Greetings, first post here.
My sister and I inherited mineral rights from my father in Carter Co, OK. We have had the mineral deed transferred and recorded in Carter Co. last fall. We receive an annual check (less than $50) from Citation Oil and Gas, presumably from a lease my grandfather signed, likely in the 1960’s. Nobody in my family talked about these mineral rights, as we all live far from OK. I am just now trying to understand what the significance of my holdings are and what I should be doing to understand their value.
First, I have been reading both here on the forum as well as on the web. I’m looking for some suggestions for some next steps I need to take in understanding my mineral rights. Some brief background:
- Our holdings appear to be on the Healdton Arbuckle oil field. It seems like this field had its heyday a long long time ago. I’m beginning to understand that the original lease (i haven’t obtained a copy of it or tracked it down) has not expired and citation oil and gas likely has no reason to let it expire. In my limited research I have found wells operated by citation as well as a number of other companies across the areas we own. Many wells are dry but many are listed as having an operator and not “capped”. IF i understand this correctly these other companies may be working with a Joint Operating Agreement.
- I’m planning on tracking down these old leases, but given how old the leases likely are and the scale of our holdings (we inherited six complete PLSS sections near Healdon, OK) I’m assuming an Oil and Gas Attorney will be essential. Anything I should be prepared for or thinking of when approaching such a large amount of mineral rights and courting an attorney?
- Additionally, we recently received a letter from a company called BearCat Land, who is planning to drill a vertical well near our holdings and drill a horizontal well across some of our holdings (Proposed well is to be located in section 27 34-3S-3W. Horizontal well according to our letter will cross into our holdings in section 3. They state 33% of the ~10,000’ well will be in section 3, which is a portion of my 6 sections of ownership. What is the best way to approach this situation? Im leary of being new and not understanding this offer, but also as this is the first lease offer I have ever recieved. Is an Attorney the best place to start? Or should I connect with a mineral consultant group or an independent Landmen? I feel like i am jumping in the deep end here, and any helpful information is much appreciated.