We have inherited Mineral Rights and I have worked on getting everything organized so that I can manage our Mineral Rights. I have made files for each location that we have mineral rights in.
I am on Well Finder wanting to verify we are receiving production funds on all wells that our Mineral Rights include.
When I go on the Well Finder site, how do I determine if all wells on the section are included with our rights or just, say, the SW4 of NE4, etc. There are some sections we get payments on all wells, even when our rights are only in the NE4. I’m thinking it probably has to do with the spacing order, etc. but I don’t know what process to go through to obtain that information.
Can anyone give me a simple (Ha) step by step of the info I need and where to find it so I can look at a section and know which wells I should receive payments on based on our Mineral Right locations?
This process is definitely a step by step. Figuring this one out will be a big step. I appreciate anyone that can assist with helping me to move forward.
This is for Mineral Rights in Oklahoma (Harper, Ellis & Beaver Counties)
The key is to determine whether your mineral rights are in the drilling and spacing unit encompassing the well. For the most part (not universally) in these sections, the wells are in a 640-acre unit, which is in a section. So, generally (again, not universally), if you own mineral rights in Section 1 and there is a well in Section 1, you should receive royalties if it is producing.
go on the OCC website Error
Then put in your legal description, such as 0101n01e if you own in Section 1 -1n-1e, for example. That will list all the OCC forms submitted. If you want to drill down further, look for a Form 1002A. This is the completion report. It should list the spacing unit size, typically 640 acres in these counties.
1 Like
Thank You Mr. Dowd. I have found some forms that show the spacing unit size but I have not found that on a lot of the properties. Is there a way to look up “orders” for spacing by location?
You can find them, but it is a bit tedious. You have to go through the orders for each of the sections and search back decades. Are the wells new or old? How many are you looking at?
Hi Martha.
Thanks to your input over the years, I have all my property files set up and have researched all of them to confirm we own what my records show.
My current project is to know which part of a section my rights cover so I know what wells I should be receiving checks for. I figured the most recent spacing orders on my properties would assist me with that and that I should have spacing orders included in each of my property files. Please correct me if this is not the best route.
The wells I have been able to verify as to being located on our Mineral Rights, are old wells (10+ years). Between producing and non-producing we have appx 35 wells on appx 20 locations in Beaver, Ellis & Harper Counties.
I figured the Spacing Orders process would be a long process. Looking to get some input on the best way to do it.
Always appreciate your assistance.
Give me about three of the section, township and ranges in Ellis with the well names and I will look them up and see if I can give you a game plan on how to do them in a logical fashion.
Thank You so much Martha!
I just recently confirmed the family lost all but one location in Ellis County due to a foreclosure on the owner who deeded it to a family member back in 1932. The one location we have:
Ellis County is:
S 4, T24N, R25W - Lot 3 (NE4 NW4).
Corless B 1-4 (API# 045-35231)
Corless B 3-4 (API# 045-22157)
Beaver County –
S 11, T02N, R28E (NE4) Robert 03-11 (API# 007-24987)
S 33, T03N, R27E (NE4 NW4) DiAngelo (API 007-24653)
If Harper County works better for you than Beaver, just let me know and I will give you a couple in Harper instead.
Thank Again!
Give me a couple of days to get to it and I will hunt it down for you.
I hunt the completion reports first.
Corless B 3-4 Permit The well is spaced at 640. Gas well and the map on the right side has for diagonal tick marks at the corner to indicate the whole section.
And completion report confirms. Morrow Sand at 640 upper right hand corner.
https://public.occ.ok.gov/OGCDWellRecords/DocView.aspx?id=2469513&dbid=0&repo=OCC&searchid=845028c2-d9a6-4f7b-91dc-a16fb3993264
https://public.occ.ok.gov/OGCDWellRecords/DocView.aspx?id=2470327&dbid=0&repo=OCC&searchid=2b4d0e70-5725-4d67-b150-9ad367ff635a
Corless B 1-4 a bit trickier since it is old. May have been unspaced, but since it is a gas well deeper than 6000, probably at 640. (And the other one is definitely 640 in the same zone, so a confirmation.)
Robert 3-11 see the completion report. Upper right hand corner. in tiny print. 640
https://public.occ.ok.gov/OGCDWellRecords/DocView.aspx?id=2542267&dbid=0&repo=OCC&searchid=04a1416b-ed07-4dd4-ad49-98fbfa6c8295
Diangelo same thing. 640
https://public.occ.ok.gov/OGCDWellRecords/DocView.aspx?id=1672157&dbid=0&repo=OCC&searchid=ab29aa12-4e2f-4b58-8762-0c8351344266
Wow! Once I know what I am looking at, there is a wealth of information.
Can the spacing be changed after the completion report or can I count on the 640 staying 640?
Thanks so much Martha for all your sharing of knowledge.
Theoretically, the spacing for a well can change. But, as a general rule, it doesn’t happen.
As Tim said, it generally does not change. I have seen some 40 ac spacings go down to 10 acres for very shallow wells, but not for deeper wells.
One caveat is that although the spacing might be at “640” for deeper wells, the actual acreage of sections along the northern and western tiers of the sections in a township (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,18,19,30,31) are often not quite 640 acres, some more, some less due to the curvature of the earth. So at Division Order time, the exact acreage is used for calculation of royalties.