Just found out our family still owns mineral rights only to 5 acres in Williams county. Came on this site to find out more info.
XTO Energy, Inc. would like to offer the current owners of this interest a three-year Oil & Gas Lease. We would pay a signing bonus of $250/net mineral acre. The royalties we are offering are 1/6th on this parcel
TOWNSHIP 155 NORTH, RANGE 95 WEST, 5TH PM
Section 12: SW¼SW¼
Section 13: W½NW¼
Section 14: NE¼, NW¼SE¼
I have only been able to find out that the township/sections are located between the city of Tioga and the Missouri River. Do I need information on the surface owner? Things are progressing quickly in this process, contacting family members who share in this 5 acres. I don't want to go to fast and miss out on a better offer. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
Thank you! Kristy in California
Kristy:
The bonus amount for this particular area seems very low as this is a very active area. The problem is that you only have 5 acres which is not enough to make an impact on negotiations. If it were me, I would be contacting the land departments of some of the major operators in the area (Continental Resources, Brigham, XTO to name a few). Also, the royalties in this area are currently going for around 18 -20%. I would insist on 20% if the bonus was under $1000/acre. Keep in mind, the royalty end of the lease is the most important because in the event of a well, this will be your big bucks over time.
Thank you so much Mr. Mallory; now to see if I can get the family to go along. 1/2 goes to my Aunt and my sister and I get the other 1/2.
charles s mallory said:
Kristy:
The bonus amount for this particular area seems very low as this is a very active area. The problem is that you only have 5 acres which is not enough to make an impact on negotiations. If it were me, I would be contacting the land departments of some of the major operators in the area (Continental Resources, Brigham, XTO to name a few). Also, the royalties in this area are currently going for around 18 -20%. I would insist on 20% if the bonus was under $1000/acre. Keep in mind, the royalty end of the lease is the most important because in the event of a well, this will be your big bucks over time.
Ms. Kats, unless your minerals are tied together in a trust or some other way you can each negotiate and sign your own lease. I’d feel bad if my family signed a lease that wasn’t as good as what I negotiated [ has actually happened in the past ], but I wouldn’t throw money away just because they did. Good luck.
Kristy:
I checked the NDIC website and it shows that acreage in T155;R97;Section 17 leased for $600/acre in May 2010. Since that time, drilling activities have become more numerous in this area and several nice wells have been completed within this radius. You definately need to do some research on this one and as I said earlier, call around to various companies in regards to these minerals.
Thank you all for your information. Ist call made. 
bonus signing was tripled and royalties to 18%. Thank you all!
Kristy:
Glad to hear you got what you wanted in your negotiations. I will be doing the same over in Williams County in the next several months if our lease is allowed to expire. I'm hoping to get a good lease if this happens.
kristy katz said:
bonus signing was tripled and royalties to 18%. Thank you all!