For future reference folks, don't let the oil company record a memorandum of lease instead of the entire lease at the courthouse. Leases are traded and sold, companies cease to exist, heirs don't know what they have, and your proof is in the recorded documents at the courthouse.
Unless you agreed to keep the lease confidential, there is no reason YOU can't record the lease you executed. I learned that one from Buddy Cotten.
I think my dad was really on the ball through the years and did just that. But I wonder if he was one of the minority that recorded everything.
All of the above can also occur even without a memorandum. In the case of a memorandum, the company will have a copy of the actual lease, as will the mineral owner. I have even offered to let a company record a memorandum instead of the actual lease in cases where I have been able to negotiate a better lease than "normal". Some companies prefer not to have all my extra "terms" available for their competition (and other mineral owners) to see so I am frankly fine with a memorandum if it gets me a better deal.
Frederick M. "Mick" Scott CMM, RPL
The Mineral Hub