I too have received an offer from Exxonmobile to lease property for brine. I see some others have also received similar or identical offers and I’m hoping one of them sees this and are willing to give some guidance.
The offer matches what others in Titus County have received. The 2.5% vs 6.5% choice is the real decision here, and the fact that they can’t tell you what the deductions will be is important. Gathering, compression, and processing costs on brine can wipe out most of a royalty - owners have signed 6.5% deals and ended up with less than they would have gotten at 2.5% gross. Once you sign, you’re locked in for the lease term.
Did they give you a deadline to respond?
Letter gives me 45 days. The 2.5% gross was not on mine. Just the 6.5% net.
Sorry I’m slow getting back to this. Your 45 days have run, so where did it land, did you sign the 6.5% net or let it sit?
Either way, the word worth understanding is “net.” Exxon subtracts their costs before your share is figured, so what reaches you turns on how the lease defines deductions. The clause that controls it is usually where royalty is valued. “At the wellhead” language lets them deduct gathering, compression, and processing; a “cost-free” or “gross proceeds” clause blocks it. On brine, the processing to pull lithium out is expensive, so those terms matter more than the headline percentage.
If you signed, that’s the language to read now. If you passed, Exxon is still leasing across the county, so another letter may come. Either way, a landman or oil and gas attorney who has read your lease beats anything I can offer here. None of this is financial advice.
Did anyone get Exxon to put the deductions in writing?