Oil & gas discussion group for those interested in Kern County, CA. Share your experience regarding lease bonus, royalty rates, drilling activity, and oil & gas news.
Just found this site. We’ve been approached by a landman for holdings in a nearby county. It appears legit but we are still swapping emails with them.
So, which County? You know the lease is open for discussion and so are most of the terms. Are you happy with the lease terms? Have you investigated the legal ramifications for the full term? They do not offer much on the first round. Some might want to hold out for better terms.
Sorry for the delay but we still haven’t seen a draft lease. We understand there is flexibility and have heard back from other family members that their terms changed after negotiations. Have you signed a lease yet? Where else did you go for info?
Hi Bill,
I understand your time issue frustration - they want to drag their collective feet - but changing their terms is a no no!! Hold your ground. If you can get the entire family together to agree as a whole group (have one spokesperson) you will do a lot better on the deal. I have not signed yet, and have received another bid from a competitor at a much higher price. I am in no rush to sign so maybe there is more left on the table. Are you dealing with the oil company directly, or a used car salesman? As far as other offers/oil companies, I am cautious to display this on an open forum - right? Also check the lease terms for details; this is a very important issue as you will be bound for the “term”. Make room for inflation over time. What is your parcel location - mine is T26S -R20E.
Enjoy, Richard
When we finally get to the finish line, we will be the only unsigned members left. The other members were successful in getting an increase in rate but I need to call them once I get a draft in my hands. Not sure how our relative parcels compare but we have close to a Section of land that’s an aggregate of several portions of adjacent Sections. Our rights are west of Lemoore
Bill
Hi, I am an oil and gas lawyer located in Bakersfield. I wanted to join this group to give some informal information to those mineral owners out there who are being offered leases in Kern, Kings, Fresno, and Tulare Counties. The price for rents per net mineral acre are rapidly changing as are the oil and gas companies involved in obtaining leases in these counties. Some oil and gas companies are not as reputable as others. Some have no intention of drilling at all but simply take leases to sell to other oil and gas companies who will drill, thus these companies will not offer as much as the actual producers will. So, check the oil and gas companies’ reputations if you can.
So this landsman firm we have been approached by has sent me several issues of something called the Munger Oilgram. What significance does it have? How do you evaluate the reputation of this kind of firm? The one that has contacted us is based in Bakersfield. Who do you represent?
New member! Soon to negotiate a mineral lease on my lot in Kern County. Very informative site and looking forward to finding a company as well as attorney for the lease.
New member here. Does anyone have any recent news with regards to the Oxy Find, which I have read about?
A Landman located me to ask if I was the descendant of my father, etc., and has produced a lease of $25 per acre and 1/6th royalties, etc., something that perhaps some of you are familiar with. I’d forgotten that there were mineral rights on land my grandfather once owned. Should I have an attorney look this lease over before signing it?
My head is beginning to ache from attempts to read it.
Is there any activity in California City? Any input is appreciated.
I own property in and around California City and I recently did my annual drive thru of the area a couple weeks ago. Not much change, if any at all, was seen.
I am curious if anyone else has a parcel nearby and has been contacted by any landman recently. My parcel is located in Section 35, Range 23E, Township 32S. (South Taft area)
I have received lease offers from MP. The first was $25 per acre and 1/6 royalties. I ran the 11-page lease offer/contract by a friend of mine. He is an expert landman. Without bashing the company, he said it was a bad contract and he would not sign it. With that being said, there is rarely a reason to ever stop negotiations. The latest offer is $75 an acre and the royalties 3/16. My parcel is in Section 2, Township 11N, Range 21W, M.D.M. I would say read the contract; if you don’t understand it, get an attorney.
We were approached by Oxy over 16 months ago saying they wanted to explore the possibility of using our land. They said they want to do some exploration and then they would contact us. We haven’t heard much since. How long does it take before they make a decision as to whether or not they want to use our land? Every time we speak to the landman he says that they have not made it to our parcels yet and that there has been a delay. Is this normal?
I too was approached by Oxy sometime back. They did a seismic exploration and haven’t heard anything since then. The landman said the testing was actually completed back in January 2011 and test results were currently being reviewed. I heard the process takes months if not years. My small parcel is located in Section 35, Township 23E, Range 32S.
Hi Folks - I’m a new member, now considering a proposed lease of a family-owned 30-acre parcel several miles northeast of McKittrick, CA. Most other family members have signed, at $25/acre. Speaking to the landsman, White Wolf of Bakersfield, I requested their exploration schedule but so far they’ve been unable to provide this. I asked if lands were leased for purposes of keeping them undeveloped, improving the prospects of nearby properties being pumped by Oxy? No, she assured me, that doesn’t make economic sense to lease without intent to develop. Comments on this, or on White Wolf in general, would be much appreciated. Thanks.
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Hi I am a new member as well. My family has 64 acres location:
T S32, R 26E, Sec. 11, beginning SW corner of Sec. 11. We are looking to contact our neighbors in this area to share information and who the landsmen are that they are dealing with. From all the research I have done the first thing you do is compare notes with your neighboring parcel owners, as a group we can use each other to share useful information before negotiating contracts.
You guys I also learned about the “pugh clause”, you should add this to a contract before you sign. I was told this by a friend who retired from Chevron he negotiated contracts for them worldwide. For info I found this: http://pagaslaw.net/pugh_clause.html
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