Hettinger County, ND - Oil & Gas Discussion

Comment

Comment by Roy Pender on May 13, 2012 at 11:21pm

Part of the lease/title problems exist due to Chuck Crouch and Larry Cox. Crouch had accepted the lease bonus money from Romac/Chk and was selling leases to them. Set closing was for March 1. 2011 yet on Feb. 21, 2011 Crouch sent lease spreadsheet to Cox to sell them to him. End result Cox/Idea filed claims on all the leasehold. Crouch collected over 9.3 million dollars from Romac. I have proof of all wires and yet Crouch never gave them anything in return. Further Crouch was paid by Great Northern to release some of the leases that Romac paid for that were clouded. He put those funds in his pocket knowing it was not his money. Much less its pure corruption as it was a way to bypass the title problems. And also they were subject of lawsuits that was why the lis pendens was on file. Now Great Northern is being sued for their actions.

Comment by Roy Pender on May 10, 2012 at 10:39pm

Warning C.A. Crouch companies sign leases and in one case assigned 1712.62 owned by the Bobb & Jaeger families in Stark co. He paid the owners less than $400,000.00 and sold them to Romac Energy for $1,88,882.00 in Jan 2011. After he assigned them the families withdrew the leases for non-payment by Crouch. He made over $1.4 million and would not attempt to defend the leases. So it appears he pays partial sells them and represents he they are paid in full. Pretty good pay for committing fraud. And I have copies of cashiers checks of bonus monies he paid. He says it was full bonus they claim partial. Seems fishy he would not defend and force the leases to remain in effect. I am willing to share the proof to anyone in need of the documents.

Comment by Ken Schulz on May 7, 2012 at 1:09pm

Hello; new guy here.

My family owns mineral rights in 136-97 & 98, so we slide into Slope Co. as well. We have 3/2 lease with Eagle Oil and Gas. Being a private company, they hold their cards close to their chest. I questioned the landman about whether they would actually be drilling, or whether they would be selling our leases to another company. He responded that eiher was a pssibility. Any current updates onh their activity, or lack therof?  Thanks in advance.

Comment by Steve Carlson on February 10, 2012 at 8:33am

Mr. Kennedy, you are 100% correct.  My positions are large and your assumption is right on target.  Based on the most recent developments with  some pulling out and many pulling back from leasing I feel very lucky I was able to take advantage of the offers last summer as it appears at least for the near term that was a peak for leasing in both Hettinger and Slope.  

Comment by r w kennedy on February 9, 2012 at 6:43pm

Mr. Carlson, if I may ask, how many acres are you leasing ? I feel that if you have a large amount of acres it may be in your best interest to have them leased, especially if they do not get drilled. This may not be the case if you only have only 5 to 10 net acres. I think at some point on the bottom end, the mineral owner has to decide if it's too little to be worth their time, or to risk missing out on better offers that may come in the near future. It's not one size fits all.

Comment by Steve Carlson on January 4, 2012 at 1:57pm

A few random thoughts.  As background I own and lease my own farmland as well as that of other family members and have done so since late 1970's. 

I have always accepted drafts and I have never had a problem.  I completed a lease in Hettinger as well as Slope in 2011 with no problems.  I am guessing I am between 12-15 leases over the years.

I have never had a lease recorded prior to the draft being paid.  Some would say I am lucky and that may be.  I like to think because of my efforts to network I have been fortunate to work with professionals who have earned the trust of some long time locals over many years.

My 2011 leases both were for 3 years with a 2 year option.  I have read the arguments against and if I were in a very hot area I might feel I had more power.  I was very happy with the lease bonus as based on what I have read here for both Hettinger and Slope I have no reason to complain. I would go as far to say if I had to accept the 3 year amount for 5 years I would have done it.  If I have to settle for the same bonus for 2 years more I will not complain I will be thrilled.  In my opinion I seriously doubt we will be seeing much activity in our areas before then.  I will go as far to say I doubt there will be activity within 5 years which will put me back in a position to take advantage of the market as real activity nears our region.  I have seen many times over my 30+ years where landowners that I know without leverage (hot area) have held out only to receive nothing.  In each case in 2011 after the successful completion (money in the bank) of each lease I asked the landman involved in each lease if they wanted me to give them a recommendation in the Forum.  Both stated they preferred to work by referral and they were very busy.  Out of respect for the outstanding service I am respecting their wishes and not giving their contact information or terms.   As I have seen in the past I know of landowners who were in negotiations in 2011 and held out for terms that caused the same companies that I leased with to walk away.  I also know of some on the leasing side that over stated their relationships with Major companies and backed out of deals they could not broker.

I do not expect to be very active.  I am sure there are some who will take exception to the approach I have taken and that is fine.  I close with this. Long ago I learned that in real estate you can be a block away from success.  In Oil and Gas lease in my opinion not only can you be a township away but just a section away from success.  If you don't have or can not get the local knowledge which takes a long time to build I do agree that you should hire a professional.  I do not know but I have looked at his sight and his fee schedule and read many of his posts and I would not hesitate to contact Buddy Cotten should the need arise.  Best of luck to all.

Comment by Kevin B. Koonce on January 4, 2012 at 3:03am

Now is the time to get the U.S. Attorney General involved, as well as any national media that will print the truth, to put a stop to this increasingly common practice by the Chesapeake and RedSky Land COWARDS!

Comment by r w kennedy on January 3, 2012 at 8:45pm

Ms. smith, did you give them an executed lease before they backed out ? If so they may have recorded it and you will have to ask them to release it if they did. If you have a lease recorded you will likely not receive future lease offers. Sullivan/chesapeake may use it as an unpaid option and try to pick it up in the future if the value of your minerals doubles in the next few years. I would find out now if your lease was recorded. Quick action on this could save you alot of money down the road.

Comment by Cassandra Smith on January 3, 2012 at 5:03pm

My family all executed a lease with Sullivan for rights in Hettinger County with a supposed payment coming in January. Last week we received an email from the person we were dealing with the following excerpt "

"our project was just put on hold  and all of us were laid off. I am uncertian as to the reason as no infromation has been forthcoming from Cheapeak. Accordingly it appears that  chesapeak will not be interested in leasing your minerals at this time"         I suppose the next step is to see if they have recorded anything. I did not start reading these posts until that email. What an education! If anyone has any other advise, we would sure appreciate it.

Comment by Ron Strong on January 2, 2012 at 11:57pm

Based on my recent experience with Sullivan Land/Chesapeake, they will not negotiate anything at all in terms of leases on minerals.  We have some mineral rights to lease in Hettinger County and are interested in dealing with a reputable firm on a lease.

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