Mineral Owner Questions Statoil & Antero

Hi everyone…a number of things. First off searching for some relatives…mainly Muddy Creek area, Sistersville too. Names are Weekly and Henderson aires. I’ve researched before but cannot remember where I saw the paperwork. Currently leasing with Jay-Bee and sort of OK with that. At least getting royalties, but not much to be honest. I am thankful though. It just burns me up those royalties come already taxed, and then I have to pay additional taxes to Tyler County. I get that ??? I guess, but double-dipping?? The second thing I am REACHING OUT for advice is. Apparently another lease is up after 5 years (Statoil). I was pretty happy with them and got a nice sign-on bonus. SO…NOW…out of the blue, clear sky Antero sends me LEGAL paperwork to sign off with them. VERY HESITANT to do so…just the paperwork…very little conversation initiated by the Landman, Lee Dunn. In my first phone connection, he was very mumbled about a sign-on bonus. Offered VERY LITTLE information and WOULD NOT disclose to me any relatives who have or have not signed on. He stated it was against company policy??? I never ran into that issue before, so this alone makes me hesitant and unwilling to sign. Just kind of feel this was more of an “assuming” thing, and where he came up with the information sort of bugs me as well. IN ADVICE OUT THERE ??? MUCH APPRECIATED.

Sounds normal now days. Back when they were leasing everybody and everything, they were giving good money. These days they are more hesitant and even less informative. I think they play coy and hope they can get leases for next to nothing. They are not in as good of a position as when gas was higher. There is still demand but prices are a lot lower. From what i have heard, the land agents they have now are even worse than we dealt with back when things were booming. I believe they are trying to be more sly in trying to get you to sign. The co-tenancy bill put them in a position where it made it hard for them to file partition suits against mineral owners. Since you know where and what you have, you may want to check what they have done in the area.

Debra - DT11 is unfortunately right. I am glad you were hesitant. You can always research who has signed by looking up recent lease filings in the county courthouse. Unfortunately, those only show up when they have been filed and sometimes companies hold on to them for that purpose. I would absolutely contact other family members and/or professionals to help you. Jay-Bee might even be able to help you with the Antero issue. It is amazing what you can find out just by asking questions.

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Thank you for your replies! I read your bio, and I am impressed. I live in akron, Ohio so it’s difficult to get to that area to go to the courthouse. I’ve trolled the website before, but not a professional. Is there something specific I should type in my URL or look for regarding recent filings? Not the greatest navigator. Thanks for all of your input thus far.

Debra_Deby_Bretz,

Thank you! This is going to sound very overwhelming, but it is how you have to sometimes “fish” for filings.

A1. Try sorting by date and just scrolling through the records until you find one of interest. A2. Using that record from #1, search for other records by that grantee/grantor.

B1. Searching using any company name that you think is active in the area.

C1. MOST USEFUL - Open an account through the county clerks’ office. That will allow you to download data; import into excel; and perform searches/sorts/filters. Sometimes you can open and account and sometimes not. I had to drive 3 hours at one courthouse to show them my drivers license to get an account. Sometimes, they also won’t open them for people who are out of state or who might be infrequent users.

I am happy to help if you have more questions. Don’t hesitate to ask.

~Rachel

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