Lost mineral rights?

I’ve inherited some surface and mineral /oil rights in Major county. Reading the deed & it says the mineral oil rights were for 99 years and expired spring of this year (2020). What happened to them? I’m so lost. Searching the major county records these parcels show up under so many different names and I dont understand the abbreviations the website uses to understand what was filed. Did we just lose a ton of rights because no one was paying attention?

Not seeing the document, hard to tell for sure, but you may have had what are called term minerals. They are leased or deeded for a certain period of time and then revert back to the owner at the end of the time period. You may need to get an attorney to read the document and explain it to you. 2020 is next year so get some help to see what you have.

Sorry I wrote that wrong. They were leased in 1920, expired in April 2019. We are the surface owners for half of that lot. Looks like the 99 years was for the other half that we don’t own surface rights to. Thank you for your help.

Ah, that would make sense. You ancestors may have sold part and kept part. They had some very long leases and deeds back then.

Are any of these producing or worth keeping. And do I have to get my own deed now? The interests of each of these were split into quarters (there are 4 of us heirs). This is the new warranty deed and has all of our names on it. My Grandparents always complained that the land & rights weren’t worth much. I’ve tried to look up the wells myself but I dont understand which wells are in our sections.

You may have royalties in 10-21N-11W. There is a well that has been online since 1995 and is still producing. Was your ancestor getting royalties? It is called the Miller 1-10 in the Ringwood Field. API number is 35-093-23921. Te-Ray Resources is the operator. You would need to contact them to see what you need to do to get into pay status and see if there is any back royalties due. Is this a new Warranty Deed from a probate? Has the probate been filed in Major County? You can look up the well on the OCC website. http://imaging.occeweb.com/OG/Well%20Records/OCC_OG_17DILQC_1O96MUA.pdf

15 is a bit more complicated.

Here is the map. Lots 1,2,3,4 are along the river. Looks like maybe a term lease of 99 years on the lots 3 & 4 and E/2 of NE4 (parcel 730223) and part of parcel 3243 and all of 469783. You may have lots 1, 2, and 1487 still owned by you. The Stahley #1 well is still active. Chesapeake is the operator. Chesapeake is also the operator of Stahley #2 which had production through 2018 (E2 NE4). Maybe back royalties?

Section 16 also includes the river, hence the lots

XTO has the wells in that area. Three may have royalties. Shidell 4-last production 2018, Shidell 1 and Shidell 6-16 are still online. They are term royalties, but still active.

Section 22- again, you have river lots. You have parcel 29, parcel 96, lots 1, 2 and parcel 669. Contact XTO as you may have royalties for the Lois and Beula wells.

Section 6-20N-11W These lots are correction lots for the curvature of the earth. You have part of the NE quarter . Contact XTO as you may have royalties from the Neufeld 2-6 in the NE4.

Given that there are four of you now, your percentages may be small. Each one of you must contact the operators to see what they will need to get you into pay status for the wells that are still producing. There is a bit of horizontal drilling in the area, so you may not want to sell at the moments as I see several wells permitted nearby. That could open up other horizons. As long as wells are producing on your term minerals, you get to keep the royalties from them.

You may have to get the probate all settled before getting royalties, but you do have some to hunt for.

Wow. Thank you! No probate, it was in a trust. Nona Miller was my great grandmother, that well is named after her. My Grandmother, who just passed, was getting small royalties. But she had severe dementia the last few years of her life. The warranty deed is new, filed in October. All I’ve heard from the trustee is we are waiting on a appraisal so we can move on with the rest of the estate. I’m doing my own research so I can make an informed decision moving forward. Again my Grandparents mostly complained about Ok. and never really explained to us why or how any of this works.

Condolences on the passing of your Grandmother. Welcome to the oil and gas business. While you are waiting on all the paperwork, you may want to get familiar with the Mineral Help tab above. Also look up the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. That is an important website for you.

I will do that. Thank you for all of your help!

What do I need to gather up to sell these and how do I calculate the NMA on lot 15 (since some are an expired term lease). Is it better to contact buyers in the area (checking records through OK records) or put them up for auction? This seems like a long term “what if” investment and in my situation the money could be put towards something with better predictable returns.

I would be interested in speaking with you in regards to your minerals. May I have your email?

OilPhan8- solicitations are not allowed on the forum. Emails should not be given out.

You need to wait for the probate to get finished and get the evaluations. The appraiser should should give you a net acre total for each section and a value based upon your current producing wells.

Then you need to contact each operator and get into pay status and collect any back royalties. If you sell before collecting, you will lose them and the buyer will get them.

You can look up recent buyers in the area on OKcountyrecords.com. You can also contact the reputable auction house. But get the money due you first. You will need the evaluation for any IRS capital gains tax calculations.

Do not give out your email on the forum.

Thank you so much. I’ll be patiently waiting for the appraisal then.

You can go ahead and contact the current operators and ask what they will need as far as title documents.

So I contacted te-ray. Nothing has been signed since 2013 so there’s money sitting there. Getting that straightened out. I contacted xto and they have no records of either of my Grandparents names or the trust.

Ok wonder who the current operators are??? Im lost

What section, township and range?