Lease Not interested

Received an oil and gas lease from Antero Resources. Not interested in signing it. Left message for Landman who kicked it up a notch to the next level. Received message on phone today that if I don't sign they will sell it on the court house steps. Can they do this is Doddridge County, WV?

Why are you not interested?

Are you delinquent on taxes? If you were behind on your taxes the county might be able to auction your property on the courthouse steps. The new owner could sign the lease.

If you are not behind on your taxes I would assume that it was a typical landman ploy to cause fear of the unknown.

If you are behind on your taxes I would find a way to pay them, to be on the safe side.

I would suggest that after you make sure that your property can't be sold out from under you that you only deal with landmen/lessees/oil companies in writing as they are much less likely to commit a scare tactic to writing. I hope this helps.

I do not own the property only the mineral rights and only a portion of them. I just recently learned (from Antero) that I and a number of other heirs (don't know how many and Antero will not share the information) own the mineral rights to this property. They have forwarded a lease to me, said here are the terms, accept it as written, sign and date and return by this date. When I replied that I simply wasn't interested in signing the lease they left a phone message saying OK but I suggest you sell your portion to another heir or you may lose it on the steps of the court house. Doesn't sound like a company that I would want to do business with.

I don't know if non -producing minerals are taxed in WV. It would probably be easy to find out if taxes are owed.

I agree with you about it sounding like a bad company to do business with. The thing about oil companies is they use landmen as cutouts so they can disavow their actions and say they really aren't like that and it was the actions of one rogue landman, but you hear the same sorts of things over and over on these forums.

There are some WV specific forums here with good information. I wish you the best.

Thank you for responding. It is a lot to absorb and I feel that the short time limitation is a strategy to get me to sign quickly and not ask questions. I am mostly concerned about my liability if I were to enter into the lease. Also have concern about the land owner and how this will affect him/her. Remember the golden rule.......I don't want to simply make money off the back of someone else who might have to suffer from my action. I prefer to move cautiously and be informed. Not to mention that I am not convinced that "fracking" is not harmful to the environment. It is a lot to think about.

"They" cannot sell YOUR minerals on the courthouse steps. The county government can do so IF minerals are taxed in West Virginia AND you are not current on those ad valorem (property) taxes (in most states, only the royalty stream of income that occurs after production begins is taxed by the local government). You are wise not to move to quickly whenever your signature is requested on a legal document. If the landman wanting you to do so is not patient and helpful with you, he probably is not with a reputable outfit.

Show up with an attorney. I don't know WV law, but you may have a litigation in your favor?

I have non-producing minerals in Colorado and they DO TAX non-producing minerals, its up to the counties and some do,also have some in Kansas that also tax.

I would get in touch with county assessor and see if you owed any taxes.

Pete Wrench said:

"They" cannot sell YOUR minerals on the courthouse steps. The county government can do so IF minerals are taxed in West Virginia AND you are not current on those ad valorem (property) taxes (in most states, only the royalty stream of income that occurs after production begins is taxed by the local government). You are wise not to move to quickly whenever your signature is requested on a legal document. If the landman wanting you to do so is not patient and helpful with you, he probably is not with a reputable outfit.

Maybe the landman meant to say that the oil and gas company would force-pool you if a lease was not signed. Either way, I would check with the county tax office / county appraiser and find out if any assessments (taxes) are due on your share of the minerals.

If they haven't started to drill and they haven't to my knowledge, then I don't believe that I would owe any mineral right taxes. I may not know too much about mineral rights but I am an educated person and will learn. I recognize a scare tactic when I hear it and the message that was left for me was just that. If this is the way Antero Resources deals, I am not interested in negotiating with them. They can drag me kicking and screaming and I will meet them on the steps of the courthouse. I don't believe from what I have read that WV is a forced pooled state; at least not yet. They attempted to pass a bill supporting forced pooling but it failed.



