My father passed away a few years ago and we found out that him and his cousins had bought some mineral rights in Divide County ND in the early 80's.
The deed is being transferred to my sisters and I and I'm trying to determine where I go to research where this land actually is within Divide, what production (if any) is currently taking place there, and how mineral right owners remain engaged in the process. Is there a source for all of this? Below is what I know about the rights we own...
Thanks for your guidance. This is my first post. What do the numbers and coordinates below mean? How can I locate that on a map? How much land is it?
Township 160 North, Range 96 West
-Section 19: Lots 1,2 NE1/4, E1/2NW1/4
-Section 20: N1/2SE1/4, SE1/4SE1/4
Township 160 North, Range 97 West
-Section 26: NE1/4
The entire western US has been surveyed into 6 mile x 6 mile (36 square mile) Townships, which are indexed as T XX North/South, R XX East/West. Each Township is subdivided into 36 Sections. One section is a one mile by one mile square which equals 640 acres. NE 1/4 means "Northeast 1/4", NW 1/4 means "Northwest 1/4", etc. A quarter Section is 640/4=160 acres. Lots are generally 40 acres approximately.
So in Section 19, you have the NE/4 = 160 acres, the East half of the NW 1/4 = 80 acres, Lots 1 & 2 = 80 acres
In Section 20, you have the north half of the SE/4 = 80 acres, and the SE/4 of the SE/4 = 40 acres.
In Section 26, you have the NE/4 = 160 acres.
In total, then you would have 600 acres, ASSUMING you own 100% of the minerals. In your research you are going to have to determine what percentage of the minerals were actually purchased.
As far as existing wells, there are wells producing in all three sections you list, operated by Continental Resources and Kodiak Oil and Gas. Your mineral rights should have been leased and you should be receiving royalties.
However, since you state that you are new to this, let me ask this question:
Are you sure your Father actually bought minerals as opposed to leasing them? It makes a huge difference. Look at your documents carefully. If he took leases back in the mid 1980's, they would have expired long before any production commenced.