My mother owns interest in some property in West Virginia. In 1985 she signed a Transfer Order from Pennzoil (presumably the lease owner at the time?). This transferred "interest in oil produced from ..." to my sister. I don't understand if this permanently transfers this interest or is this only in relationship to the company who now has the lease?
Another company is requesting that my mother sign a Oil and Gas Lease on this property. Does she, in fact, still own the oil rights or does the company need to get these from my sister?
I have the same kind of question, but I'm clueless about how many legal instruments can serve as a "transfer order" and whether such legal lools differ from state-to-state in transferring ownership of mineral interests. For example, does the term "transfer order" include similar notions such as "conveyance" and/or change in "mineral title" and/or "mineral deed" ? My limited research suggests that different "leasee " oil & gas companies can require differing certification ownership by the "lessor".
Maybe there's discussion elsewhere on this Forum, which is priceless for newbies like me.
Jim Bemis
A transfer order is a document between the operator of a well and a royalty owner that is used to evidence a change in ownership of a royalty. These are issued when the operator receives a mineral or royalty deed. These are not recorded at the county clerk or registrars office. It is not a conveyance, merely an acknowledgement that a change in ownership has occurred and that all parties agree to the change.
What likely happen was your mother sold or gave an interest of some sort to your sister, sent a copy of that conveyance to the operator and the operator in turn sent both of them a transfer order.
As far as the new lease offer is concerned, it's hard to say whether your mom still owns an interest based upon the information you've provided. A trip to the county clerk's office will tell you what was conveyed to your sister, whether it was a perpetual (or term) mineral or royalty conveyance.
Thanks Jeff.
I appreciate your description of a "transfer order", which seems to be simply an informal notice from the operator that the royalty ownership has changed. In addition, my understanding is that county officials are not required to record the transfer-order document, which has no legal status for transfer of ownership.
If my interpretation is correct, I'm not clear as to if (and when and how) the county officials might be required to provide a similar notice to all parties at the time that the county offices have formally recorded a change in ownership. My understanding is that such changes are required to be recorded in the form of a revised mineral deed or conveyance, which would be supplied to both the operator and the new owner(s). (For example, the mother might retain half the ownership for herself and make a gift of the other half to the sister.)
My questions were prompted by concerns that might arise in changes of ownership within "pooled" or ""unitized" properties, including the obligations of the operators to notify "pooled" owners of changes in the operators to whom they have leased their "pooled" interests. For example, as lessor, I have long held small interests in oil production from a pooled unit , for which about 90 percent of the ownership recently has been purchased by another operator, whose parent corporation is based in another country.
A followup question would be regarding the obligation of the operator to notify the counties and lessors regarding such changes in the operator's ownership.
Thanks again for your help,
Jim
Jeff Vincent said:
A transfer order is a document between the operator of a well and a royalty owner that is used to evidence a change in ownership of a royalty. These are issued when the operator receives a mineral or royalty deed. These are not recorded at the county clerk or registrars office. It is not a conveyance, merely an acknowledgement that a change in ownership has occurred and that all parties agree to the change.
What likely happen was your mother sold or gave an interest of some sort to your sister, sent a copy of that conveyance to the operator and the operator in turn sent both of them a transfer order.
As far as the new lease offer is concerned, it's hard to say whether your mom still owns an interest based upon the information you've provided. A trip to the county clerk's office will tell you what was conveyed to your sister, whether it was a perpetual (or term) mineral or royalty conveyance.
@Jim: So as to not hijack this thread, you might consider posting your question on a separate post.
Ronald & Jeff –
Beg pardon if I’ve hijacked something somehow. As mentioned, I’m clueless about the Forum procedures and oil and gas terms.
I’ll check out how and where to post my questions more appropriately.
I appreciate the information.
Jim
Jim,
That was OK with me since I'm also new here & trying to figure out Mineral Rights issues as well as proper use of this forum.
And Jeff, thanks for answering my question. Getting to the clerk's office is not very convenient since it's a four-hour drive from where I live in PA. Can I get this sort of information with a phone call to the clerk's office? If not, is there someone I can hire (cheaper than a lawyer hopefully) to look up this for me?
Ron
If the county clerk’s office has records online, it ought to be a simple matter to look this up. You already know the names of the parties and about when it may have occurred.
Failing that, try calling the county clerk’s office. You may get lucky and find a clerk that’s willing to help out. Some are more helpful than others. If that turns out to be the case, they should be able to send you a copy.
I gather Mom and Sis don’t have copies and are foggy on the details. Otherwise you probably wouldn’t have sought help here!
Easiest solution of all is to call the landman that made the offer to Mom and ask him if he has any knowledge of the trade that may have occurred. Likely that he or she has seen it and may even have a copy they’d be happy to share. Particularly if they are trying to secure a lease.