Oil & gas lease- what's fair and what's right

Oil and Gas Leasing Help
#1

I inherited got a 160 acres of mineral rights in Carbon County Wyoming. I've been offered $25/acre for a 5-year leash & 15% royality.

I know many of you are in this situation. I want the lease with its potential payoff to go forward, but can easily burn through my signing bonus by hiring a lawyer to look it over to see if it's fair.

I've accessed oil/gas leases on the Carbon County Gov. website, but it's always for "ten or more dollars...." There's never a mention of how much/per acre is the signing bonus.

Also, I've noticed no one gives the coordinates of their claim when asking its worth. Will the bogey man come and get you if you do this?

And how can you get a credible answer without giving the coordinates of your claim?

Any tips on how to best crack this acorn?

Dazed and confused

Randy Williams

#2

If the signing bonus wont cover your expenses for legal advice; it may be smart to just reject it out of hand. You need the legal advice, for your own protection. When I was in your place, I went ahead without legal help and I very much regret that now. I think that most people will agree that lease offers are trending upward. You might do well to simply wait til you get an offer that will at least pay legal expenses. I don’t think the bogeyman will get you if you give the legal description of your minerals. I think people are just trying to maintain their privacy while seeking advice. I’m just a owner of minerals in N.D. and for $75 worth of subscriptions, I can see online what’s permitted for a section, whether it has wells, what the wells have produced [ if they aren’t on the confidential list ] up to the last month or two and see what leases have been recorded. This is for N.D., but there are probably similar facilities set up in other states. I think you can just give the co-ordinates for your minerals. I have given mine out and it wouldn’t be difficult to find me and nothing bad has happened yet, but that’s just my opinion. I hope you have a statement of claim or recorded mineral deed. It’s a good thing to have even if you aren’t leasing right now. RWK

#3

The offer seems incredibly low. Because you are dazed and confused, you do not appear to be in the position to consent to any lease. You truly need to conduct a lot more research and educate yourself. Be patient. No need to accept the first offer that comes your way. Based on the little bit of information I gathered from a google search, your minerals appear to be an area that is going to be developed and leasing interest is growing. If you bide your time, the offers will continue to increase. There doesn’t appear to be any need to rush into anything; don’t act hastily and end up locking yourself into a bad lease with a questionable company.

#4

Energy industry criticizes proposed Wyoming royalty fee hike

"The Office of State Lands and Investments has proposed rewriting almost the entire standard oil and gas leasing contract. The most prominent -- and controversial -- proposal would raise the maximum amount for state royalties from 16 2/3 percent to 18 3/4 percent."

#5

My 160 acres are Township 20 North, Range 83 West, 6th P.M. Section 22: E2SW, S2SE in Carbon County Wyoming.

I'm a layman in longitudianal, latitude terms. Would any one of you know where I should stick my pin in the map so I can research the formation that lays beneath. My Grandpa bought the mineral rights almost 50 years ago. I dug up the original agreement, but the fax is mostly unreadable.

Thanks for your time

Randy Williams

#6

I think it would be best if you got a copy of grandpa’s probate proceedings. While you are there file a statement of claim for your minerals if you don’t own the surface rights. Likely the county records office will have a map. If you are out of state you can call and request a copy of the probate and find out what the fee is. It would be alot cheaper to do this yourself than to hire it done. Be patient and good luck.

Randall W. Williams said:

My 160 acres are Township 20 North, Range 83 West, 6th P.M. Section 22: E2SW, S2SE in Carbon County Wyoming.

I'm a layman in longitudianal, latitude terms. Would any one of you know where I should stick my pin in the map so I can research the formation that lays beneath. My Grandpa bought the mineral rights almost 50 years ago. I dug up the original agreement, but the fax is mostly unreadable.

Thanks for your time

Randy Williams

#7