Hello, my sister and I inherited overriding royalty interests in Upton and Scurry counties. We have the original deeds/leases (dated 1948 and 1951 when Grandpa acquired them) however, I am trying to locate the oil and gas leases to understand what conditions apply to new horizontal wells being drilled on our Upton County ownership. The operator is not being helpful and has made numerous mistakes (including overpaying me and underpaying my sister) and also not paying interest owed. They are a large company but we have dealt with 3 division order analysts in 18 months. They have been responsive to some degree but come across as being overwhelmed.
I live in Maine so the McCamey courthouse is a trek - what type of specialist should I be asking to help me with this?
I am a NARO Texas member which has been really helpful but I missed the convention this year due to having an operation (minor) otherwise I would have gone to McCamey and searched myself.
Thanks for any advice
Have you tried using www.TexasFile.com? Free to look, minimal to print.
If it is Diamondback-good luck.
Contact the owner relations department at the oil company. Give them copies of all death documents, ( Will, letter of testamentary, death certificates.
Check the Texas Comptrollers web site to see if any monies have been placeed on the unclaimed property list.
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Hi Martha, thanks, as always, for your help.
I’ve tried texasfile but they only give me a copy of the original deed, which I have. I am trying to get the Oil and Gas leases - I have the Operator name, their lease numbers and also the RRC #s.
The new wells started drilling in June 2024 so I would think, should have been filed.
Thanks, we are being paid but some payments have been incorrect and very late. This is why I want to get the O&G leases, also do a production audit (which I am working on) and I’d also like to confirm their NRI calculation.
It isn’t Diamondback.
So I think I will need some local help finding the documents and confirming the NRIs, then probably a lawyer to correct the payments (and tax records) and go after the interest.
The leases will be filed in the name of the mineral owner as lessor and the original lessee. Leases are frequently assigned to other operators. So your operator may not be the original lessee. You will instead have to search through the mineral owner, starting with the owner at the time and taking into account later transfers of the minerals (through estates or sales) into other owners. So your current NPRI is likely to burden multiple current mineral owners and be subject to multiple new leases. You can search this yourself or a landman could help you with this search. Keep in mind that with an NPRI, the question is whether it is fixed (always the same decimal) or floating (decimal depends on the royalty rate in the underlying lease). There have been a lot of recent cases on this issue, including some in the last couple years, which will determine this question. If it is fixed, then you may not need the lease. You might need an oil and gas attorney to help you determine this. You or your attorney could ask the operator for a copy of the lease(s). In recent years many companies have only been filing memorandums of leases so you may only be able to get the lease from the operator.
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It can be a bit tricky in Texas as many leases are not filed, but a memorandum of lease is filed instead which has very little data on it. The Operator holds the actual lease which includes all of the clauses which are important to know. Very important to keep a copy of any new leases for your heirs. Lots of us have inherited acreage, but not the documents that should go with them.
You may need to get an attorney involved to do a formal request for the lease copy.
NARO is doing a webinar this week on that very issue.
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