Identify the purchasing company?

General Mineral Rights Discussion
#1

Can someone point me in the right direction for how to identify the first purchaser company, or help me to understand whether it is the purchaser or gatherer who pays royalty payments?

I have 30 years of unpaid/unclaimed royalties somewhere and I’m trying to locate them. Records show address unknown for the owner and I’ve gone to Texas and Delaware unclaimed property and so far nothing. Wondering if maybe the payments were remitted by the purchaser and turned over to the state where they are/were incorporated. I pulled the P-4s from the RRC and they only show the gatherer.

Jeff

#2

You can observe qualified professionals who provide services to mineral owners in our Mineral Service Provider Directory. These practitioners are often able to provide the specific services that meet your needs.

The Mineral Rights Forum Administration

#3

You can start by contacting any operators of wells in the section. They should be able to point you in the right direction of where to look for unclaimed funds or who makes the royalty payments on the wells.

The owner relations department would be a good place to start. It is helpful if you can provide upfront a few things:

  1. name of whom the funds may be held under
  2. legal description/well name
  3. documents showing proof of ownership (chain of title)

If you are not certain of title you can have a title search done in the county. This part is important to provide in case the operator is showing someone different in their system due to curative title issues.

You can also trace the county records back to see who operated the wells in the past. It may be useful to reach out to them to see if they have any historical files to help you along your search.