Drilling without signed Declaration of Interest

[Bob77]

@ashantichaplin

Hi,

I own surface and mineral rights to 40 acres in Caddo Parish, Louisiana. The current operator bought the lease from Texeco in 2008. I have contacted the county clerks and researched their online database for an original lease to determine the lease terms and the agreed-upon royalty interest. I can’t find any record of the original lease, and the operator has refused to furnish the lease when requested by an attorney. They sent production and payment history instead. Payments have been escheated to the state, but I am unclear on how they determined the royalty amount if there is no lease with the royalty agreement. I never signed a declaration of interest and have never seen the original lease. I, too, want to stop the operator’s production and sell or lease to an operator for a fair royalty amount. Does anyone have any recommendations regarding obtaining the original lease and if I am owed damages if a royalty amount was arbitrarily assigned to my lease by the operator without my signed declaration of interest? I received a check from the treasury for the escheated funds and think I should not cash the check because I do not agree with the royalty amount. Is it possible that the current operator is drilling without a lease, and if so, can I receive damages or back royalties?

Post is a bit confusing. So, did you sign the OGL with Texeco before it was bought in 2008 and have been getting paid on it this whole time?