Oil and Gas Leasing Help - Howard County

Oil and Gas Leasing Help
1

I am writing this post a bit prematurely as I am missing some important details. But, wanted to see if anyone else is dealing with similar requests as I get my documents/tracts/sections/lease terms from the company/man who has contacted me to share with this group.

I was recently contacted by: Exploration Land Services, Lafayette, Louisiana regarding a “protection lease” for a lease that was previously signed with Petro Land Group and now Encana is requesting (through Exploration Land Services) me to sign (for $1,250 bonus) this protection lease.

I believe my interest in this particular section is small (less than an acre), but, I will be posting the actual details of this protection lease once they are available to me. Also, I realize without the actual section/tract number it is hard to weigh in on this topic.

So, here is what I am preparing to do: I will post the details of the protection lease offer including all pertinent details (section and tract). I’ve already requested them from Exploration Land Services.

In the meantime, can anyone help me understand the following:

Questions thus far include:

What is a protection lease?

What is Encana’s activity in Howard County at the present moment?

Is $1250.00 a good lease rate for the area? I realize that’s tough without knowing the particulars - they are coming as soon as I get my hands on the documents.

Anyone else in this situation? Please share insights.

I know that most of our assets are contained within: NE/4 Section 33, Block 31 Township 1 North Section 11, Block 31, Township 1 North Section 25, Block 31, Township 1 North North Half, Section 29, Block 31, Township 1 North South Half, Section 29, Block 31, Township 1 North Section 31, Block 31, Township 2 North Section 38, Block 31 Township 2 North West Half of Section 28, Block 31, Township 1 North

Thank you in advance for creating a space to educate and assist. I’ve learned a great deal from many of you.

2

I hate to break into Brandi’s post because she asked some good questions, but I’m not sure how else to do this. I have recently received offers from Wrangler Energy and DSD Energy for leases on mineral rights in Howard County. These rights were left to me when my mother died and I have no information on what rights I have until I get a letter in the mail. How can I find out what was left to me and my sister in Howard and other counties in Texas? I’m thinking somewhere in the country courthouse, but I don;t know where to start. And I don’t know how many counties to check in. Any help is appreciated.

3

Welcome, James! Break in anytime! You’ll get great advise here on this forum and if an administrator feels there is a more appropriate place for your questions (as in - a section that is 100% related to this topic - they’ll move it on your behalf so the right people can weigh in). Best of luck in finding your acerage and tracts. We did it by trial/error and elder family knowledge. I don’t advise that way - but, you’ve found the right place for guidance. Best wishes in finding what you need to educate yourself. I’ve found that that is the key to dealing with oil/mineral interest - get educated before you make a move.

4

Thanks Brandi. I’ll start by answering my own question for anyone else wondering how to go about this. Apparently, there is a website, countygovrecords.com , that has this kind of information for counties all across the country. Unfortunately, I’ll have to sift through pages and pages to find what I want, but at least it is a start.

5

Watch out for a top lease, or worse, a “royalty lease” here.

6

Brandi

If it’s any help, below is the Railroad Commission’s map showing the various sections in Blk 31 of Howard County where you say your interests are located. It looks like there are a lot of old vertical wells in that area but a lot of horizontal drilling is going on further north and west.

The permits section of RRC’s website shows 50 drilling permits have been approved for Encana in Howard County since 1/1/18 but they appear to be a good ways from the area where you said your interest is located. But it’s possible Encana is working on something new in your area and hasn’t filed those permits yet.

If Encana is wanting a protection lease it probably indicates they think there may be title problems with leases they already hold and are trying to cover themselves by leasing additional ownership interests.

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7

Jthorns

I think you’ll have a lot better chance of tracking down the mineral interests you are looking for if you try websites like www.texasfile.com or www.courthousedirect.com where you can directly search the grantor/grantee deed record indexes for Howard County. You will need to set up an account but there is no charge to search the indexes and it typically costs $2 per document if you find something that you want to read. If you want to actually get a copy of the document it will cost about $1/page.

You can start searching using your mother’s name but if the interest goes several generations back you may need to have some genealogy to locate what you need.

8

Hello Wade, Thanks for your response. I will make sure I watch out for this one. But, it appears that I may have already entered into one of these with BaysWater and Grenadier Energy Partners. What exactly is a top lease?

9

Thanks for the information. This is in fact a protection lease. I presume that there is no negotiations on any amounts being offered. They are offering 1,250.00 for one acre. Is this acceptable?

10

$1250 is low and sounds like a “protection lease” as they call it, is really a top lease. They are trying to put a lease in place that automatically becomes effective if the existing lease expires. Might try search function in upper right for many threads about top leases.

11

Brandi,

Grenadier and others have proven up two zones in your area being the Wolfcamp A and the Spraberry. There is a wolfcamp B well being drilled by grenadier ins Blk 27 right now that I imagine will turn out well. I think you acreage is in a great area. I would be pushing for 3k-6k per acre if I were you. 2 to 3 years ago Blk 31 was unproven, today its a pretty hot area.