I recently found out that another family member and I were willed 12.5 acres each (mineral rights, grandfather sold surface rights) in Section 20 04N 04W in Garvin County, OK - over 30 years ago. We were both contacted by a land man offering $62,500 each for our mineral rights (contract followed a week later, haven't read fully). 2 hours later on the same day, another call came in from a gentleman representing RimRock who wants to drill a new horizontal well and wants to pay us royalties. This is a new endeavor for us and am just figuring out our options. Our grandfather who passed, settled his estate in Texas and have been told, we will have to go through probate in Oklahoma (which is fine) as some operators apparently will accept an affidavit of heirship and some don't... who knows. I live in another state and am not familiar with it all. From my discovery, there are 15 wells on the property some have been capped and plugged, 1 well is producing Gas (currently) and Oil (back in 1992) and the others are just sitting there. My gut is technology is advancing and the wells may have new life with the advancement of drilling technology. Any advice would be very useful for us. Thank you
David, Do not sign anything with anyone until you get your information straightened out. You may have back payments that they are trying to get without you knowing about them. You definitely want to get the proper lease before that horizontal goes in. I am sending you a friend request to help walk you through the process. You need to get moving on some of this quite quickly.
Thank you... I am about to hop on a flight back to the West Coast and can check it out tomorrow. Thank you.
Trust M Barnes...she knows what she is doing
Rule #1, don't do anything until you have educated yourself. A good place to educate yourself on the law is in your lawyer's office.
Rule #2, always follow rule #1, particularly when someone is trying to buy mineral rights as opposed to leasing your mineral rights.
Have you checked the unclaimed property fund at the Oklahoma Tax Commission?
You said there are 15 wells on the property, but didn't say whether you are receiving royalty income from some or all of those wells. Your interest might, or might not, be available to lease.
On business advice, M Barnes appears to be on top of things in your area and is willing to share her thoughts.
David:
RimRock is going to drill the Clydesdale #1-20-29XH well on this section combined with Section 29.
They have 3 different Poolings for this section. You should inquire from RimRock what the status of your
interest is with regard to those poolings.
Todd M. Baker