pass that way going to Odessa anyway.
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The advantage of having someone physically check the property on a regular basis…say twice a month…is that if someone stakes a ROW across the property and doesn’t contact the land owner before opening a ditch and throwing in a pipeline, plastic or steel, the land owner WILL know and not be caught unaware. They don’t have to be ex law enforcement or anything…just someone who is familiar with the oilfield and knows what they are seeing to report the activity. Just MY humble opinion.
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Gosh Lawrence, I wish you were in New Mexico! I have contacted the company above that does apparently satellite images, hope they can get me up to speed. I was contemplating actually going there for a look since I am also far away from my mineral leases and rights.
Our family has wondered about the same things for our interests in Eddy and Reeves counties. Has anyone thought about using PetroCloud or something similar for live stream video? I don’t know their installation and monthly costs for this one service. I know they provide a variety of services. I’ve wondered if something DIY could work too…possibly a Nest outdoor cam connected to a mobile hotspot. Verizon has good LTE coverage, even in the remote areas. A single solar panel with a decent battery should be able to provide enough electricity. Alternatively, you could connect to the electric lines brought in for your lessee’s operations. But going that route might cost “real money” if it required the electric company extending poles to your camera’s exact location or the hiring of an electrician to extend lines a long distance. You couldn’t place camera on lessee’s surface location, but nearby would be fine.
Don…I recommend you do just that…physically go out and check on your property on a regular but random basis so no one can predict when you’ll show up…or hire someone local to check it on a random basis every week so someone can’t put a ROW across your property without notifying and paying you for the ROW. It’s like maintaining good fences around your property to preclude misunderstandings with neighbor land owners or harried contractors who don’t check their permits.