My adult children were contacted by oil company wanting to purchase or lease 10 acres of mineral rights in Unitah and Duchesne Counties in Utah, that they inherited from their father. We know nothing about this industry and its’ workings. They received an offer to purchase for 20k. My son then asked about leasing and the company said they weren’t as interested in leasing as they were purchasing. My son asked for the legal description of the rights to enable him to do some research and there is no response from the Company. What should we do next??
You need to get as educated as possible. A landman may be able to run title for you and give you an idea of your children’s ownership and possible title issues to resolve. You may wish to visit with an attorney to determine what needs to be done to put the property into your children’s names. Watch this forum. As to the price, it is difficult to say whether that is fair or not. Generally, out-of-the-blue offers are low-ball.
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Thanks for your response. Just received information that there is current drilling/production in one of three wells. Described as very active producing an average of 40k barrels per day. There is money in "reserves ". Do we need to sign a lease in order to have reserves distributed? Talking to several companies but no one will divulge the amount reserved, but are eager to lease.
Sounds like you need to get some legal help to get the title in the proper name and to claim the royalties either by lease or pooling. The lease bonus is not the most important issue. The terms and clauses of the lease may need to be negotiated to be more in the mineral owner favor instead of the operator.
You should retain a Utah attorney to represent you. Sounds like there is money in suspense because of a title issue (you use the term reserve).
Any attorney recommendation in Utah, Uintah and Duchesne area??