Pearsall & Seitel Data 3D Surveys - Marathon Oil

Texas Mineral Rights Frio County, TX
#1

Hello and terrific forum !!

We are 5 miles south of Pearsall in Frio County (Melon Texas).

Seitel Data has recently approached our family to do a 3D seismic survey. Seitel Data's 3D surveys are being underwritten by Marathon Oil.

Seitel Data just opened an office two blocks from the Pearsall courthouse at the end of July 2011.

Seitel Data has a multi-million dollar contract to do roughly 93 square miles of 3D mapping in Frio County.

The 3D seismic surveys will begin March 2012.

We were offered $15.00 per acre for the 3D survey. We also had to agree to disclose if anyone else was doing a 3D survey or any mineral leases were being initiated which appears to be standard.

We also have family in LaSalle County (Cotulla) and they were offered $5,000.00 per acre (not sure of the % royalty) unfortunately, litigation is mudding the waters to proceed with an oil lease. I am not sure who made the offer but the offer was legit.

Great website and thanks in advance to all who participate.

#2

Hello Farrah. I will not divulge whom I'm working for, however, there is 3D activity happening in Frio... quite a bit actually. The amount of squares that seitel is doing is a direct result of the overlap and leftover acreage that the other seismic companies are not doing.

Marathon Oil is getting busy... and if you'll notice the vehicles in and around Dilley, and Pearsall, you can gather whom the other Seismic companies are, and whom they are working. Data is HIGH dollar in this area. The more data available, the better, as Geologists can use all of it, and will fetch pretty pennies if interpreted correctly.

For seismic permits, $15.00 an acre is quite generous. However, they have gotten ridiculous, and if you have a large tract of land, and lots of "stuff" on the acreage (i.e. deer, livestock, exotics, etc.) then the increase in price may be warranted, along with fluffy language. What other information was included in the permit? Have you signed yet? Are you signing a Seismic Permit with Option to Execute an OGL?

#3

We are leased by Marathon, and have yet to get verification in writing that Marathon

has a signed agreement. From either Seitel, or Marathon. Did Seitel give you signed verification

by Marathon?

#4

We have already signed. There is no option to execute an OGL.

The permit states in one section "It is our intention to include under this permit any mineral interest (where your interest is in the minerals only) owned by you lying within the boundaries of this seismic survey"

They did include a hold harmless statement against any claims, liabilities, losses, damages or judgments. The 3D data is proprietary. They asked if we had hunting leases or crop leases. They asked about buried pipelines, cables, houses, locked gates, water wells etc on the property.

We have 5 capped oil wells on the property. The oil wells were drilled in 1975 and capped in 1981 after the lease expired. One well was tested out at 600 BOD prior to capping and conversion to a stand by back up water well in 1990. I have been reading the forums since July when we got first contacted by Seitel Data for the 3D surveys. I am most impressed with the level of knowledge in this forum and am in the process of narrowing down a few oil and gas attorneys. My reads are that a 3D survey is an excellent indicator of a pending oil and gas lease so we are trying to get as prepared as possible.

Our farm has no exotics or animals. We disc our farm every year as a condition to have it enrolled in a Farm Services Agency program. We have 3 homes grouped together, a couple of shops and barns, no stock tanks but we do have an industrial irrigation motor which hopefully will be used to provide fresh Carrizo aquifer water for fracking operations.

Thank you again for taking some of your valuable time to respond to this post.

#5

Hello Brandon

I just learned how to reply and included your previous post.

It appears signing bonus's and royalty percentages are all over the map. I am advising family it appears any signing bonus $1000.00+ per acre and at least a 25% royalty sounds like it is time to sign and get the show on the road and drill baby drill. I guess this is why a good O&G attorney pays for his services many times over as we have been told. I know people are getting more signing bonus money but we roll the dice the longer we wait as well. We are excited to see what black gold awaits us. Thanks again for posting !!


Brandon Sneed said:

Hello Farrah. I will not divulge whom I'm working for, however, there is 3D activity happening in Frio... quite a bit actually. The amount of squares that seitel is doing is a direct result of the overlap and leftover acreage that the other seismic companies are not doing.

Marathon Oil is getting busy... and if you'll notice the vehicles in and around Dilley, and Pearsall, you can gather whom the other Seismic companies are, and whom they are working. Data is HIGH dollar in this area. The more data available, the better, as Geologists can use all of it, and will fetch pretty pennies if interpreted correctly.

For seismic permits, $15.00 an acre is quite generous. However, they have gotten ridiculous, and if you have a large tract of land, and lots of "stuff" on the acreage (i.e. deer, livestock, exotics, etc.) then the increase in price may be warranted, along with fluffy language. What other information was included in the permit? Have you signed yet? Are you signing a Seismic Permit with Option to Execute an OGL?

#6

Seitel did not give us a signed verification regarding Marathon Oil. The representative from Seitel indicated the 3D survey was being paid for by Marathon Oil. I was curious who was underwriting the 3D survey so we asked the same day we received the letter from Seitel. I found it curiously coincidental the Seitel office had not been open 48 hours and we had a letter in our mail box for the 3D survey. We were wondering if this was not a coincidence and Seitel was ranking the properties which they suspect had the greatest potentials first. Knowing there are a lot of 3D surveys happening as we speak, makes me suspect it was a coincidence we were solicited so quickly. Thanks again for posting !!!

Jimmy Whitley said:

We are leased by Marathon, and have yet to get verification in writing that Marathon

has a signed agreement. From either Seitel, or Marathon. Did Seitel give you signed verification

by Marathon?

#7

Hi Jimmy -

I think one of your posts disappeared ?

I think you suggested holding out for $35.00 an acre for the seismic survey. Anyway, we contemplated it and decided against rocking the boat for more cash until a lease is offered and then we lower the boom and ask for whatever is prevailing.

We are using the "you catch more flies with honey than you do and vinegar" approach.

You appear to be in Divot or just a stones throw from our property. Best wishes on those pesky oil and gas negotiations and thanks again for your input !!!


Jimmy Whitley said:

We are leased by Marathon, and have yet to get verification in writing that Marathon

has a signed agreement. From either Seitel, or Marathon. Did Seitel give you signed verification

by Marathon?

#8

Gentlemen I have a question.

Can an executor or for that matter any mineral rights owner throw up a road block and stop any drilling? We have a situation where one or two mineral rights owners out of 11 may not want to sign an oil and gas lease on our property. This is an undivided mineral and land interest so our acreage and minerals are floating as it was described to me.

What is our recourse if any to continue drilling for oil and gas ?

I must admit some of the pooling theory is not making sense to me if this is what is involved to get our minerals produced.

Again, thanks in advance for any input. I (and our family who reads these forums) are extremely grateful for all who share their expertise with the novices in the forum. The landmen and mineral rights owners who have posted on this site are nothing short of gold for information.

My soon to be 77 year old mother in Texas is reading this forum so "hi mom" - we (your adult kids) are working hard to help you get your minerals produced !!!

#9