I’m the financial POA for my elderly mother who rec’d a “Pre-pooling Well Proposal” from Camino Natural Resources re: Section 33-7N-7W Grady County, OK (GLOSS MOUNTAIN 0707 21-28-33-1MXH multi-unit horizontal well). This is the first I’ve known that we own interest in this area (letter was addressed to my (deceased) father c/o my mother).
I attempted to search on okcountyrecords.com to locate a deed /understand what we own but the only thing I could find was a Oil and Gas Lease from Ward Petroleum dated 1986 in my grandmother’s name.
How do i go about finding what we own?
The letter provides essentially 2 choices: 1. elect to participate in the drilling of the proposed well, 2. accept one of 3 offers to lease or assign interest to Camino (cash bonus of $2500/2250/2000 per net acre with 1/8th/3/16th/1/5th royalty (delivering Camino 87.5%/81.25%/80% net revenue interest) respectively. Any assistance in understanding those choices would be great!
3. what would you do if you knew very little about mineral rights ownership?
When searching don’t just look for a deed. There may be a copy of a probate order if your grandmother’s estate was probated. If not, you might be looking for some curative work. Often companies will lease based off of an affidavit of heirship but will then require a probate.
Most savvy mineral owners opt for the highest royalty even though the bonus is smaller because the lease can last for decades. It is best to not “sign” any option but request that they provide a lease. This should be reviewed by an attorney since these are heavily stilted in the company’s favor.
Asking questions in this forum is a great place to start.
This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.
Try searching your grandmothers and fathers name in Grady County, dont use the specific legals/advanced search (when you pull up okcountyrecords.com, click on grady county and a search bar appears, make sure you enter the names per their instructions). If that doesnt work, try searching her name on the home page. All you are looking for is a conveyance from her estate or a deed into your father. All that said, you would have to hire a landman to run the title to know exactly what you own and whomever leasing you will figure that out. The options are standard lease options. Option 1 could be quite expensive depending on how many acres you own, so I would take that one off the table. Out of the lease options, Id take the 1/5th royalty at 2K an acre but Id also ask them what bonus they would offer you for a 1/4 royalty
This is a pre-pooling letter. You do not need to answer it. It lays out the terms of the upcoming pooling. You can contact the attorney’s office that sent the letter and ask nicely for the paragraphs of the title opinion that pertain to your mother’s title to see where it originated. Ask them how many net mineral acres they are assigning to your mother. You will need that number in the future. The case number is 2025-003651. The hearing date was supposed to be 12/9/25, so watch for the order coming your way. It is not posted yet, but should be in a few more days. You can watch for it on the OCC: Error
You only have 20 calendar days in which to answer the pooling order when it is signed by the judge. Most of us would pick the highest royalty option as the long time payout to your mom and her heirs for a successful well or wells far outweighs the one time bonus for a lower royalty. If you need a template letter for answering the pooling, let me know and I can provide it.
As far as mineral rights ownership, the Mineral Help tab at the top is a useful place to start. The National Association of Royalty Owners is also quite helpful. They have an introductory membership for a year that gives you access to webinars, invites to conventions and another avenue in which to get answers to your questions.
Thanks for the responses. I searched in a variety of ways and still couldn’t come up with addtional documentation. I did find out Section 33-7N-7W Grady County, OK is related to house my grandmother lived in a very long time ago. My uncle said it’s a very small interest - I’m really not sure if it’s worth hiring a landman/attorney although most of what I read/watch says that’s what I should be doing. Thoughts on not hiring an attorney? Should an attorney be doing deed research, lease review, offer negotiation (on either the Camino or new Continental situation explained below)? Do individual owners attempt to negotiate offers?
We just rec’d Certified mail of the case number 2025-003651 pooling application and notice of hearing from an attorney’s office but there were no other documents included - nothing that requires a response. @M_Barnes: Guessing that comes after the court date and the application is approved/signed by the judge? Yes, please send me a template letter for answering the pooling! THANK YOU!
We also rec’d a letter from Continental Resources re: natural 1-1-18XHW, Section 1-8N-9W - Caddo County, Section 6-8N-8W - Grady County. I know a bit more about our interest in Caddo County so I’m assuming this letter applies only to that county for my family, specifically. This letter is not a pre-pooling proposal but has similar options as the letter from Camino - only the offer options are listed as “Lease/assign your interest to Continental for $1250 per acre delivering an 87.5% net revenue interest” rather than in terms of a cash bonus and royalty fraction. Again, any assistance in understanding those choices and whether attorney / negotiations are in order?
I will start with Mineral Help tab also. Thank you!
On the 33-7N-7W, you can just go with pooling if you want to keep thing simple and not hire an attorney.
Here is an example of a pooling response. Fill in the red parts and turn them black. Send by certified mail within the 20 calendar days of the order date.
0_Pooling order response 2024.docx (13.4 KB)
1-8N-9W- this sounds like a leasing letter. They have offered 3/16ths. I always ask what they are offering for 1/5th and 1/4th as I would rather have a higher royalty. The bonus will be less, but the royalties from a successful well or wells over many years will be far higher than a one time bonus for a lower royalty. You may get offers from more than one broker in this area. Continental is already drilling three mile laterals in the township. You can either lease or pool here as well when the time comes. The draft lease that will be offered needs some good attorney edits as it is not generally in the mineral owner’s favor. Post production costs are the big ticket item that you do not want to pay for.