I am in Texas and am a surface estate holder with no mineral rights on the property. The minerals are leased and have been held by production since the 1920's. The lease has a right of way provision which gives rights-of-way to the mineral lessee for roads, pipelines, etc and full ingress and egress rights.
My issue is whether I can specify a particular gate I want them to use. Currently they go in whatever gate they please, but many of the operator employees drive fast (speed limit signs are posted but not followed) and we would like to have them use a single gate to manage the traffic and minimize risk of damage to property and livestock. The gate I am thinking has access from a county road and connects to all roads on the property. It is the closest gate to their main plant and where most of the wells are located. All other wells are accessible through the existing road network. I have researched this extensively but can't find much helpful information outside of easements which I am not sure applies.
I would first contact the operator and specify what access to use. I would place your personal locks on all other entrances. The only thing the operator needs is access to the wells and per your comments, one entrance would provide the necessary needs for the operator. Again, your first step is to contact the operator and request that all pumpers, service companies, etc. is aware of this access issue.
I should have specified in the original post that I have asked the operator to use the gate in question and this was not responded to amicably. Despite long standing good relationships with field personnel the landman assigned to the lease has been a pain to deal with thus far and is unwilling to work with us on this and other issues related to the lease. The operator stated that they would call the local sheriff and cut the locks off if I prevented them from accessing the gates they are accustomed to using. Rather than waste everybody's time and have to buy new locks I decided to leave the gates unlocked and not push the issue until I know I have a leg to stand on.
On a side note, this (freshly minted) landman acts like a punk and doesn't understand the value of good will. I have provided materials and afforded field personnel many courtesies despite being under no obligation to do so in the interest of maintaining good relationships. When the time finally comes where I ask a favor it is met with hostility, rudeness, and threats. I don't know whether this guy thinks I am stupid or a pushover, but when the time comes I think he will find he is wrong on both counts.
charles s mallory said:
J Apple:
I would first contact the operator and specify what access to use. I would place your personal locks on all other entrances. The only thing the operator needs is access to the wells and per your comments, one entrance would provide the necessary needs for the operator. Again, your first step is to contact the operator and request that all pumpers, service companies, etc. is aware of this access issue.
J Apple, If the land man says he will call the cops, you call them first and have them tell you what they feel they would do. Get their views so if you speak to land man again you may have a reply to get him off his high horse.
I completely agree with your suggestion. I have spoken with the county district attorney and discussed the issue. The DA said that in these kind of civil matters once the LEO sees there is no threat to anybody's safety they leave pretty quickly so that is a non-issue. Also, he said that cutting the locks would be a criminal offense and I could press charges if I wanted so having a LEO around might not be so bad after all.
Good news for me, but I have my doubts that this will get resolved out of court. I am going to continue to build my case and resume negotiations once I am sure that I have enough to substantiate my position in front of a judge.
If as you have stated that your problem is with the Land Man and you have worked with the field people reasonably well, talk with them and let them know problems are coming from this third party. Unless of course they are the ones who sent you to them. If they know a problem is brewing they may try to head things off at the pass (sorry for trail boss slang).
Haha, no problem here with trail boss slang. I tend to write a lot more properly than I talk and I would like to think I've become fluent in cowboy over the years :)
Unfortunately while many of the field personnel are "regulars" and are here often, with the increase in drilling we have seen in the past couple years I get many folks who don't come around too often and those are generally the ones who cause problems. This is tough to coordinate with regular field personnel as they know a delivery is scheduled, but not necessarily who the driver is. As terrible as the the drop in oil has been for my other interests, maybe some pullback will cause this to be less of an issue for now.
The other issue is that some things I have a right to under the lease can't happen unless the main office approves it. For example there is a free house gas provision and the house has been hooked up to the pipeline since I bought the place and well before, but the well has developed dangerous h2s levels and can no longer be used for heating indoors safely. I still have a right to gas as long as the lease is active since there is no restrictive language to the contrary and implied usability for heating houses, but field personnel are unable to provide an alternative without head office approval. This leaves me stuck dealing with the guy I've been dealing with unless i can find a way to go over his head.
Funny thing is the field personnel were very embarrassed at how the landman has treated me thus far and have been pulling favors since. Suffice to say my roads have never looked better.
Sadly it seems you may need an attorney to call the home office. This may wake someone up to you being serious. When one point of contact flip you off and he knows you have to go through him you need to twist that finger (now I am in to quasi vulgar but cleaned up. Need to work with multi-lingual). Does not sound like simple 2 by 4 will work.
On separate issue do you know anything or anyone who has dealt with a Salt Water Well. I have been contacted by a person and need to come up to snuff on pros and cons and then into specifics (does this cover vagueness okay). John
J Apple said:
Haha, no problem here with trail boss slang. I tend to write a lot more properly than I talk and I would like to think I've become fluent in cowboy over the years :)
Unfortunately while many of the field personnel are "regulars" and are here often, with the increase in drilling we have seen in the past couple years I get many folks who don't come around too often and those are generally the ones who cause problems. This is tough to coordinate with regular field personnel as they know a delivery is scheduled, but not necessarily who the driver is. As terrible as the the drop in oil has been for my other interests, maybe some pullback will cause this to be less of an issue for now.
The other issue is that some things I have a right to under the lease can't happen unless the main office approves it. For example there is a free house gas provision and the house has been hooked up to the pipeline since I bought the place and well before, but the well has developed dangerous h2s levels and can no longer be used for heating indoors safely. I still have a right to gas as long as the lease is active since there is no restrictive language to the contrary and implied usability for heating houses, but field personnel are unable to provide an alternative without head office approval. This leaves me stuck dealing with the guy I've been dealing with unless i can find a way to go over his head.
Funny thing is the field personnel were very embarrassed at how the landman has treated me thus far and have been pulling favors since. Suffice to say my roads have never looked better.
The issue of having a gas tap provided for your home is important. I am only familiar with the issue in Kansas since it was recently addressed by courts there. Buddy, could you provide any additional suggestions about that issue? I'm unfamiliar with the law in Texas when it comes to lease agreements where gas is provided to the landowner for personal use. I know it will likely all come down to what your lease agreement says, but the courts have also made decisions about these types of agreements as well.
In Kansas (depending on the wording of the lease) if the lease says "gas for stoves and lights" that has been decided by the court to mean "usable" gas, and the lessee (operator) is responsible for providing "usable" gas or else the lease agreements have been breached. It was a big class action suit against Oxy. It started when Oxy sent a letter to royalty owners saying that they might not be able to provide free gas as the Hugoton gas field pressure continues to decline. It gets even more interesting if you own the minerals and not the surface (where someone is using free gas). Kind of puts the surface owner against the mineral owner in terms of maximizing the production of gas, with the operator in between.
If the lease has been ignored or if the existing network complies with the lease terms, then I don't see how you can enforce a change either way except by persuasion. Failing to act after nearly 100 years basically means you have accepted the way it is.
I think I would find the highest manager I can and annoy them by phone or letter about once a week. After while they will want you off their back. Stick to that one person...someone who can actually do some arm twisting him/herself.
I would suggest that you send the company or companies legal department a certified letter, return receipt requested, explaining you problem with the landman or others. There may be more than one company involved.
This will almost always get you some kind of response. The legal dept. might check with the land dept. or productions dept. and the balls usually will start to "roll".