We received a division order from Great Horned Owls, LLC out of Pampa, Texas regarding a well operated by Contango. The well API 3504322336 is located in Township 20, Range 16, Section 18.
The division order dated 2/3/2026 states Peck1-20/Default Imported Deck in Custer County, Oklahoma, Township 20, Range 16, Section 18. I assume they got their counties confused.
Then there is the section below for signatures and addresses of owners.
The second page states that the division order doesn’t amend any lease or operating agreement.
Should this be reviewed by our attorney? Is this a change of operators?
Sloppy work. You do not have to sign a Division Order in OK and it is recommended that you do not as you could be giving away some rights. It is a change of operator. Great Horned Owl just bought a bunch of wells from Contango.
If you have your old royalty statements from Contango, then you can double check the decimal to make sure it is correct. What they really want is your W-9. It is recommended that you send the W-2 and a “letter in Lieu” of Division Order by certified mail so that you have a paper trail. Use the magnifying glass above to search for “letter in lieu” that I have shared before. That way you can correct the county and also make your minimum check at $25 instead of $100.
Everyone that got these letters from Great Horned Owl needs to make sure they have an active well. They send me a division order for a well that hasn’t produced in several years and my lease expired. I am sure they think they can get around paying a bonus this way.
Executing a Division Order cannot re-establish an expired OGL. If this was a gas well with an unlimited shut-in clause and shut-in payments extended the primary term, then the DO only serves a payment purpose document.
James. Thank you for your comment. This was an oil well and my lease expired when White Star went into bankruptcy. My lease states they have to file a release at the County Clerk office, but since they were in bankruptcy, they never did anything. This well should have been shut in, but OCC is so far behind. It just makes me mad that they sent a division order for a well that hasn’t produced for several years. I am aware that they don’t have a valid lease, but today’s oil companies don’t know what they own as I have another well that has been shut in for years and they tried to get by without releasing it.
The bankruptcy would not automatically cause your lease to terminate if the well continued to produce and was subsequently acquired by a new operator which continued operations. If the well ceased to produce after the bankruptcy filing, then your lease would terminate depending on all its provisions. If the OCC is like the RRC, the shut-in status will only be updated based on the filing by the operator. That filing will not happen if the bankrupt operator has ceased all activity, as opposed to an operator who continues to take care of the wells until they are sold or the company emerges from bankruptcy. I do not know the status definitions in OK. In Texas, a well that is shut-in means that the valves have been simply turned off and it could return to operations at any time. A well listed as temporarily abandoned means there is a partial plug and more work is needed to bring it back into production.
Hello Virginia. I have been out of this circus for several years. Lately received Division Orders from Great Horned Owls as well. I am a fraction of a well Eason in section 27 21n 3W, Garfield County OK at Hayward, OK. I was originally drilled by Devon, then White star, then maybe Contago? Never any communication from the last now hearing from Great Horned Owl, Llc. The Corporation Commission let White Star to hold it for 4 years without production, until better times for developing, then I thought that got extended as well. This is my only endeavor, and nothing was ever really understood.i sent paperwork back in February and have never heard anything. Feel like you are possibly still involved in this area with them. Drilled 2014, then again 2017, never released and the saga continues it seems.