Solar noninterference agreement - pecos co

7x.energy is a Texas based solar energy development company. I received a mineral and solar noninterference joint use agreement requiring notarization. By signing the proposed agreement from 7x.energy, both the mineral owner and project owner will work together in good faith on the clearly defined mineral rights and the surface rights of both parties. I own mineral rights in section 10 of oecos county. Letter says 7x.energy is working with diamondback energy. I called diamondback and they said ask a lawyer. What Do you recommend ? sign or no sign the 7x.energy letter.

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Visit with an attorney in NM who works in oil and gas. The agreement could seriously hamper your property rights.

In Texas, the mineral estate is dominant over the surface. The purpose of this agreement is to reverse this so that the surface use becomes dominant over the minerals. If you do not own any surface and are not being compensated financially, then why would you want to possibly impair mineral development? Good faith does not have any legal meaning except as interpreted by the court. Signing an agreement that binds you to work together in good faith about the surface use vs mineral development means that you can be sued by the solar company for failing to agree with them. You could sue them, but you would have to prove financial loss. If your minerals are under lease to Diamondback or another company, then agreeing to limit surface use could open you up to damage claims from your lessee. Tell the solar company to come to you with a comprehensive explicit proposal about the solar vs mineral use of the surface and compensation and then you can consider it after consulting with an attorney. Your lessee can review the plan and discuss how much and where surface is required for wellpad(s), pipelines, electric lines. A lot of this depends on the gross acreage and your net mineral acreage in the tract. This can be quite complex. As a general matter, it is not a good idea to sign any legal agreement that you do not fully understand.

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Thank you for such comprehensive answer, very helpful.

Hi Jo54,

Received the same offer from 7X on a different section in Pecos County. Ran it by the attorney and he recommended not to sign, that it would not benefit us in any way and could interfere with mineral development. So didn’t sign. Hope this helps.

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Received the same offer from 7X in Pecos County. Ignored the first offer. Asked an attorney, and he recommended not to sign, either. Then received a second offer with an increased offer of another 150. I was told the lease bonus offers in this area is around 60,000. The solar offer for 250d does not sound like a good deal at all, and to benefit whom? If they stay in business for 25 years, 50 years, 100 years. Lots of unanswered questions here.

Did you own the land or just minerals. In same situation, only offered around 35 a acre for minerals owned in whole labor. Seems low 3 small wells in adjacient labor,

Is that $250 per acre per year just for minnerials? i am in a similar situation, trying to figure out what is a fair price for waiver of surface on a Labor. the aprox 30 to 40 per acre per year seems low