Royalty Payments, Weld County, CO

General Mineral Rights Discussion
1

I Am new to this forum and have met some great folks, read a lot of helpful information, but I have another question,....again. Regarding the signed lease we have in hand for the West 1/2 of Section 2, T7N, R64W, 6th P.M. , I have found the mineral rights on the Weld County Assessors web site so I checked that with the lease papers and the land description matches. Our mineral interest is very small, just 6.681876 net acres and the royalty is 1/8.

I also looked at the COGCC data base and found our two St. James Energy wells are abandoned. However upon checking some more, I found two Noble Energy wells, API# 05-123-31495 & API# 05-123-30267. Both of these are in our 1/2 Section described above. We have nothing from Noble as yet but if the COGIS-Production Data are correct, the two wells have been producing. One is within 800 to a 1000 feet of our abandoned well.

By now I would think the cost of the wells have been paid by now and if that is the case, where does one go to verify information like this and to get the royalty issue resolved? (I have written to Noble) We're not experts by a long shot thus the question to more knowledgeable people on this forum.

Maybe I am missing something, probably am. Could it be that our little slice of the mineral rights are only for a specific hole in the ground?

Thanks in advance,

Bob in So Ca

2

Hi Bob,

It is not unheard of for an oil and gas company to make a mistake on leasing - whether they did or not is another question. If you are absolutely sure that both of these wells are drilled on acreage that include your mineral rights and that your minerals are not currently leased (or held by production from a previous company that may have sold to Noble Energy), it might be a good idea to speak with a lawyer. I've seen this happen from the perspective of an oil and gas company. Mistakes are made, and sometimes wells are drilled on minerals that are not leased by the oil company. When this happens, a landman from the oil company will call the mineral owner and ask to lease the minerals ex post facto. Unfortunately, the mineral owner usually does not know his or her rights and agrees. The proper response would be to say no, and that you are getting a lawyer. If the minerals were not leased, it is possible that the mineral owner would be entitled to a share of the well and could sell it back to the company or keep it along with the royalties. (I am not a landman, I have an engineering background, so if any landmen can comment on this, that would be great). Good luck. Don't let the company give you the run around - no leases after the fact!