Anyone have a recommendation for a landman in Billings County, ND? We have been contacted by Empire Oil that Whiting Oil has prepared a Title Opinion on Section 1, T139, R100 which is pooled with Section 12. Drilling has begun. Our family has a discrepancy with the total mineral acres the Title Opinion has found belong to our family. I am new to this. Would someone be able to tell me how an Abstract is obtained? Is a Land man the correct resource?
I recommend you contact a title company.
Title company is a good suggestion, however, it would be perhaps less expensive to call the Billings County Clerk & Recorder in Dickinson and ask them for the contact info. for someone who is there everyday to research their title records. Once you get the record on your property you can correct the misinformation yourself.
Jerome, I see your point about using someone who is there every day, if you could get a clerk to recommend someone. I would recommend a title company because they have a set location, probably been there for years and will probably be there for many more. I think Jill needs more than a quick look if she thinks she has more acres than she is being credited with and I think someone who will continue to be in the area years from now will do the best job.
I believe the discrepancy is the wording in the conveyances. At least one of them conveys a percentage of acres of a Tract within the Section instead of specifying the exact number of Acres conveyed. The “Intent” of acres conveyed per the Title Opinion, I believe, isn’t correct.
Getting the records would be the first step. We would still need to have a Title run (or an Abstract, not sure if these are the same thing) that would give us solid proof of the families accurate total. A Title Company would be able to provide accurately accounted mineral acre ownership?
Jill a title company should be able to tell the exact amount of acreage owned and thus the percent of minerals expressed in acres or if the minerals were severed the exact amount of mineral acres at time of severance and net acres from the % interest. The thing is the landman may blow out of town. The title company which probably employs a landman has been there is there and will be there after your problem is solved and not off in Montana next month. The title company has a reputation to uphold. If it helps any, my lawyers recommended a title company over employing a landman.
Thank you.
Thank you. Would you please be able to explain how to access the oil production information? I believe I read there is a site available for a small yearly fee that can give these details. I don't remember where I read that or what the name of the web page is. Would you also be so kind as to check if Section 12, T139, R100 has started producing yet? I plan to purchase my access so I can keep track of their production as soon as I can find that information. Thank you so much, I see on other posts that you provide very helpful information for those of us who are new to this.
r w kennedy said:
I recommend you contact a title company.
We just signed with Contential - Diamond Resources was the Landman. They were by far the most upfront of all the people we spoke with... and we spoke everyone... Empire (OXY), BTA, Hunt, Ballard you name it... we have 40 net acres in 144N R98 Sect. 33 and we got a 3 year lease $1000/acre at 20%.... by far more than anyone else and some were not even interested even though they had just drilled wells very close to this section... anyway, good luck to everyone :)
Jill, sorry I just saw this post. If you have not already gotten the $50 per year basic subscription to the NDIC O&G Division, I recommend you do so. Using my subscription, I see that 3 wells were spud in your section 12 each two days apart 4-10, 4-12, 4-14 of 2013. I believe that this indicates that they used a less capable rig to spud all three wells in turn and that that rig then left to do the same somewhere else. Another more capable rig will be used to drill the wells to total depth. No way for me to tell if this has already happened as I have not been watching the section every day on the GIS server map looking for a return of the rig symbol and the wells are still in confidential status. If the wells are producing, you could search for sales of oil under general statistics on the NDIC O&G site because sales are not confidential information. General statistics is free to search and it can be tedious but I think that is where you will find the most useful information to you at this time. The wells may not be producing yet, General Statistics is where you would find out whether they are or not. I hope this helps.
Ps. The general statistics and the Gis server map are free, you can probably find somewhere where the monthly production information is free on a month by month basis. I like my subscription because I can see all months productions (to plot decline), dip into the well files and see what went into the well, find explanations for any stoppages, spills, read letters to the operator from the NDIC, for my wells or any well in the state off confidential status, limited only by my willingness to sit in front of the computer. For $50 a year, I consider it a bargain.
Jill said:
Thank you. Would you please be able to explain how to access the oil production information? I believe I read there is a site available for a small yearly fee that can give these details. I don't remember where I read that or what the name of the web page is. Would you also be so kind as to check if Section 12, T139, R100 has started producing yet? I plan to purchase my access so I can keep track of their production as soon as I can find that information. Thank you so much, I see on other posts that you provide very helpful information for those of us who are new to this.
r w kennedy said:I recommend you contact a title company.