Need Help!

Hey all I could use some help.

My sister, brother and myself have mineral rights in OK passed down by our father. We are being approached with an offer to sell our rights @ $750.00 an acre. The company is "Central Pacific Land" . They have mailed us paperwork. An offer letter with details of the deal and a Deed transferring out rights to this company.

They want us to sign over the deed have it notarized and send back to them. They will then do a "Marketable title search" to verify what we have rights too and then send us certified funds.

I am uncomfortable signing over deed up front and sending to them. The company stationary has no phone number. We only have a cell number from the company Land-man. A search of the company address's show a mail box rental at a pack n' ship store and a single family residence in a OK city suburb.

Anyone who can advise us on what the process is for selling mineral rights, refer a reputable company or how we can educate our self's on what is going on in this area of OK would be much appreciated !

Thanks,

Paul

Paul,

There are many on this forum that have more experience than I do with Mineral Rights and I am sure they will chime in, but here is my input…

  1. unless you need the money now or don’t want the future hassle with oil leases… General rule is to never sell your mineral rights.
  2. I also received offers to buy my rights, but the offers ranged from $3500 to $6000 per acre in Kingfisher County.
  3. if you decide to sell, seek out a good attorney to help you negotiate the best deal for you and your family.
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Scott gives good advice.

Further, I can't imagine signing a deed to the house I live in and hand it to a buyer who would do a "marketable title search" and send me the money. Lots of red flags here in my opinion.

These "buyers" usually know a lot more about the potential of your minerals than you do. Even if you do need to sell, you should research by joining the county groups on the forum (if you have not already). Regardless, your minerals will be worth more in two or three years than now.

Also, you could consider joining the National Association of Royalty Owners and the Oklahoma Chapter. They taught us good management skills at the annual state meetings. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has a session on using their website to research your minerals. The cost of membership and attendance has been a good investment for my family. The link is http://www.naro-us.org/ . There is some information on the home page, but click on the Oklahoma Chapter page. There are several Chapter Newsletters which will give you an idea of what they/we do.

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Thanks so much. Good Advice.

Wow Thanks for info. We are new to this your help is greatly appreciated !

Paul, since you are new to dealing with all this, I am sending you more info which will be helpful. I did look at your profile and see that you are getting some good info from the Lincoln Co. group.

The following is part of a response that I had sent to a newcomer on one of my county groups a couple of years ago. Some of the stuff you will already know, or may not apply to you, but I didn't want to take the time to edit it. If you need anything else, just click on my name at the top of this message and then scroll down to the send a message at the very bottom of my profile.

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Based on what you have said, first download (and print) “Basic Information for the Oklahoma Royalty Owner” Last Revision - September 2012, (Oklahoma Corporation Commission) found at http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/ref/collection/stgovpub/id/241683 . This 37 page (+ cover) guide is excellent - lots of good information! This will help with the SE, NE, etc. question you asked. It will also start you getting enough background to ask questions on this forum that will get responses. Looks like you are off to a good start.

George Wilson, a frequent resource speaker at National Association of Royalty Owners events, says “Remember the 5 M’s of mineral ownership (Managed Minerals Mean More Money)”! The first step to managing your minerals is to organize your records. Label file folders with legals for each section, range, and township. Keep the original/copy of everything. Start with whatever your father had, and fill in with recorded documents as you can locate them (deeds, leases), spacing applications, permits to drill, completion reports, division orders, etc.

An investment worth considering is membership in the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) which includes 1 state membership. My wife and I have attended annual conferences of OK-NARO for the past 7 years. Check out the NARO website http://www.naro-us.org/ . The Oklahoma Chapter page has links and information on claiming unpaid lease bonus or royalties held in the Mineral Owners Escrow Account (MOEA) or Unclaimed Property Fund held by the State Treasurer. Be sure to check all name variations of family members who owned or may have owned property in the state. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission Consumer Services Division has an exhibit at the state meeting and each year there are many thousands of dollars discovered by attendees. They also do a conference session on using the OCC databases. The following suggestion covers a very small part of the information they have available.

To answer your question about existing or pending wells (including activity in adjacent sections), open this link http://imaging.occeweb.com/imaging/OGWellRecords.aspx , then enter the Legal Location. Next check the box Exclude ECM (unless your minerals are in the Panhandle). Click Search, to see EVERYTHING in the OCC system that has been scanned for that section. You may wish to limit the search to a more recent date if the section has been heavily developed over the years. Drop down to Scan Date, enter a beginning date and use today's date in the last field. These are documents that the O&G companies never send mineral owners. As you begin researching your minerals, leave the Form # blank. Later you may want to limit to specific documents. Some of these are: Form 1000, Permit to Drill, Recomplete or Reenter; 1001A Spud Notice; 1002A Completion Report; and 1073 Transfer of Operator. There are other forms, but these will probably be of most interest. IMPORTANT - because surface location for horizontal drilling is often in an adjacent section, be sure to search all 9 sections! See page 32 of the “Basic Information for the Oklahoma Royalty Owner” booklet for an explanation of the United States Land Survey System.

For leasing activity in your area, other forum members here are the best source, so ask, making sure to give the legals with at least section, township and range. Then be sure to share what you know when others ask. You may be fortunate enough to own in a county with free online access to County Clerk documents. Filed leases complete with addenda/exhibits can be read and perhaps printed. Call the County Clerk for information and login instructions if available. Bonus amounts are not included on leases.

Come back with your questions or comments. This is a learning place for all of us.

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Paul:

FYI, you're getting some solid advice from some trusted sources in the industry. Enjoy the journey, and thanks Wesly and Scott for being willing to educate!

NEVER GIVE ORIGINAL DOC WITHOUT $$ IN YOUR HAND