I have 28.8 acres that is in a producing well in Smith county. The acreage has been in the family for over 50 years and never been surveyed. It was recently surveyed preparing for a sale and the true acreage is 30.4. Is it possible to ask for a change in the division order after pooling and producing?
You should try, 1.6 acres can make a huge difference.
Acreage is often different in a survey than the original estimated acreage due to more modern survey techniques and equipment. Generally, a change in one owner’s net acreage and DOI will require changes throughout the well deck for all owners. You can look at the original plat for the well and unit to see if the operator had an on-the-ground survey or used “called acreage” based on the acreage as understood at the time. Keep in mind that if your tract has a different acreage upon a survey, it is likely that all the tracts within the unit may have different acreage after surveying. To correct your share of the unit, the entire unit will need to be surveyed or re-surveyed to determine the exact size of every tract and the total unit acres. Your proportionate or fractional share of the revised total unit acres may not change significantly. The operator may not want to spend money on a new unit survey as that can be expensive, especially if there are a lot of small tracts in the unit.
A division order is always revocable, but you may be put in suspense until the issue is ironed out.
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