Going through an old filing cabinet of my fathers a few years ago, I found a over-riding royalty interest deed for approximately ~117 acres in OK. My question is how do I find out which oil company payed, is paying the royalties and to whom they are being paid, if it all. Maybe nothing has been produced on the land at all, and I need to find that out, too. The deed/contract was bought back in 1987 and I know that the company at the time ( Texon Resources) has been sold out several times. Below is what I know and have researched.
- Father passed away more than 10 years ago.
- Bought in 1987 and filed in county courthouse and as of date still is and fathers name.
- have land owners names and letters from attorneys have been sent to them with no response.
- Paid an attorney in neighboring city to the land to research and have heard nothing from him either.
- Friend of the family/ an attorney sent out letters to said oil company at time of transaction and to possible companies that bought Texon Resources. Letters sent back to attorney stating wrong companies. No word from land owners from his effort either.
- Keep getting closed doors with no answers, except for deed is still valid and filed in same county, book and page as it was back in 1987 to my father.
Any advise or direction would be greatly appreciated.
Google: The term "overriding royalty interests" means fractional, undivided interests or rights of participation in the oil or gas, or in the proceeds from the sale of the oil or gas, produced from a specified tract or tracts, which are limited in duration to the terms of an existing lease and which are not subject to any portion of the expense of development, operation or maintenance.
Jayda, the above definition was the result of a google search I just did. This definition confirms what I already know. An ORR is attached to a specific lease only, and has nothing to do with ownership of minerals or subsequent production under the terms of a new lease. Unless the specific lease that gives your father an ORR is still in existence on this specific piece of property, then it has no value whatsoever. Oftentimes a well will get drilled, will produce for a number of years, and then for whatever reasons it is abandoned or partially shut in... The lease in effect terminates. Another company comes along and leases the same property, re-enters the well, and has production. All the players have changed, except for the mineral owners. Does this make sense? Many people seem to think that an ORR is something that exists in perpetuity, but it only lasts for the duration of the specific lease it is attached to. IF the lease that your father owned an ORR is STILL in effect, and the well is still producing under the terms of that specific lease, then you are most definitely entitled to receive monies from that production; however, it is probably not likely that this is the case. Still, I agree with Mr. Kennedy, that is worth looking into. You can check for unclaimed property with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission online. Best of luck!!
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R W Kennedy,
Thank you for your reply. This is all new to me and very overwhelming. Honestly, was unsure whether to research for information or toss into trash.
No, I haven't searched the state unclaimed property-will do that.
Like I stated in orginal post, this deed is from 1987, would production have stopped and started numerous times since then? Again, this is very new to me and understanding of it, is very limited. I did find letters from the owner of the original oil co. stating that drilling didn't take place in '87 due to the changing of ownership, etc. My father was a retired mechanical engineer that worked as a consultant for oil company on occasion, from what I understood in his correspondence. So, I think he anticipated immediate response from the well/ and future wells. This was a venture interest and he didn't understand the patience needed and he didn't live long enough to see any of it come to life.
Again, thank you much for your help...greatly appreciated.
Mr. Hicks is correct. The reference to 1987 slipped right past me. You probably either have royalties sitting somewhere in your fathers name or the override has expired. It does happen that wells get drilled and people move and the money never finds them, sometimes for 40 years.
Jayda, take heart, I too am frequently overwhelmed by all this!! There are indeed billions and billions of dollars in unpaid royaties that never get collected, so doing research like you are doing is the correct and right thing to do, so pat yourself on the back. Many of my relatives have, over time, moved, and the envelopes containing their royalty checks say "DO NOT FORWARD", so even if they have filed a change of address form with the US Postal Service (which is good for only 12 months), they will not receive their money. They must notify the O&G company directly of their change of address. I have talked to landmen doing research specifically on OK properties tell me that a particular tract may have a thousand or more owners living all over the world, and they rarely find all of them. Do they always deposit the unpaid royalties with the OK Corporation Commission? In a word, no.
Ron, thank you for all of your information. Your incouraging words were appreciated, as well. The definition of ORR did make sense to me. Like you suggested, I will check with the OK Corporation Commission on-line and see what I come up with.
Ron Hicks said:
Jayda, take heart, I too am frequently overwhelmed by all this!! There are indeed billions and billions of dollars in unpaid royaties that never get collected, so doing research like you are doing is the correct and right thing to do, so pat yourself on the back. Many of my relatives have, over time, moved, and the envelopes containing their royalty checks say "DO NOT FORWARD", so even if they have filed a change of address form with the US Postal Service (which is good for only 12 months), they will not receive their money. They must notify the O&G company directly of their change of address. I have talked to landmen doing research specifically on OK properties tell me that a particular tract may have a thousand or more owners living all over the world, and they rarely find all of them. Do they always deposit the unpaid royalties with the OK Corporation Commission? In a word, no.
Beside the suggestions already given, the ultimate thing you need to find out is if the property is still under lease with Texon or their successor. There is an article on the home page with online resources, that I wrote.
Mr. Caldwell, that is what I needed to know but didn't think to ask that question. Very glad I decided to post on this forum. Feel like I'm finally headed in the right direction and not just chasing my tail. All of the suggestions given have been helpful and very appreciated.
Jayda,
It is not uncommon in the past for consultants to take an Overriding Interest as payment or partial payment for services provided.
What is the legal description? Major 1/4, Section, Township, and Range. Also the deed (or assignment) should show the original lease it was tied to. Usually it will have something like "oil and gas lease dated 01/01/1980 to John Smith recorded in book 1405 page 75 at the County Clerk of Grady County, Oklahoma".
I had to research several I found in our records. Some were much easier to find the status of than others. One is based on a lease from 1949 that is still active. Since there was not a depth clause in the lease, it looks like we might see a deep well on it base on the applications that have been filed with the OCC.
Another place to look for funds held in you father's name. (or the heirs)
http://www.ok.gov/treasurer/Unclaimed_Property/index.html
Rick,
From what I can tell in the letters between my father and Ken Green (President of Texon Resources) the ORR was a payment for his services.
Here is the legal description: Okfuskee County. Lot Four (4) and the East half of the Southwest Quarter (E/2 SW/4) of Section Nineteen (19) , Township Ten (10) East, Okfuskee County ( containing) 117.97 acres, more or less.
To include existing TR-502 well, and any wells to be drilled.
TR-502 was plugged back in 1988, I think that's the date.
Jayda,
You missed part of the description, but it appears to be Section 19-Township 10North Range 10East based on the additional info. AKA 19-10N-10E. Texon Resources did have a well called the Texon Resources TR-502, API 35-107-21851 in section 19-10N-10E It was drilled to a depth of 3848’ into the Lower Dornick Hill formation in 1984. The first sales date was in July 1984 the last in Feb 1985. It shows it was plugged in 1989. The last production I see from the entire section was back in 1993. I didn’t go to the trouble of trying to look up the spacing orders to see if those wells would had impacted that lease/OR since they are no longer producing . I don’t see anything drilled after 1985 in that section.
Since the lease would have expired at some point due to lack of production to hold it, I think it is a dead end. If you don’t see his name listed in the link I posted above, I doubt there is anything there at all.
Rick,
Thank you, thank you! You gave me in hours, the information I have been in search of for several years. Wonderful, looks as though I can put this behind me.
Though, I do find it interesting that the last sale date was in Feb. of 1985. However, it wasn't sold to my father.
Last sale date was the sale date of the oil and or gas from the well.