I’m trying to figure out the total acreage in the unit pool of a Marcellus Shale well in Tyler County. I found a Plat from the original permit filed with the state that shows the boundary of the unit. Is it possible to be paid a royalty if outside the area shown on the plat?
John,
If you go to the Tyler County website http://129.71.117.165/ you will find a Declaration of Pooling for all units. Typically on the second to last page is a map that shows every tract included in the unit, which may assist you. Otherwise, I would suggest you contact the production company and request a Finalized Declaration of Pooling and a breakdown of percentages of any tract you own an interest in. Depending on the company, they usually are extremely helpful and happy to help, a few companies may need to be prodded a bit.
Cheers & Good Luck
What search term would I use to find a declaration of pooling? The website has changed in the past 3 weeks.
John,
Initially you will want to use the name of the production company and once that information is provided, there is a column for TYPE. Scroll through until you find "Oil & Gas Recording". Each County has it's own terms, in Ritchie it would be "Dec of Pooling".
Okay, thank you. It’s Antereo and I didn’t know how to sort through the thousands of hits their name would generate.
Does all the acres on a lease have to be used in the pool? Can they, for example, use one acre out of a 60 acre tract? If they can, does this limit the use of that 60 acres from being used in another pool for an adjacent horizontal leg?
John,
Frequently a tract is divided into two, three or four units, depending on the size of the tract. If your lease contained a Pugh Clause, any un-unitized portion of a tract can be leased at a later date. I would need to see your exact lease to give you an educated guess, if there is or is not a depth restriction, that too would be a contributing factor.
I am Not an Attorney, have told more than my share of Attorney jokes, but involving legal counsel on the front end, will save you a lot of headaches in the long run. Many say an attorney is too expensive to hire, but a lease may be binding for 40, 60, 80 years and I consider the legal expense as a cheap insurance policy.
Cheers & Good Luck
Declaration of Pooling is under the well pad unit name, in Tyler County.
Thank you!