Landowner Resources

I own a piece of land and have no experience with Mineral Rights. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what resources may be available to help me determineif there is “oil/gas in them there woods”.

Thanks,

Joe Sumrall

Joe, Here are a few things you can pursue:

  1. Visit the website of the oil and gas regulatory agency of the state where the land is located. They are all different, containing various amounts of data, but most are continually improving. Items of interest you might search for on the websites include: drilling permits near your property, current production near your property (if any), oil and gas Operator names that are active in your area, seismic permits in your area, etc. You get the drift.

  2. Talk to your neighbors. There’s nothing like chatting it up with those in the area who may have info that is of interest to all.

  3. Visit the county courthouse. Ask the clerks working there if there are any landmen working the courthouse. If so, get to know them. Inquire about activity in the area. In some cases, they’re not talking - protecting the company they are working for, but in many cases they have nothing to hide and will talk freely.

These things ought to get you started.

Kenny,

Thanks for the info. This is great.

Joe

NOT LEGAL ADVICE

Dear Mr. Sumrall,

I would suggest contacting whatever state agency in Alabama is responsible for regulating the oil-and-gas industry, and inquiring about well permits and production surrounding your tract of land. In Texas, one can go online and see this information on a map and quickly determine whether or not there has been any production in the area.

Sincerely,

Philip Wynne

Their is a great free web site www.LappinTech.com that has lots of oil & gas maps plus a database that gives well information. Give it a try, upon opening site click oilfield maps at the top, this will take you into a database that has over 600,000 well records that open into google earth maps.

Pumper Jack