My brother and I have non producing mineral rights, not surface rights. The location is in Carter County, Ok. T-2S, R-2W, sections 11,12,13,24. To my knowledge, there is no drilling. There does seem to be drilling all around. We live in Santa Fe, N.M. and are thinking of driving there this summer just to see what, if anything, is happening.
Does anyone know if we need permission from the surface rights owner? Also, how could I find out who the owner is? Is anyone familiar with the area? I believe it is east and southeast of the Poolville area.
This is a wonderful site. I read it daily and have learned so much. Having said that, I still don't know everything I should.
Thank you,
Ms. Bradley Apodaca
Carter County courthouse is Ardmore. Go to the courthouse and the assessor can show you who owns the surface If you have a deed and legal description that they can reference.
You can check activity on the OK Corporation Commisison Website but OK is not a user-friendly site even though some things have changed there more or less recently. It is nothing as easy as Wyoming or Colorado to use.
They do have an interactive map which you might be able to locate the property with the legal description. If there have been any wells in that area, recent or not so recent, then you should be able to locate it.
Ms. Apodaca -
I have taken a look at your area using a website called DrillingInfo.com that I subscribe to.
There does not appear to be anything particularly exciting happening in any of your Sections, mostly just a number of older, shallow wells a few miles to the west and southwest.
There has been, however, a fairly recent round of leasing in the area by many different companies. That has me slightly intrigued and I would appreciate a little patience on your part while I look a little further into it.
I have guests for dinner tonight arriving any minute, so I need to "Jump", but I will send you what I have been able to find out so far about your mineral interests tomorrow or Sunday.
Hope this helps -
Charles
Charles Emery Tooke III
Certified Professional Landman
Fort Worth, Texas
Ms. Apodaca -
I neglected to mention it in my earlier response, but it would not only be courteous, but wise, to call ahead before entering onto anyone's property.
Between the Appraisal District and the Tax Office and the local Directory Assistance, you should not have my difficulty identifying and contacting whoever presently owns the land.
If you need help with that, just let me know -
Charles
Wow! If she entered on the property without permission, she could be arrested for trespassing. She could call and be courteous, and the surface owner can also tell her no. Under the facts as presented, she has no legal right to enter the land without the permission of the surface owner.
in texas if the mineral deed says right to egress, as long as she lets the owners know they should not give her any trouble, also it is up to the mineral right owner if they want to drill not the surface owner, I have never had any problem with any land owner entering the property, since it says in the mineral deed right to egress
What in the world does a mineral owner want to do in the middle of some guys pasture, do you like want to go witch for oil or lay there looking at the sky or what in the world would you be thinking of doing out in the middle of no where, it's not like you can just go fishing at the surface owners pond or go hunting any time you want.
Hey, there's an idea. Type up a lease with herself as the lessee. She could show it to the surface owner and then go on his private property without him calling the cops.
The ingress and egress stated in the mineral deed probably is legally interpreted as being a part and parcel of the right to pursue drilling activites, not driving around looking for pump jacks.
"A deed which contains provisions reserving oil and gas rights in the land and the right to ingress and egress for mining purposes MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED AS AGAINST THE RIGHT FOR QUIET POSSESSION AND FOR FREEDOM FROM ENCUMBRANCES." UNREASONABLE INTERVENTION on one's property must not be done while carrying out mining or excavation."
Gerrity Oil & Gas Corp. V. Magness, 946 P.2d 913 (Colo. 1997)
McFarland V. Taylor, 76 Ark. App. 343 (Ark. Ct. App. 2002)
Texas Co. V. Newton Naval Stores Co., 223 Miss. 468 (Miss. 1955)
"The owner of the minerals has an implied right to drill wells to his underlying estate. His use of the surface, however, must be reasonable. The rights implied in favor of the mineral estate are to be exercised with due regard for the rights of the surface owner."
Humble Oil & Refining Co. V. Williams, 420 S.W. 2nd 133 (1967)
General Crude Oil Co. V. Aiken, 344 S.W. 2nd 668 (1961)
Brown V. Lundell, 344 S.W. 2nd 616 (1960)
Getty Oil Co. V. Jones, 470 S.W. 2nd 618 (TEX. 1971)
Wow! If she entered on the property without permission, she could be arrested for trespassing
That statement is not true in OK and most other oil states. Mineral rights are part of the bundle of rights and without a caveat to limit Egress and Engress, the mineral owner can enter without permission. BUT they courteous thing is to contact them ahead of time because being "right" won't keep you from getting shot.
No, not true. A mineral owner can not unreasonably interfere with the quiet enjoyment of the surface owner. There is a load of case law that supports that position, mostly dealing with cases that limit the scope of the lessee's operations to only that which is absolutely necessary to effectuate its operations.
