Hi - I received an Amendment of Oil & Gas Lease, amending an agreement originally executed in 1895 on the Marcellus Shale Formation in Wetzel County WV. This is the first that I am learning of this land and lease.
The Amendment indicates a 20% royalty of the gross proceeds. From what I can tell visually on the map of the parcel, there are no wells currently on the parcels.
I am unsure of next steps.
The owner of the land according to the https://agdonline.maps.arcgis.com/ is Coastal Forest Resources. Is land ownership different from Mineral rights?
Surface ownership is different than mineral rights. You can contact a landman or attorney who works in the area who is familiar with going rates to advise if it is a ‘fair deal’.
Ok, understood. You can search for a landman in WV in the public AAPL database here There is also a directory of all kinds of service providers who support NARO here.
FWIW, a lease that old is likely filed in its entirety in the county records and you should be able find it online yourself. It will give you a better picture of your starting point. There is a link on this page here. If you are only able to sign an amendment, your negotiation position is not strong, depending on what they are asking for. You may be able to ‘crowd source’ guidance in this forum enough to help. There are a lot of great people with a wealth of experience willing to help. It helps to include as much information as possible in your requests. Feel free to reach out!
If you can provide the total acreage, name of the lessor on the 1895 lease I can be of assistance here.
The amount/ac on a mod is going to be low. If you own a decent amount of Net Acres in this lease, 20% Gross is the best you will see in Wetzel County.
I have roughly 40 leases and mods in Wetzel County, and have never cracked 20% Gross.