Our family owns 20 nma in Section 33, T17,R 16W. We are not currently under any lease. Mewborne Oil recently sent informal lease offers to my children, a niece and a cousin who is a remainderman. Is this a common practice? Are they just trying to fill out the family tree for the future or is this predatory behavior? The varied options seem very low, also. $800nma & 3/16; $600 & 1/5; $0 & 1/4. I have put in a call and an email to the Landman.
It is not predatory behavior. Unless the life tenant has the exclusive right to sign the lease without the necessity of the remainderman joining in, they will also need a lease or ratification from the remainderman.
Those royalties are common for that area. Quite common to have $0 for 1/4th. Even offering a 1/4th is good. You may choose to lease or you may wait for pooling. Several agents are filing leases in that section, so you may have other offers. Would be wise to get legal help if you are leasing as the draft lease is not in the mineral owners’ (or remaindermans’) favor and need siginificant edits.
Mewbourne filed a horizontal permit in Dewey County in July 2025 targeting the Anadarko Basin. They’re not filling out the family tree speculatively, they’re building toward a specific unit and need all the interests signed before they can move. That’s why the remaindermen are getting contacted now.
The three options aren’t equivalent, and this is worth getting right. The bonus is a one-time payment. The royalty rate follows every well they drill in your section for as long as it produces.
Have you received any pooling notices yet?
Mewbourne has quite a few permits in Dewey County.
Use the wellrecords site to look them up. Form 1000. Since these are horizontals, the well name usually gives clues to the sections. For Example, there are several in 17N-16W, but their surface location is in 31-18N-16W and drill south into 6/7. Most all of them are targeting the Cherokee Shale which does lie in the Anadarko Basin.
No OCC cases for your sections yet. You will receive them by mail when they are ready. Leasing is still in progress.
Thank you. I appreciate the help.