What penalty is there for a surface owner who takes the minerals on his surface property without asking the mineral rights owner? How common is this problem? Are drillers required to find and notify the mineral rights owners before drilling? Any info appreciated! I'm in Maryland.
Hi, no it is not possible.
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Ask the Permianlandgirl on Kwel.com or call 432-620-8700 on 1:10 this Saturday to talk to Ray L McKim, Surface rights expert. We have had two 30 minute radio programs on this topic. permianlandgirl.org and permianlandgirl on twitter. Thanks
Please explain further what you mean by "takes the minerals." Is he physically removing something himself?
No one can drill without obtaining he right to do so from the mineral owners. The surface owner can't grant access to that which he doesn't own.
You mentioned Maryland. Is there any drilling actually going on in Maryland? That would be news to me.
Sorry, I am new to this and obviously ignorant. The land is in Maryland. There are rumors that there may be drilling permitted in the near future to the extent that it can be rigorously monitored by the MD environmental protection agency, but don't know that for fact.
This is what I do and don't know:
On digging into the land records, I found where the surface owner had in the past 20+ years, repeatedly leased the parcel to which my family has had mineral rights for decades, to gas exploration/drilling firms. I do not know that they actually drilled or removed anything. Leases ended several years ago and there is nothing current that I can tell.
So now I'm wondering: 1) is there any kind of penalty if the surface owner did not drill but merely leased the land (my mineral rights) for exploration? 2) If surface owner extracted gas or coal in the past without notifying us, is that a criminal or civil matter? 3) Aren't the gas drilling/exploration companies responsible for determining if the surface owner has the mineral rights before negotiating a lease with them?
Thanks.
I doubt you can enforce any kind of penalty on the surface owner unless you could proved he deliberately set out to defraud you or others.
I'm not a lawyer, but basically this is a Title Issue, I believe your only recourse would be to recover what was rightfully yours, again unless you could prove deliberate, intentional fraud.
Yes, Companies investigate the mineral title before they lease. Are you sure the County records are accurate? That's what the Company will go by. But, it's the Company's loss if they pay someone for something they didn't actually own so they will obtain a thorough legal Title Opinion before they drill a multi-million dollar well.
Perhaps (and this is just speculation on my part) your mineral interests do not cover 100% of the mineral estate and the leases which were taken didn't actually cover your share. That is very common, especially when the minerals have been split up through generations of inheritance.
You really need to research the records in the County Courthouse to find out if your Mineral Estate is properly documented. You should probably enlist the services of a professional, unless you are well-versed in property law.
Good luck,
Char, your last response contained a clue to what may be happening. Search the forum for NPRI (non-participating royalty interest/non-participating mineral interest). Sounds like a search of the records may show that the surface owner, who may also have partial ownership of the minerals, was granted executive rights to lease and receive bonus payments for your mineral interest.
I got a letter in the mail saying I inherited mineral rights and need to sign the lease ASAP because a company has been drilling and producting since feb. 2014. What should I do??
Thanks all for your help!! I really appreciate it. I did some digging and it appears that I have only a partial interest in the mineral rights; given your responses, I think it's likely the surface owner has the other portion of the mineral rights interest.
Vicente, I would recommend clicking on the mineral help tab at the top of the home page.
Vicente Antillon said:
I got a letter in the mail saying I inherited mineral rights and need to sign the lease ASAP because a company has been drilling and producting since feb. 2014. What should I do??
Write them back and ask HOW you came to inherit the mineral rights. In other words, make them prove that you are in fact a mineral owner. Also, if "a company has been drilling and producing" on the tract of land underneath which you own minerals, it might well benefit you NOT to lease, especially if you are an owner or partial owner of the "drill-site tract," the piece of land on which the actual hole in the ground is drilled. You are going to need to do some research. Find out if the land underneath which you own minerals is in a drilling unit of any kind, and if so whether or not the well was actually drilled on the land underneath which you own minerals. The latter is not very likely, but one would be remiss not mentioning the possibility to you.
Vicente Antillon said:
I got a letter in the mail saying I inherited mineral rights and need to sign the lease ASAP because a company has been drilling and producting since feb. 2014. What should I do??