I am wondering if anyone has ever worked with Noble Energy, Inc based in Ardmore, OK? I find that their revenue statements are difficult to understand and cannot find the well or api numbers to track our production on the state oil and gas websites. No one answers their 1-800 number when I call and press many of the phone extensions. Does anyone else work with hard to reach big time Operators and want to share tips?
The cold, hard, bad, truth is that as soon as the lessee has your lease and they get a well, the lessee and operator are through with you. You are yesterdays newspaper after it was used to wrap fish. They already have what they need from you, if you need to talk to them it's almost assuredly bad news and not a way they can further profit. That being the case, they are hard to contact and rarely return calls. The only operator I have real communications with is the one that has 6 wells on my minerals and no lease, and they are not talking to me because they think they might make more money but because they make mistakes which will cost them alot more in the long run if we don't talk and work things out in a timely manner. If I were leased they would just ignore me like they do everyone else, which makes me smile when they tell me that I can still lease at any time, like the smile I'm wearing right now just considering it. : ) I'm sorry, you just don't have any pull after you lease, especially if you didn't have drawn up and use your own lease form. If you signed the lessees lease, I think you would be better off looking for a statute that allows you to audit them, it might be handy to have if you ever do get to talk to the operator and possibly even more handy if you never get to talk to them. Good luck with your minerals.
Very well said R. W.
Clint Liles
r w kennedy said:
The cold, hard, bad, truth is that as soon as the lessee has your lease and they get a well, the lessee and operator are through with you. You are yesterdays newspaper after it was used to wrap fish. They already have what they need from you, if you need to talk to them it's almost assuredly bad news and not a way they can further profit. That being the case, they are hard to contact and rarely return calls. The only operator I have real communications with is the one that has 6 wells on my minerals and no lease, and they are not talking to me because they think they might make more money but because they make mistakes which will cost them alot more in the long run if we don't talk and work things out in a timely manner. If I were leased they would just ignore me like they do everyone else, which makes me smile when they tell me that I can still lease at any time, like the smile I'm wearing right now just considering it. : ) I'm sorry, you just don't have any pull after you lease, especially if you didn't have drawn up and use your own lease form. If you signed the lessees lease, I think you would be better off looking for a statute that allows you to audit them, it might be handy to have if you ever do get to talk to the operator and possibly even more handy if you never get to talk to them. Good luck with your minerals.
I think it might have been even more helpful if I had stressed that if you think you will ever need anything from the operator, make sure you are entitled to it in the lease because later there is no way to renegotiate, so I am saying so now.
Marian,
I called Noble's corporate headquarters in Houston and spoke to a REAL person. She said if you don't have any luck with the Royalty Owners Relations Dept 800-220-5824 Call the Houston Office 281-872-3100 ask for Kim Kite. Good Luck!
I have had this issue continually on the WI I have in the West RKM field in Hockley County, wherein Oxy is the 98% WI majority owner, and the operator. Can't get a call back from Owner Relations for weeks, and when/if I do, it's just a lackey who can't answer any real questions, and then it's not the answer to the question I asked... OR, I will get a call from the Land Dept., asking me to sell my WI to Oxy.
Ain't happening... My grandfather was instrumental in drilling those wells in the '40's, I have just gone through 6 years of costly CO2 conversion, and it's going to start to produce soon. But I feel like the landowner in the 1860's, standing athwart the railroads coming through that want to buy his land, saying, "over my dead body".
Very frustrating.
I've had the same problems with Panther Energy out of Tulsa.
Here is what was done to us by lessee Cody Oil:
Landman Luke Montieth never bothered to find our Utah 1998 Trust showing me as Successor Trustee, and he did find a Utah 2003 'will/trust', with my sister shown as both personal rep in the 'will' and as 'trustee' ,who has to deal with the personal rep, of a will that was devoid of any assets after it conveyed Mother's house by warranty deed to the 2003 'trust', thence to our brother in July 2006.Mother died 4/20/05.
Our 89 year old Mother had already conveyed the house to our brother by quit claim deed in 1999, but the Utah lawyer was happy to take her money for something our brother never even asked for.
Luke convinced our sister to sign the July 2009 lease as the 1998 trustee while living in Laos , and return it to him without being notarized, as it was holding up a huge block of tracts that he had already leased for drilling by Brigham/Statoil.
Our sister asked this brother, who did not even know that he was listed as secondary 2003 personal rep/trustee until this was revealed at a hearing on 1/3/13, to hand out the lease ratifications and checks for each heir, while,had Luke done his homework, only, I as Successor Trustee, would have ratified the lease in July 2009.
I did NOT return the individual ratification to Luke, but I did cash the check, as things had gone so far there was no way to fix anything.
The Williams county Recorder has no record of myself and another brother ratifying the 2009 lease.
The fact that Luke had each heir dealt with individually is proof that he botched the job.
I as Successor Trustee, should have ratified the lease as Trustee in July 2009.
Our sister and 2 brothers signed their individual ratifications.
Judge Rustad at Williston ruled on 1/3/13 that the empty 6/6/03 'will/trust' had revoked the 6/30/98 Trust that had owned the minerals for over 15 years,proving that 6 productive wells were drilled in 2011/2012 under a null lease, and the 2003 Trust should be allowed by some agency in authority to go non consent.
I need advice on how our 2003 Trust can go non consent and be partners in these wells, and any others that are drilled, in perpetuity.
Cody, who is shown as partner with Stewart Geological and Prolific Petroleum, can try to get the $200/acre that we received reimbursed to them from well proceeds, but a hearing before the Commission at Bismarck should settle matters about the status of them and partners in the fraud that was pulled on us Wagenman heirs, who elect to go non consent in the 6 wells.
r w kennedy said:
The cold, hard, bad, truth is that as soon as the lessee has your lease and they get a well, the lessee and operator are through with you. You are yesterdays newspaper after it was used to wrap fish. They already have what they need from you, if you need to talk to them it's almost assuredly bad news and not a way they can further profit. That being the case, they are hard to contact and rarely return calls. The only operator I have real communications with is the one that has 6 wells on my minerals and no lease, and they are not talking to me because they think they might make more money but because they make mistakes which will cost them alot more in the long run if we don't talk and work things out in a timely manner. If I were leased they would just ignore me like they do everyone else, which makes me smile when they tell me that I can still lease at any time, like the smile I'm wearing right now just considering it. : ) I'm sorry, you just don't have any pull after you lease, especially if you didn't have drawn up and use your own lease form. If you signed the lessees lease, I think you would be better off looking for a statute that allows you to audit them, it might be handy to have if you ever do get to talk to the operator and possibly even more handy if you never get to talk to them. Good luck with your minerals.
Yes, It appears that non consent is the way to go, but the producers seem to be protected by the Commission.
So unless there is a royalty owner advocate or ombudsman that I may have missed seeing anything about, what are the chances of getting a fair shake at hearing?
Mr.Kennedy,
Is there a way to void this and have it in another selection?
I did read that double posting is not allowed.