My siblings and I received packets of papers from Antero to modify an Oil and Gas Lease in Doddridge Co, WV. The lease is dated 1908. We were going to throw them out thinking it was a scam until we found in the later pages our grandfather’s name ( he had married a 2nd wife who descended from the original owners of the property). None of us can hire a lawyer. We understand from reading the papers that it’s $1 plus they give us $250 each to sign and return these documents and the royalty would be 16%. Our main issue is taxes. Can we be charged taxes on the property at all. Or just pay taxes on the royalties if we ever receive them. We want nothing to do with the property as we live in other states. Is it legitimate? Are we financially responsible for the land taxes. Our main concern.
There is a law in WV that says that if you don’t sign, you get forced into it once the company has enough of the acreage signed up. There might be advantages if you wait, either on bonus money or royalty %. No guarantees. Maybe somebody else can comment. Antero is very reputable, so that is not a problem. You probably don’t have a large interest. The bigger the interest the more negotiating power.
My experience with Antero has been pretty bad. Non-payment of royalties. Low ball offers. And extremely poor communication. Wish I had never signed with them.
You should be able to get way more than 250 and probably get a little more on the royalty payment. That being said all comes down to your percentage of ownership. You don’t have to sign anything especially if you don’t like the terms. Also you want paid at the well head with absolutely no fees taken out. Make absolutely sure that you are held harmless by anything the o&g company has anything to do with. If you do not sign and they force pool you are entitled to the average of the bonuses paid to all other people in the pool and you are also entitled to the highest paid royalty. I’ve been in this quite a few years now and I know how they operate. Get on the internet and research and you can find all you need to know. One place to gain some good knowledge is wvsoro. Good luck but be smart you can find anything you need to know on here and elsewhere.
I found out ours is in the Greenbrier District of Doddridge, possibly 41 acres or less. Would be interested in hearing from anyone who has mineral rights in that area also. Thanks.
Are you looking to sell and get a larger up-front payment, or smaller monthly payments through leasing? If you lease with Antero, you will find many clauses in your contract that can be negotiated. One is a right of first refusal, these drastically reduce the number of mineral buyers interested in the future. Then you can discuss the lease terms such as length of lease, royalty rate, deductions, being paid on all minerals, etc. I would urge you not to blindly sign and the 10 day thing is meaningless. I have seen Antero leases where they remove royalties on liquids meaning that a good portion of the minerals extracted are only benefitting Antero and they aren’t paying the mineral owner at all. I am familiar with Doddridge
We received the same type of modification. It really depends on how much you own to see if you should take it or negotiate. Dont worry about the 10 days as they will happily sign you after that - they just want to make you rush your decision.
Ask the landman how much you actually own on the tract
41 acres in 1908. It all depends on how many relatives you have. Thats 3 generations in the family, if not more of heirs that get their share. So that 41 acres is chopped up quickly to where you might own less than a acre. $250 is extremely low, but you might only own 1/10th of an acre by now.
If people don’t educate themselves about the oil and gas market and sign these ridiculous contracts they end up hurting everyone. Do your research there is plenty out there and it will only result in more money in their pockets. 250 is an absolute insult no matter how much you own yes a thousand acres has stronger legs to stand on but they need all those little bits that make up the strongest legs so the little bits and there are many add up to a nice amount of signatures they need to close the deal on the whole thing. If you are to occupied to tackle it by yourself then spend the extra you would get up front ona lawyer cause you will at least get more on the royalties. Do not be afraid to research and see what other people are getting and research what wording in the contracts needs to be there.
Yes they sent me a list of the original owner and heirs since 1908 and all are deceased except my 3 siblings, maybe 3 distant cousins, 4 nieces/nephews and myself. None of us have ever heard of this land at all.
What you have is probably an Affidavit of Heirship, which is essentially a document that speaks to the heirship of a certain person. More than likely there are more heirs that are not listed as Antero tends to give you only the heirs in your line.
What you need to do is ask the landman how many Net Mineral Acres you own (do NOT sign anything without this info) - that’s going to give you an idea on what you own and now is the time to do it when they need/want your signature. After you sign, its much tougher to get any of the info you need.