Selling Mineral Royalties

I am thinking of selling the mineral rights and have no idea what a fair price would be. We have over 20 wells in the following locations in Texas:

Section 2, Block 35, T4S, T&P Ry. Co. Survey, Glasscock County, Texas
Section 46, Block 35, T3S, T&P Ry. Co. Survey, Glasscock County, Texas

Section 44, Block 35, T3S, T&P Ry. Co. Survey, Glasscock County, Texas

Also, the following are the net revenue interest I have:

Hanson 2: 0.000073 net revenue interest

Hanson 2C: 0.000052 net revenue interest

Hanson 46: 0.000052 net revenue interest

Patterson “44”: 0.00008 net revenue interest

Any and I mean any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi, Jean,

My first response is always to advise people to not sell their minerals. I have come to understand, however, that sometimes there are reasons why they wish to sell them.

If you would like to know more about what mineral interests are selling for in your area, I have a friend who works in that end of the industry who may be able to assist you.

Please accept my invitation to become A Friend on The Forum and I will send you his contact information.

Hope this helps -

Charles Emery Tooke III

Certified Professional Landman

Fort Worth, Texas

Jean,

I am a landman in Midland who has a lot of contacts who buy these kinds of properties (myself included). Please accept my invitation to become a friend on the forum and we can share information to discuss this particular property.

Thank you!

Jimmy Wright, CPL, CMM

Hi Mr. Wright,

Could you explain a little as far as what exactly a landman does? The further I look in to selling the more questions I have.

Absolutely! Asking what a landman does is a little like asking what an attorney does--there are a lot of unique specializations and many folks would say they don't do anything! Most landmen are associated with the oil and gas industry but some are in other industries (mining, timber, telecommunications, etc). There is no specific educational background necessary to be a landman (there are a number of 4-year degrees in land management, a couple of master's level programs, and I even teach an elective class in land management at UT-Permian Basin). Within the oil and gas industry, there are independents (self-employed people) or company landmen (employees of a specific company). Our knowledge base is tied primarily to the laws associated with oil and gas, title, real property and the like. We research the public records, review the legal documents transferring title, work with the landowners, and help draft the contracts associated with the oil industry (JOAs, farm outs, etc). Independents can be hired by clients (individuals or companies) to perform specific work (e.g. how many mineral acres do I own in this parcel of land I inherited), or buy and sell properties (minerals, royalties, leasehold, etc) in our own names or on behalf of buyers (sort of like a realtor). There are a number of local geographical professional associations (the Permian Basin Landman's Association or PBLA), a nationwide association (the American Association of Professional Landmen or AAPL), and certain groups that deal with specific types of land work (the International Right of Way Association or IRWA). I implore people to only work with landmen who are bound by the AAPL's code of ethics--there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there in this industry and, although not fool-proof, I want there to be some repercussions for taking advantage of people. This is the organization that provides the Certified Professional Landman (CPL) test. The National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) provides the Certified Mineral Manager (CMM) tests. There is a pretty good description on the AAPL's website (www.landman.org) that also explains what most landmen do. I'm sorry for rambling on, but if there is anything specific you wanted to know, I'm happy to answer! Thanks for asking!

Jimmy

Thank you for the quick and thorough explanation. I was contacted by Buckhorn Resources regarding selling our mineral rights, they will be forwarding information. I have no idea how much land we have or how much it's worth. I understand the wells are located in a very productive parcel of land. I've been talking with my siblings and they seem interested in selling theirs also. My great grandmother bought these and through the years, very little information has trickled down. Also, we don't have any funds upfront and was wondering how paying for a landman's service works. Since I started on this site, a week ago, I'm receiving so many offers from interested buyers and landman services.

Jean,

I am certain the others would join me in advising that you and your family not sell your minerals until you know more about them. At the very least where they are and what's going on around them.

And whoever offers to buy them will be responsible for determining what you own. They should be willing to share that information with you.

And Jimmy is right, there are some unscrupulous people out there. I have a client family right now that received an offer to buy some royalty interests they didn't even know they owned in a tract of land in Howard County, Texas. The company had offered them a total of $6,400.00 for their interests.

When they contacted me a few weeks ago, I advised them to not sign anything or even verbally agree to anything until I had a chance to look over the property. That while most companies and individuals in the mineral and royalty trade are above board, there are some that know that they have royalties in suspense (temporarily not being paid for one reason or another) from wells that have been drilled on or including their lands.

In essence, an unscrupulous company or individual may be trying to buy their interests using their own money.

Sure enough, when I researched the property I determined that the family has something above $320,000.00 in royalties in suspense from two wells that had been drilled on their lands.

The family doesn't have the resources to hire a Landman or an Attorney, so I am representing them on a contingency basis and have introduced them to an Attorney that is doing the same thing. "Contingency basis" meaning that neither of us gets paid unless we successfully recover the funds.

If you or any of your extended family have your Grandmother's papers, send us a list of the legal descriptions your interests are in.

Some of the others and I can look the lands up and determine if they are currently under production or ever have been. And maybe offer some opinions as to whether they are in good of so-so areas.

Hope this helps -

Charles

Thank you so much Charles!! I know we currently have over quite a few producing wells and a few that are nonproducing. From research, these are located in a nice area. I don't have any paperwork from my great grandmother and not sure if it's possible to locate any. And, my siblings and myself do not have resources to hire a Landman. To sum up, not sure how to move forward...

Well, first let's narrow down a few things: Where are the properties and wells located and what name(s) would they or could they be under?

Drilling and Production Records are available online in many States and County Records are too (at least back to certain dates).

I am headed out to lunch (my favorite time of the day), but if you can send me that information I may be able to help you (a) determine whether you have any money looking for you and (b) maybe help you come up with a plan.

Discussing things here on the General Forum Page is fine with me, but if you would prefer to send me or anyone else the information privately, that is what the invitations to become A Friend on The Forum was for.

Accept my or our invitation(s) and we can talk about your properties more privately that way.

Charles

Jean,

Just sent you a friend request. I am not a mineral buyers so I have no dog in this fight but I know plenty about the business and would be happy to help you out. If you accept I can send over some helpful information and reccomendations. I would be careful about responding to buyers on here before you understand the all the implications of selling

Best,

Cameron