New to owning mineral rights

Hello we just found out that my 82 year old mother is the owner of mineral rights in Tyler County, WV because we were approached by a Landman for a royalty company, so family and I are new to this situation. Can anyone answer the following questions for me? First, other than looking at the county tax assessors documents, is there anywhere else that would show how much interest my mother has in a property? This “landman” only mentioned her having interest in one plot, however, Deeds we found reflect 2 plots adjoined. Furthermore, my mother had leased her interest in the one property back in 2012 along with other family members who did the same. We found out that the other two family members were asked to sign an extension of the lease, but my mother was not (and from what I am told, she owns some of the most interest). How could this company re-lease with with just two individuals and not her? Thank you in advance for any information.

mleach, Hello and welcome to the form. One place to start would be to call up Tylercountywv.com and scroll down on that page near the bottom where you will see Document Inquiry. Select that button and then IDX Search. Type in your mother’s name and see what comes up. I checked just the Leach last name and several documents came up. You might find a lease or other documents that your mother agreed to and the timing and particulars of the parcels if listed in the lease. If she had an existing lease, the landman should be able to supply a copy with the details. Hope that helps a little and good luck searching.

great! thank you very much. We have been able to find out a ton of information.

Hi, I just received an Antero lease proposal today offering a $2,000 per nma signing bonus for my 0.25 nma in the Ellsworth District of Tyler County, and I was just about to sign up, but then I found your post with the suffested lease addendum for a Marshall Cty lease, so I just wanted to thank you for your post. I’m gong to counter with $7,000, I guess there’s no harm in trying and I’ll post again with their response.

@Donald_White any luck with your counter?

Hi and welcome! The land man quickly made a counter offer to us raising the bonus to $3k/nma and 15% of gross proceeds, subject to Antero’s approval of any language we give them. So some movement right away, but I think there is room to move at least a bit higher. My gut tells me to get as much as possible up front with the bonus.

Thank you! Did they give you any indication of how quickly a well will be drilled? I know that Antero has lots of deals they hold in their ‘reserves.’ As shown in their publicly available P&Ls. Seems if needing money soon, pushing for higher bonus is more worth while than higher royalty grab. If long term, pushing for higher royalty % seems worthwhile. Obviously deals go as high as 18% gross proceeds.

Hi! I have tried numerous times to contact a “Landman” for Antero with no luck. Does anyone have the number to one? I just keep having to leave messages with no retirm phone call and it’s been over a week.

Hi Dome! We were able to find out that my mother actually did lease her rights a few years back. Do you know how we could get a copy of that lease (my mother no longer has it) from Antero? I have called them numerous times and it has been weeks with no response. Should I consult an attorney? I’m not looking for a legal issue, however, I want to know why they are still exploring the property and not compensating her. Thanks so much!

Hi mleach, Check the online documents again at the http://tylercountywv.com/ site and there are a few O & G leases listed under the Leach name. Not sure if your mother is one of them since I don’t have her full name.They will probably be memorandums of leases without the full content of the actual lease as the companies prefer to not divulge all the details of individual leases. Antero should definitely be able to supply a copy. If all else fails an attorney may be able to rattle their cage enough to procure a lease copy.

Do you know if she received any royalties in the past? That would indicate that Antero has drilled and is or has been producing. That would hold the lease in effect. If they are just now exploring the property and have not drilled then no compensation would be forthcoming until they drill and go to production. If they want a lease extension or new lease then a lease bonus should be negotiated. I would keep bugging Antero, nicely, and see if they finally respond. They have the info. Good luck.

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