Once forced pooling paperwork is received by mineral rights owner, can a lease still be signed?
I ask this because my mother was contacted by Blue Star Land Services (representing Devon Energy) to see if she was interested in leasing her mineral rights. Mom returned the letter with her signature next to the block indicating she wanted them to send her the lease.
It has been approximately 6 weeks since Mom requested the lease, however, the lease was never sent to Mom. Instead, now she has received forced pooling paperwork. In addition, she has received a letter from a different company, Randall G. Raulston, Inc., asking if she is interested in leasing her mineral rights to them for $275/acre, 3 yr. term, 3/16 royalty. My assumption is that Raulston is contacting all those who are on the forced pooling list and is trying to get leases with them.
My questions are:
1. Now that forced pooling is taking place, can Mom still sign a lease? Is leasing a better option rather than being force pooled?
2. If leasing is still an option, should she go with the original offer from Blue Star Land Services (Devon Energy) which offered $200/acre, 3 yr. term, 3/16 royalty, assuming they want to lease with her?
3. I'm unable to find out anything about the Raulston company and have no idea if they are a reputable company, so don't know if we should consider leasing with them. Anyone know anything about Raulston? I've heard that some companies that try to get leases with those that are force pooled might not be reputable.
Mom (97 yrs. old) and her children who are helping with this matter live in the state of Washington, and we are not knowledgable about these matters, so any help is appreciated.
Have you tried to contact anyone at Devon directly or the brokerage company representing Devon that provided the initial offer? Perhaps they'd consider paying what Blue Star will.
Recommendation for getting to the right person at Devon to discuss with: (1) either contact an attorney in Payne County or even Oklahoma County (where Devon is located) who represents mineral owners - sure you'll pay a cost, but it'll also be done with your best interest in mind and they can answer all your questions above OR (2) contact Devon at the number you can find on your website and ask for the Landman who handles Payne County, Oklahoma - some big companies have a struggle just getting a caller to the right party so if you can give them the right direction you might save yourself some run around.
Blue Star is the landman representing Devon Energy and we left 2 messages last week, but so far no return call. Hoping he will call today. Also, I did call the lawyer that sent out the pooling papers and left him a message, but no return call from him either.
If we don't get a callback this week, then I guess the next option is to hire an attorney. Anyone know of a reputable attorney who works with oil and gas leases in Payne County?
Thank you, Penny, for taking the time to respond to me. This is becoming frustrating and stressful since we are not knowledgable about oil and gas leases in Oklahoma (or anywhere else for that matter)!!!
If I were you I would go around Blue Star and contact Devon directly and let them know Raulston has offered more (sorry I got my parties confused there :)! ). There is an in-house landman who handles the project and I'd recommend just trying to contact Devon directly if you can get ahold of someone - it might be fruitless but I'd at least take a shot at that.
The frustration is totally understandable. I will check around for some attorney names for that area and will post back as soon as I hear something.
Thank you, Penny!
Penny Macias said:
If I were you I would go around Blue Star and contact Devon directly and let them know Raulston has offered more (sorry I got my parties confused there :)! ). There is an in-house landman who handles the project and I'd recommend just trying to contact Devon directly if you can get ahold of someone - it might be fruitless but I'd at least take a shot at that.
The frustration is totally understandable. I will check around for some attorney names for that area and will post back as soon as I hear something.
After reading about your situation involving Force Pooling for a holding in Section 8 of Payne county, I am wondering if the Mineral Deed my father had might fall into the same area. See a description from the deed that follows:
The Southwest Quarter (SW/4) of Section Eight (8), Township
Nineteen (19) North, Range One (1) West of the Indian Meridian,
Payne County, Oklahoma.
(It is the intention of this instrument to convey an undivided
2 2/3rd acre mineral interest.)
containing 160 acres, more or less …………
I'm trying to find out if this deed has any value, and was advised to contact Devon, but I have not done so yet. I have a friend who said he contacted a friend who has a neighbor who was in the business of buying and selling Mineral Rights who I can contact if I want Formal Representation. Not to sure if I have justification to make this call yet. I would first like to know if the deed I have is still valid before bringing legal help. Is my Deed description close to what you are working with?
Permalink Reply by Terri Scott 1 second ago Delete
I am not an expert by any means, but after looking at a plat map of Payne County, it appears that Sec. 8, T19N, R1W is located west of Stillwater. The minerals that I own are located northeast of Stillwater. You might want to contact Payne County regarding the Deed. If the minerals were never transferred out of your father's name or willed to you (or anyone else), then oil companies might not have any way of locating heirs to express their interest in leasing. If you think Devon Energy might be interested in an oil and gas lease, then you should contact them or their landman service (Blue Star Land Services - Carolyn Emery is the person I worked with and she was very helpful). Blue Star is located in Norman, OK.