My wife’s cousin owns some mineral interest that she inherited from her first husband’s aunt (I know, it is pretty convoluted!). She had forgotten about owning this interest until she received a telephone call a few nights ago from an outfit that offered to lease her interest for $200/ac for 5 years and 1/8th royalty. She owns a 1/18th interest in a 320-acre tract.
As we live in Louisiana, we are not aware of the activity currently going on in Moffat County. Can anyone be so kind to let us know what is currently being paid for leases in Moffat County in regards to bonus, royalty, and primary term? She definitely wants to lease but doesn’t want to be taken advantage of. I am an engineer for a small O & G company down in La. so I do have a little exposure to leases, etc. but I definitely need some help in regards to leasing in Moffat County. Any help that anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Wilmer,
If you type in Moffat County in the search box in the upper right of this page, you find more people with experience with that area.
If she is in an area that is not really proven then it seems that the offer on the table is pretty fair. I have leased in areas that are non-proven wildcat areas and typically oil companies are around $25-50 an acre and as low as 3/16 on royalties. So with minimal or no production in that county she may have a good lease offer. Some basic research in that area wouldn’t take much and could pretty easily find the exact answers of what is the fair market value for that area. That way she would know what is a good deal on leasing.
The 1/8th royalty seems too low. 1/6, or thereabouts would seem to be more appropriate. Remember, State of Colorado oil and gas leases are 5 year leases with a 1/6 royalty. The $200 may or may not be low, considering the Section, Township and Range. The active exploration companies in the area are SWEPI (Shell Oil Company) and their numerous brokers, Quicksilver, Petro-Hunt and a few others.