We were approached 5-6 weeks ago to sign a lease for land we didn’t know about. The land is 52 acres but there paying us a lease bonus of $130. ($20 an acre). So, I assume are percentage of the whole land is just 6.5 acres. Plus, there is a 15% royalty from any produce & from the wellhead. This is a southern county where little oil has been drilled before.
It’s been hard finding help since we live in a state that is not known for oil. I’ve tried reaching out to several mineral lawyers. Some couldn’t because of a conflict. I thought one was going to help but its been several weeks. They say time frames in Illinois are heavily impacted. I assume that has to do with covid or perhaps its to small for them to bother.
Well since then I found this sight and am shocked at what I might be paying for lawyer fees, especially if this is not a profitable well. I seemed to remember seeing a post here that an alternative to a lawyer would be finding another leasing agent to review the paper work before saying. How would I find one? Should the agent be in the same region as the oil land?
If the minerals are in Texas, TAMU website has a good reference guide for tips on oil and gas leasing on this website which you can download for free. You should post information on location of the minerals (Section, Block, County, Abstract) and someone with knowledge of that area can give you some advice on bonus and royalty rates. If your minerals are in Illinois, then you have posted in the wrong place.
Your post only mentioned lease bonus. It did not mention royalty percentage, a Pugh Clause, Depth Clause, no-deduct clause, etc. Pay a few hundred dollars to get proper advice. Don’t focus on the bonus as the value of the lease.
You might search for AAPL (American Association of Professional Landmen) members in Illinois, and ask one of them to review.
Naro might also have someone in Illinois who can review for a modest fee.
Thanks, I really like what I see on the Naro site and might give them a call tomorrow. Their videos where helpful and simple enough for a beginner like me to understand.
Thank you everyone for your comments. I’m still pondering what to do and will make another call tomorrow. I do have a thought and wonder if anyone else has done this to save on attorney fees: to have a professional landman-buisness consultant to write up and negotiate an agreement, then just have an attorney double check it.