Lea County, NM - Oil & Gas Discussion

Comment

Comment by Jim Bemis on May 8, 2012 at 8:34am

 Glen Thompson & N Case --
You folks are way ahead of me in managing your mineral interests that were inherited in New Mexico. Apparently your properties are not far from ours in both Lea and Eddy counties. (We’re in several sections in T20S and R29E in Eddy County, which is right next door to several sections in Lea County (T 26E and R36 / 37E ) – not  far from Jal. We also have fractional interests in adjoining Winkler and Andrews County TX. And, like Glen, we have property in Arkansas . Belatedly, I'm now attempting to inventory and electronically document this property for my family.
Like you, our interests also date back to the 1920's, with some from the early 1900's, much of which we have never seen. My generation (now in our 80's) has received small checks for years from both oil and gas production, but few of us have a complete record of the multiple leases and subdivisions of interest over the past 85 or 90 years.( My own children and younger kin know even less about these old and unknown properties, which were long thought to be dwindling in value. Now comes the $100 per barrel oil and new horizontal drilling technology and fracking, plus the WWW and Forums like this, as well as the detailed websites maintained by the state and national oil and gas offices.)
Although the county/state staffs/national-level O&G office staffs have been extremely courteous and helpful, I find that New Mexico, Texas and Arkansas have a bewildering mix of laws and land measurement systems , with widely differing county-level facilities and staff to assist property owners. So I especially appreciate your sharing your own experiences, and I will be looking into how to do similar self-assessment.
For related information, I would urge you to follow the discussions in Winkler and Andrews counties TX, as well as in Fisher and Scurry Counties. (Although I roughnecked in West Texas out of Odessa and Brownfield in the 50’s, I don’t know jack about the new horizontal drilling and frocking technologies, which I find mind-boggling. However, I’m doubly curious nowadays about how they plan to drill responsibly in all of these counties while protecting the water supplies and rare geological formations, for example around Carlsbad. We continue to have extremely serious problems in Arkansas as we try to protect the surface owners and our water resources.)
I’ll keep this group posted as I gather more information.
Thanks again for sharing.

Comment by N Case on May 6, 2012 at 12:00pm

I also got the mineral property that I have from my grandfather who got it from tax sales from about 1910 thru the 1950's. For a long time it was in a corporation. A few years ago I dissolved the corporation and transferred the property to my name via a Mineral Deed and therefore set the address correctly. If it would work for you, maybe you would want to put the property you have in a Trust and then record a new Deed showing this. My dad would record new deeds to correct errors in previous deeds, maybe just record a new (updated) deed with your new address? Also, I have all my mineral property related contacts use a PO box that I have at a UPS Store (not USPS) which I always plan to keep no matter where I live. I was in Washington state (where my PO Box is) and 4 years ago I moved to California. I still have my PO Box and I just have them forward me my mail every 2 weeks.

You are right it is important to have the landmen be able to contact you!

And your calculations are correct, my producing property is 21.5 miles due west of Jal and the other one I have leased is 15.5 mi NWW of Jal.

Comment by Glen D Thompson on May 6, 2012 at 8:31am

Thanks, Mr. Case.  

 

With each Township being 36 sq miles, a quick calculation puts your property somewhere between Eunice and Jal and over 20 miles west of the Texas state line. You may be closer to the Eddy County line than the Texas State line.

The Eunice and Jal fields have been productive since the 1920s.

 

My property T11 R36E was leased in 2009 and will expire in 2014.  For years, I have been the point of contact for this property which is part of my Grand Dad’s estate. 

But after 38 years at the same address, I have moved with my wife to a senior retirement/assisted living center – new phone, new e-mail, and new address. Also, my sister passed away on the day I moved.

My first order of business is to ensure that my new address is recorded for public record.  Naturally, I have informed the entity that holds the lease and to the landman who contacted me.

Still, recording a change of address in Lea County NM poses a problem.  Back in 2005 when one of my cousins moved, I wrote the Lea County Clerk in Lovington about the change of address.  The clerk replied that there was no way he could record address information about  mineral rights but that he would give the information to abstract companies in Lovington. 

I know, failure to record mineral holdings by Lea County officials makes no sense to me either.  For example, I pay property taxes on a tiny fraction of mineral holdings for a producing gas well in Johnson   County, Arkansas.  I can’t imagine Lea County NM letting this potential source of revenue escape their clutches.

Thanks for the reply

Comment by N Case on May 6, 2012 at 12:15am

Hi Glen,

Not sure about your area, but I have 2 properties in Lea Co. and both are currently leased and one is producing (T25 & 26S R 33E, leased in 2007).  The other one is in T24 R34, leased in early 2011.  For both of these landmen found me, I was not actively looking to lease at the time.

You may want to try calling some of the Landmen that have been doing leases in your area.

Comment by Glen D Thompson on May 5, 2012 at 10:57pm

It is surprising that no one has contributed to this Lea County NM discussion in almost a year.  Yet Lea County stands as one of the most active areas in the Permian Basin.  Hundreds of wells are drilled in the county annually. 

It is distressing that not a single Landman has shown interest in this productive county.

Oh, yes I own mineral rights in sections 12 and 13 of T11S, R36E northeast of Tatum, NM. 

Still, my interest goes beyond mineral ownership.  I was raised on an oil lease in the Monument field.  I also worked summer jobs for oil field contractors around Jal, Eunice, Hobbs, Lovington and the Caprock.

I know someone else must be interested in the drilling and leasing activity in Lea County, NM.

Comment by Donald Skotty on October 5, 2011 at 10:24pm

Any leasing going on in 17S 39E.  I have fractional minerals in 160 acres in Section 20 that I would like to lease.

Comment by James R. Hubbard on August 19, 2011 at 12:12pm

I didn't dtart the group but where is NW?