Kitchen said:

Maybe the landman meant to say that the oil and gas company would force-pool you if a lease was not signed. Either way, I would check with the county tax office / county appraiser and find out if any assessments (taxes) are due on your share of the minerals.

I don’t work for the tax office but in a similar and related profession and even though you may not have production, errors do get made and taxes could be assessed. Happens every day. Can’t blame you for ignoring a scare tactic but it never hurts to check the tax rolls for your own piece of mind.

OK. Thanks for the information. I will check with the tax office.

Lula Mae Gray,

I'm a WV attorney, and I do a lot of oil and gas. Sorry I'm late to the party. I try to give advice on the forums whenever there's a question, but I got myself too busy for a few months there. If you want some help with this situation, let me know and I'll see if there's something I can do for you.

Usually in these situations (minerals have been divided up between heirs through intestate succession) there are two tax scenarios. One, the minerals are not listed in the landbooks, and so aren't taxed, and so can't be sold for back taxes. Most WV counties are not going to put a non-producing oil and gas interest on the books, so the landman's threat was an idle threat. Two, someone has been administering the estate of great-grandpa, paying the taxes on the entire parcel. If the administrator has neglected to pay taxes, they usually have been sold on the courthouse steps. You wouldn't be talking to a landman if that was the case.

It's possible, though unlikely, that the administrator has neglected to pay the taxes and the interest has not been sold on the courthouse steps. In this case, the landman would be right to say that your interest could be sold for back taxes. But it's a process, and you can redeem the interest for the price paid plus interest for the next couple of years. So again, something of an idle threat.

The landman shouldn't have said what he did, and was probably just trying to intimidate you into signing the lease.

Don't sign the lease without having me or another oil and gas attorney help you out.

Kyle Nuttall

Dear Kyle & Lula Mae,

My Brother & I inherited from our Mother, interest in mineral (oil) rights that were originally leased to Pa. company in 1897. We've paid our share of the taxes every year since receiving the inheritance and have also received royalties since there are (2) active wells on the property located south of the town of Big Issac in Harrison County.

We've been contacted by Antero and have received similar paperwork Lula Mae's requesting we sign. I have a a couple of question's, Kyle, that would probbably interest Lula Mae, as well.

What happens if we don't sign? Is Antero still obligated to pay us royalties?

I don't know any other heirs but my Brother, but could probably do some research to find them & learn what they have done or experienced.

Although I would rather see solar, wind & nuclear become the future (which they will), it's obvious that fracking is here to stay & the conversion of this country to natural gas (away from coal) is all but a done deal. All you need do is watch the "GAS LAND 2", and you can see that Washington & world governments are fully committed to gas as coals replacement for the next couple of generations, NO MATTER WHAT THE HUMAN COSTS ARE. In other words, "RELAX & ENJOY IT!".

I'm a member of the Harrison County Group, as well.

Thanks for any help you can give us!

John Hensler

Dear Kyle & Lula Mae,

My Brother & I inherited from our Mother, interest in mineral (oil) rights that were originally leased to Pa. company in 1897. We've paid our share of the taxes every year since receiving the inheritance and have also received royalties since there are (2) active wells on the property located south of the town of Big Issac in Harrison County.

We've been contacted by Antero and have received similar paperwork Lula Mae's requesting we sign. I have a a couple of question's, Kyle, that would probbably interest Lula Mae, as well.

What happens if we don't sign? Is Antero still obligated to pay us royalties?

I don't know any other heirs but my Brother, but could probably do some research to find them & learn what they have done or experienced.

Although I would rather see solar, wind & nuclear become the future (which they will), it's obvious that fracking is here to stay & the conversion of this country to natural gas (away from coal) is all but a done deal. All you need do is watch the "GAS LAND 2", and you can see that Washington & world governments are fully committed to gas as coals replacement for the next couple of generations, NO MATTER WHAT THE HUMAN COSTS ARE. In other words, "RELAX & ENJOY IT!".

I'm a member of the Harrison County Group, as well.

Thanks for any help you can give us!

John Hensler