Are there any scams

My cousin has been receiving calls about buying mineral rights that I don’t believe we own. The description he gave I can’t find anywhere.[34 10n 6w] [30&31 10n 5 w] Any answers will be appreciated. Sammie Goldsmith

section 30 10N 05W has producing wells and "increased density " permits , some with sections above and below , being drilled . Get Informed as best you can . Have recieved many many offers to purchase . I didnt know i owned mineral rights till 5 years after my fathers death . I brushed things aside for 2 years , didnt understand , had i sold in the early offers to purchase the rights , would have been a huge huge mistake for not understanding.Good luck.

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Darrin, same here, still receiving a nice monthly check for minerals I almost sold for $1200/acre 9 years ago.

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I would not sell in Grady or Canadian if there is an increased density on the table unless you really know what you have and what it is worth now and for the future. Ask the folks that call where they got your name, what makes them think you have title, etc. What ancestor’s name they think you might be related to. See if you can get some tidbits and then there are places that you can start asking questions. The forum is a good place.

In my experience, most offers that I have received have been about the value of one-two horizontal wells and not the value of the extra wells that are pending or possible.

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Thanks Darrin I need all the help I can get

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Thanks again I have shared this with my cousin

Sammie, I wouldn’t sell the acreage until I fully understood the value of the asset and what I owned. You wouldn’t buy a house without doing an inspection. The same principle applies.

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In a recent presentation Continental announced they have formed a royalty acquisition partnership, to buy royalties in wells they operate. Offers have started going out and it could prove to be a real game changer.

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I doubt that the offer to purchase is a scam. You should be extremely careful if anything is leased or sold.
You should run your ancestors relative’s name through these databases:

Mineral Owner Escrow

Unclaimed Property

These first two will tell you if unpaid monies have been turned over to the State of Oklahoma.

Land record search Links to all Counties with Online Capabilities

(some counties have limited databases or require subscriptions)

Oklahoma Courts to search for Probate: Click Here

If an Okalhoma Probate is needed this has options. Link.

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As always, be aware of any advance fee scams usually involving wire transfers or the use of credit or gift card transaction.

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If you or your cousin do own minerals in a producing unit, either you or whoever you may have inherited the minerals from would have been contacted prior to when the first well was drilled but sometimes the individual who is searching may not find you. In this case you would have been force pooled (again an attempt to find you would have been made including publishing your name in the pooling publication in a local newspaper and registered mail). If this doesn’t reach you, your money for the lease and any subsequent royalty will be held by the operator and eventually go to the state of Oklahoma to be held until you claim it. The first step I would take is to contact the company and ask how you came into title. Then use the links provided by Richard Winblad above to try to find if money is being held for you. If the state has money, it’s likely there is more money held in suspense by the well operator(s) if there are actively producing wells.

By the way, the sections mentions are north of Main street in Tuttle between Cimarron and Gregory Road and the section 2 miles east between Frisco and Cemetery on the north side of the highway and the section north of that.

With the price of oil down so much I don’t know what the current price per acre might be but some time ago it was bringing $8K to $12K per mineral acre that I know about. Don’t sell before you know what it’s worth. Also, don’t sell except in a cash deal. Some buyers find willing owners and tie them up until they can find a buyer to flip it too.

Good Luck

Thank you so very much. I do know that my grand parents and great grand parents had farms very near the Tuttle cemetery.

Michael it’s really interesting that you say that because the past two years with Continental resource has been very disappointing. And the past we had several wells that they had high production on. They have cut that down to nearly nothing. I’ve thought about selling but if Continental is wanting to purchase the rights I almost wonder then if it was a scheme to cut production so low to get us to sell and then they purchase and go back to the high production.

I’d like to tag on here and ask about digging up information on ownership. We have had interaction with several companies including checks for $.27 to a very occasional couple of thousand, lease requests and purchase offers. But we are really dealing in the dark.

Is there a good way to dig up information on ownership, activity, what is owing and make some sense of what it going on short of hiring an agent / lawyer (which we cannot afford)?

The link for the online database for Grady Co is: idocmarket.com If you have tracts in other OK counties, many of them can be found on www.okcountyrecords.com

I was offered $26,000/acre and turned it down. There will be more wells drilled

Are there any articles in this forum or elsewhere that pull together the basics on how to go about a search, what is important, etc? I have no idea what to be looking for or how to use it.

No articles that I know of. You can search for whatever you need, but no guarantee you will find it.
If you are trying to find what your family might own, then you would search under your relative’s names. Search under the Section, township and range for deeds, leases, etc. Digital files only go back so far.

Search the Treasurer’s office for OK for any unclaimed funds.

If you post the section, township and range, it will be easier to help you.

As M Barnes says the best source of information is the County Clerk records. Since about 2000 they have been indexed in on the computer by Names and locations listed on the deeds. So, you can logon to the County Clerks web site and start searching. The easiest way is by name… be sure and use all possible ways a name could be listed. If you need to search before the computer index date ( different for each county ) you will need to show-up at the County Clerks office. Fortunately the manual records are indexed by SECTION. So, you need to look at all the records listed for a section and see if you can recognize any of your relatives names. ( this index is in a book in the record room - that the County Clerk can show you ). You will need to look at this SECTION index for each year that the transfer of ownership could have happened. There is nothing that documents deeds changes other than the deed filed at the court house. When you find a deed the C Clerk can make you a copy or take your phone and take a picture of the deed. — I would try a search myself first – The County Clerks can be very helpful – unfortunately with all this Oil and Gas business they don’t have any time to help you anymore. But give it a try ---- YOU will learn a BUNCH — look for Deeds, OGL, Probate documents anything that will give you a clue to what happened to your Mineral Rights.

And the room will be full of young people doing lease searches for Attorneys ( for paying clients, Oil Companies ) - sometimes they are willing to give you advise (

Good Luck

Many Times you will find that a relative did not include the Minerals in his estate. In which case a Quiet Title will need to be executed via an Attorney and Probate Judge. You will need to establish the intent of the estate as to where the assets are to be given. Many times this is stated in the Probated will for assets not listed.