My children own mineral rights in Blaine County under a unitized lease and we are trying to determine their value. Offers seem to have tripled in the last 2 months. Is there public information available such as natural gas reserve studies on Blaine County? Secondly are spacing units determine only at the time of drilling? For example if Continental has filed for relief on drilling and spacing units, do they have to disclose this kind of information with the regulatory commission?
Has anyone had good luck with the online buyers to determine value? It seems they would have to have some of this type of information to make a reasonable offer. If not, then can a professional be engaged to determine a fair market value and if so what would that type of service cost?
The spacing units are public information. Some were set many years ago for vertical drilling and many are being reset for horizontal drilling. Each section will have its own spacing which are in the OCC dockets. Yes, they must go before the Corporation Commission and state their case. If you want to share the particular section-township-range, then I can look up the relevant case numbers and you can look them up.
Blaine has both natural gas, condensate and oil reserves. I am not aware of any public studies. Each oil company has their own and they aren't sharing exact numbers. However, you can glean a good bit of information from their annual and quarterly reports. Take them with a grain of salt. They are for investors. The good ones for Blaine County are Continental Resources, Newfield, Marathon Oil, Devon and Cimarex to name a few.
"Value" is a willing and informed seller agreeing on a price with a willing and informed buyer. Unfortunately, the buyers are much more informed than the sellers. The value the buyers offer is quite often way below the actual value just to see if someone will take it. The value in today's dollars is probably much lower than the actual value of the additional wells and additional reservoirs that will be drilled in the future. Portions of Blaine county are the hottest in the country right now, so proceed cautiously. Offers are flying. Many of us in Blaine are holding onto our acreage as the potential is high as oil and gas prices increase.
Friend me with the blue icon if you wish to discuss further. I neither buy nor sell. I can give you some general guidelines.
Operators do not have to disclose reserve calculations in general. You will see some reserves figures and calculations being presented as evidence in some OCC hearings especially to support increased density applications. Some information can be gleaned from these exhibits but it is hit or miss. Buyers and sells of mineral interests do not have access to this information unless it is public. Buyers and sellers in the oil and gas business have access to many sources of information about current prices for minerals. The landowner who is not in the business is at a big disadvantage. Competition can help landowner. By getting competing offers from willing buyers, the landowner can have the best chance to get a good price. The option of employing a landman to help is not usually the best option. Anyone with current knowledge of the area may also have conflicts from their other clients.