I’m hoping that I can get recommendations for a landman who can locate rights in Tyler & Wetzel Counties in West Virginia and Monroe and Belmont Counties in Ohio.
Both sides of family were in the oil business in West Virginia. I received my first lease a couple of years ago for one side of my family but haven’t received any from the other side. I should have rights on both sides of the Ohio River.
Also, if someone can provide information on how Landmen are paid, it will be greatly appreciated.
It is sad there is not a step by step process on how to do this work. Every State is different and sometimes each County with in a state is different. Hiring a lawyer can be expensive such in my case I found almost 80 leases over 5 states and 14 counties. But the income is less than 1,000 a year for me and my 3 siblings. I have been plugging through it all and working it out but is a full time job.
Check for activity first. Look at whether any operator is drilling near where you think you own an interest. If nobody is developing the area, a full title search may be money spent on something that never pays off. Ohio-side title is generally simpler than West Virginia.
The big risk in West Virginia: owning the land or “the minerals” doesn’t mean you own everything under it.
Ways the interest can be split
NPRI (non-participating royalty interest): you get a share of royalties but have no say in leasing and get no bonus.
Oil-only or gas-only: the two can be owned by different people.
Bonus vs. royalty: one branch of a family can hold the right to lease and collect the signing bonus, while another branch collects the royalties. This is the executive rights vs. non-executive interest issue.
Fractional interests: old deeds and inheritances can leave you with a small slice, not 100%.
Why it matters for cost
A landman or attorney running title bills for time, and in West Virginia that can add up fast. You could spend thousands to learn you hold a small or non-executive interest that never pays back the research cost
Operator to watch: Antero Resources is very active along the Ohio River in Tyler and Wetzel Counties. You may want to wait until Antero reaches out to you first.
Negotiating position: If you find you own the interest, don’t approach the drilling operator asking for a lease. Let them come to you, or you lose leverage on bonus and royalty terms.
It’s hard to recommend Petroleum Landmen or attorneys on this forum. May need to research finding a landman or oil and gas attorneys for West Virginia.
Follow-up. If you look up Tyler WV idx and Wetzel idx on the internet, it should give you the link to the County Clerk’s office. That is where the land records are located. Then you can enter the last name of your family and maybe a first initial, and it should list all deeds, leases, etc.
Now, a danger or something to be aware of is if the properties were neglected for a few years, they may have been lost to a tax sale, a partition, or a Special Commissioner’s lease.
Good suggestion re Tyler and Wetzel counties. Also remember that older records need to be found with the vault indexes. Both counties have grantor and grantee indexes separate, and the Wetzel further separates by grantor to deeds, grantor to oil and gas leases, grantee to deeds, etc. The indexes are somewhat tricky to use but not impossible. When you find something in the index, you then can do an Image Search for the deed or lease. That should keep you busy! I am unfamiliar with the Ohio documents for those counties. If you try these searches for Tyler and Wetzel counties, and need help, you can ask here or call the county offices.
Thank you! Yes, for me it’s an issue of time. In the counties that I mentioned, my last name is very common. To complicate matters, first and middle names have been used over and over again, so the search results are pages and pages.
Yes, I lost land in 2020 that is in Ohio due to a tax sale. Ironically, I was in the county office 3 months prior to the sale which is super annoying. The taxes hadn’t been paid in 60 years.
My father died when I was very young, his family was in the oil business. The leases that I have now are from his mother’s side but I should have some from his father’s side. I didn’t know his side of the family at all which is not normal considering how large the family is. It’s a personal endeavor so I want to reclaim what belongs to my family line.
Hi! It’s been mentioned already but I wanted to second going to the recorders office or the online search for each county. You can do the same work the Landman will do by looking at deeds and following the trails. It just depends on whether you want to pay for time or pay yourself for time. However, since the land was sold in tax sales, are you still within the window to redeem the properties? This is more of an attorney question since you’d need to petition the court to redeem the properties. There’s a list of attorneys who either sponsor or are associated with NARO that you can connect with that can guide you through that process. Many do in-house title work as well and can find the parcels you’re looking for. As with everything - it just depends how much you want to spend.