Hello:
My wife and I were recently contacted by Panther Energy Co. and were notified that she had inherited the mineral rights to a property in Ellis County, Oklahoma. After some proof of identity stuff we received a check for a little over $11,000 - pretty nice! Then a couple of weeks later we received a letter from some other company and a check in the mail allowing us to cash the check for $2,500 and sell our rights to them. We didn't do that but I joined this forum because we don't know the first thing about this stuff. We don't really understand what we own and what it might be worth so I hope I am talking to some people who own about the same thing that we do and can explain it to us.
Out well was drilled by Panther Energy Co. and is located in Section 6 of Township 19N-22W, almost in the populated area of Harmon, OK.The well was completed on April 10, 2008. Would someone be willing to take the time to tell me what I own and about what it's worth. It looks like it's going to pay us about $200 per month in royalties.
I will be happy to tell you any other information you need and I would appreciate a quick education by one or more of you. Thank you very much.
Wallace & Shari Hammond
Welcome to the forum, Wallace and Shari.
You might want to search here. I see her name listed with a higher value from the same company. It may be for another location.
http://www.occeweb.com/MOEASearch/index.aspx
This one may or may not be a duplicate entry.
https://www.ok.gov/unclaimed/index.php
I would STRONGLY suggest doing quite a bit of reading here and on the mineral help links above. Selling is usually not recommended but you know your own situation. PLEASE Please don’t do anything without a full understanding of what is going on.
I suggest researching where the rights came from and what they are. Was clear title established and how did the transfer occur. It is best to clear up any title issues to prevent your heirs from having issues. (or to maximize the value if you sell).
Also search the above links for the names she inherited the rights from and any siblings or relatives that may be affected. There may be more out there.
Rick:
Thank you so much for responding to my inquiry. I have called Panther this morning to inquire about the descrepency between the money we received and the money listed on the unclaimed escrow account. They promised to look into it and let me know. Seems like there is a lot to know about this stuff. I'm not sure I have the time to become an expert in it. If I could impose on you I would like to ask you a specific question - where can I go to research the exact well that I am being paid Rolalties on? I would like to know what it is producing (Oil, gas or both) and how long it is likely to last - such things as that. Thank you again for your response.
Wallace
Your pay stubs and division orders should have some of the information needed.
It looks like you have royalty interest in the Ruger 6-4H well API35-045-22692. It is a horizontal well with Total depth of 11648’ True vertical depth is 8400 in the Cleveland formation with about a 3000” lateral. The OCC has it classified as an oil well with 640 acre spacing
You can search for information on OCCs website @ http://www.occpermit.com/WellBrowse/ with the API number
It should have production reports for gas but I don’t see them. You can request production reports from the Oklahoma Tax commission.
In 2008 it produced 17K barrels , 2009 12K, 2010 7K. 2012 is showing about 260 ave per month. I’m not that up on the Cleveland formation, but a steep decline is typical on many horizontal wells I have followed. The gas numbers have been more stable.
How long will it last? Maybe an expert will chime in. (I’m sure not one.) I would think the decline will be less each year, but you should still see a decline. It is currently grossing $20K-25K a month on the oil so I don't see them shutting it down anytime soon. Hopefully they will drill another well and you can see a repeat performance.
Ron:
This is getting curiouser and curiouser :). I found the information on the well you described: Ruger 6-4H well API 35-045-22692 but when I looked at my Royalty check stub it was paid on RUGER 4H-6 API3508-350319. What do you think is up with that? Can the same well have 2 different API numbers? I also found that when the well was completed it regestered 568 MCFPD - I guess that's gas.
I do see some mistakes on occasion. But usually it will end up making sense somewhere. This one does not.
Here is a copy of the completion report for the Ruger 6-4H.
http://imaging.occeweb.com/OG/Well%20Records/00382926.pdf
The API number is State-County-Number. 35 is State of Oklahoma. 045 is Ellis Co. 083 is Logan Co. The dash seems to be in the wrong place. I don’t see a Ruger 4-6H or that api number listed. The PUN is 045-122651-0-0000 Maybe the number you are seeing is a company assigned number, but I’m not sure why they would put API in front of it.
There is no way I would sell my minerals on a producing well unless absolutely desperate for money. I doubt that it was an actual check in the mail, it was probably a bank draft.