Wow! Do you actually believe that if someone reserves 1/16th of the minerals with rights of ingress and egress, that they can go on anyone's land at any time "without permission". For what purpose? How much of the land can they use?
Back up your posting with some legal citations, or case law, because I don't believe you.
The deed itself gives the right of engress and egress via the bundle of rights.
2) Caselaw: "It is a well established doctrine from the earliest days of the
common law that the right to the minerals carries with it the right to enter and
extract them, and all other such incidents thereto as are necessary to be used
for getting and enjoying them. This common law right was created 'because a
grant or reservation of minerals would be wholly worthless if the grantee or
reserver could not enter upon the land in order to explore for and extract the
minerals granted or reserved.' Although the mineral estate is the dominant
estate, the rights implied in favor of the mineral estate are to be exercised
with due regard for the rights of the surface owner. . . . The burden of proof
to show that the use of the surface by the (mineral estate's)lessee is not
reasonably necessary is upon the surface owner. " Tarrant County Water
Control & Improvement Dist. No. 1 v. Haupt, 854 S.W.2d 909, 911 (Tex.
1993) (internal citations omitted).
To determine if the mineral is extractable and if the site picked by the geologist is suitable for a rig, a preliminary exploration of the property is necessary and appropriate. No, I will not drive over your wheat crop. No, I will not chase your cattle with a 4wheeler....but access - cannot be reasonably denied in most cases.
"Courts recognized the dominance of those holding mineral rights over surface owners who held deeds in which the mineral estates had been cut away"
This does not give license to wander on other's property, but as part of the assessment, exploration, etc of a mineral interest, I've never had any problem explaining why and what I am doing there and getting access...on occasion, my former employer did have to get the sheriff to escort them into a property, but I was never directly involved in any such instance. My bold below
This was from a Tex DA
The allegation, at least as it's currently understood by our office, is that the
mineral owner is entering the land in ways and for reasons not related to
production. Essentially, mineral owner wants to just come out and ride around
the land because he enjoys the peace and quiet (and because it pisses the
surface owner off). Because of that, the surface owner wishes to bar the mineral
owner from entry. It's my understanding that any entry to the surface estate by
the mineral estate owner MUST be a) connected to production and b) reasonable.
Also the Colorado Bar website has an interesting download on conflicts and the reasonable accommodation of the surface owner... It is a two way street. The surface owner cannot create a subdivision on top of a mineral estate that does not allow for development of the mineral interest.
So you would advise Mrs. Apodaca not go on the land? I would have to agree with that.
Nothing that you wrote contradicts any of the case law I previously cited.
He has every right to explore his property in a reasonable manner.
I don't think so. If you read her original question, and compare it to your last posting, none of the criteria is met. There is some specific language that you wrote, not me, that would actually prohibit her. You have it under the heading of "Tex DA".
Ms. Apodaca -
I see where the boys have been enjoying quite a lively discussion regarding your wanting to take a look at where your mineral interests are! I've learned quite a lot.
The following link will allow you to download what I was able to find out about the general area:
http://www.yousendit.com/download/WFJWeFVYcHZLVlUxZXNUQw
There is not much good news, at least not for the present. A few wells were permitted over the years to be drilled in Section 11, but only one of them was successfully completed and it was plugged after a few years.
There are quite a few producing wells to the west of you, but all of the wells in your general area appear to be relatively shallow wells and only a small percentage of those highly productive.
The lands are rural ranch and farm lands about a half hours' drive north, northwest of Ardmore, Oklahoma. They appear to be owned by Daube Arbuckle Ranch, LLC in Ardmore.
I was able to locate the following contact information for them online:
Leon Simms, Registered Agent
Daube Arbuckle Ranch, LLC
PO Box 38
Ardmore, OK 73402
#5 South Commerce
Ardmore, OK 73401
Leon Simms
633 South Rockford Road
Ardmore, OK 73401
580-226-7445
I'm sure Mr. Simms or the owners would be glad to show you around the ranch.
Hope this helps -
Charles
Charles Emery Tooke III
Certified Professional Landman
Fort Worth, Texas
Maybe. If Simms doesn't carry the philosophy; Shoot first, ask questions later.
Hey DQ,
Thanks for the entertainment. Everyone loves to have someone to hate. Maybe you should change your name to Frank Burns, Rosie O'Donnell, Barack Obamawankanobee, Lance Armstrong, Ho Chi Min, Barry Bonds, Jerry Jones,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,etc. Whether you realize it or not, your comments give a sense of being brash.
On the other hand, it is very enlightening to see the rock stars on this site responding diplomatically.
Nothing personal, you do offer valuable insight. Keep it up!
I may leave now. If you had said that I was dead to you, I would have kept posting just to spite you.