Mitsui and Expand are battling each other for new acreage, mostly in the southwest quadrant of Anderson County.
I think Mitsui caught Expand by surprise with their aggressive move into Anderson County, via leasing by Vanna Production. Drake Exploration has done a lot of leasing for Expand in Houston County, and has moved into Anderson County, but Vanna’s leasing was well underway by the time Drake got started. Based on lease memos recorded to date, Vanna has leased around 37,000 gross acres in Anderson County, compared to 5,000 for Drake.
Mitsui and Expand are both bringing in additional firms to speed up the leasing process:
BTP Operating began leasing In June on behalf of Expand.
TMH Land also began leasing in June, probably for Mitsui, but not sure right now.
Even two firms that are normally mineral purchasers have begun leasing:
Palm Royalty began recording leases this month, and they are assigning leases to Vanna (Vanna will assign to Mitsui).
Horizon Minerals also has recorded some leases recently, but it is unclear if they are working on behalf of Mitsui or Expand, or if they are working for themselves.
As expected, the competition has increased lease bonus offers. It appears that some mineral owners are being offered more than $1,250 per NMA.
Will be interesting to see this competition plays out in the coming months.