Questions on Lease Forms for Public School Land in Texas

Oil and Gas Leasing Help
#1

We presently own land that is classified as Public School/Relinquishment Act land. Our present lease which is expiring soon, is written on General Land Office Relinquishment Act lease form. Will any new lease have to use this form?

An attorney has advised that some portions may be approved for amendment by the State of Texas. However, after looking at this lease in detail I am wondering if any sections can be changed since it seems to be a standard State of Texas Relinquishment Act Lease form. My question is can a landman/company present us with a lease that is not a Relinquishment act lease, and if they cannot, can this lease be amended to suit the operator?

Any information on this type of land/lease will be helpful in the next month or so when it comes lease negotiation.

Ken Haag

#2

If you own land that is Relinquishment Act Lands, you do not own any minerals, amigo. As the owner of the soil, you are an agent for the State.

Therefore the GLO controls the lease form. They will use their own form. No lease from GLO lands is effective until it is approved by the GLO. I suppose that they may allow some latitude for the owner of the soil, but I have never seen it, but I do not deal in RA lands much at all.

I'm glad you have a lawyer to advise. FYI, as an agent for the State, you cannot cut a deal out for yourself. It has been tried before and they lost in the big lawsuit.

#3

Buddy,

We did know that we do not own the minerals and are just an agent for the state. However we were not sure of the information you just gave us on what GLO controlled. Either you or someone else weeks ago said that our current lessee did not have to notify GLO when the current lease expired, that this is something we could do. I sent an e-mail to GLO and asked them about this matter and about sending us a form and the dollar amount to file this information. It has been a month and we have never heard from them. Do you or does anyone else know if this is typical dealing with GLO?

Thank you very much for your information. You have been so helpful to all of us on this forum especially us as we are not from the State of Texas and know very little about this whole process. We have signed leases in the past but really had no clue as to what we were doing and what we could/should have done. Since joining this forum last spring we have learned so much about leases etc.

Thanks again,

Ken Haag



Buddy Cotten said:

If you own land that is Relinquishment Act Lands, you do not own any minerals, amigo. As the owner of the soil, you are an agent for the State.

Therefore the GLO controls the lease form. They will use their own form. No lease from GLO lands is effective until it is approved by the GLO. I suppose that they may allow some latitude for the owner of the soil, but I have never seen it, but I do not deal in RA lands much at all.

I'm glad you have a lawyer to advise. FYI, as an agent for the State, you cannot cut a deal out for yourself. It has been tried before and they lost in the big lawsuit.

Best,

Buddy Cotten

Mineral Manager

#4

Ken,

You are most welcome. It was me that said that you could get a release from the GLO. As to time, they do pretty well, considering its a state agency.

Kenneth L. Haag said:

Buddy,

We did know that we do not own the minerals and are just an agent for the state. However we were not sure of the information you just gave us on what GLO controlled. Either you or someone else weeks ago said that our current lessee did not have to notify GLO when the current lease expired, that this is something we could do. I sent an e-mail to GLO and asked them about this matter and about sending us a form and the dollar amount to file this information. It has been a month and we have never heard from them. Do you or does anyone else know if this is typical dealing with GLO?

Thank you very much for your information. You have been so helpful to all of us on this forum especially us as we are not from the State of Texas and know very little about this whole process. We have signed leases in the past but really had no clue as to what we were doing and what we could/should have done. Since joining this forum last spring we have learned so much about leases etc.

Thanks again,

Ken Haag



Buddy Cotten said:

If you own land that is Relinquishment Act Lands, you do not own any minerals, amigo. As the owner of the soil, you are an agent for the State.

Therefore the GLO controls the lease form. They will use their own form. No lease from GLO lands is effective until it is approved by the GLO. I suppose that they may allow some latitude for the owner of the soil, but I have never seen it, but I do not deal in RA lands much at all.

I'm glad you have a lawyer to advise. FYI, as an agent for the State, you cannot cut a deal out for yourself. It has been tried before and they lost in the big lawsuit.

#5