Eagles Road Oil
Well Proposal, Williams 1-18
All of Section 18-T07N-R02E, Pottawatomie, OK
Lot 3 (a/d/a NW/4 SW/4, 40.34 acres); Lot 4 (a/d/a SW/4 SW/4, 40.54 acres); a/d/a W/2 SW/4
My mother in law received a certified letter from Eagles Road Oil asking to lease/assign her interest for $50 per net mineral acre, delivery an 81.25% net revenue interest with her retaining 3/16 royalty or 18.75% proportionately reduced royalty interest
or
asking her to pay this enormous amount
Anyways.... my MIL doesn't even know if she has the mineral rights. Her mother talked about leaving her mineral rights but as far as I know, there is no paperwork
My husband was asked to investigate thus why I'm here.
Any help, tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Nicole
I received the same offer. I feel it's a bit low. Interested to see what other people think.
If your mother in law's mother owned minerals at the time of her death, and there was never a probate on the estate, then the people running title would have vested your mother in law with a child's share of the estate per the law of intestate succession in the state of Oklahoma. Paperwork would not have been required for them to vest your mother in law. Paperwork may be required to be paid on any production from the well.
If there was a will but not a probate done, I would suggest that a probate be done on the estate.
Any idea how you find out If there were mineral rights passed down? She passed away in California and my MIL resides in California.
My MIL's mother died like 20 yrs so not sure where to go with this and my MIL isn't the one who would know. The woman who was in charge of her estate has also passed away.
Is there any harm in her signing the papers and seeing what happens?
Thank you
I am not an attorney, so I refrain from offering legal advice. I can say that if I didn't know what I owned, I would check the title and verify my interests, but I have the means to do so readily available to me.
I can also say that I have seen plenty of others that signed OGL's on a speculative basis and there were no meaningful repercussions, just make sure there is either a stricken the warranty clause or no warranty clause in the lease. Be aware that in the event that you do not own an interest that you could be asked to repay the bonus monies.
In your case, at $50 per NMA it is not likely to be worth hiring a landman to verify your interests at this time. If the well hits, then you may need to do so later or obtain a copy of the title opinion that the operator will likely do on the well.
In lieu of running title yourself, ask from those making the offers to see the pertinent portion of the ownership report showing your interest and any title requirements that may be attached to your ownership.
OR
You could wait till pooling and elect under the pooling. This is generally the safest option and the most risk adverse while still ensuring you obtain a fair market value for the lease and providing you some basic protections that a blank non-negotiated lease will not give you. The major downside is if they back out of drilling the property before they make it to pooling, you will miss out on the bonus monies.