In 2018 I was contacted by oil and gas company (A) about mineral rights in Howard County, Texas, I signed a lease with company (A). However company (A) never drilled any wells. In September 2024 I was notified by an oil and gas company (B) that I had mineral interest in wells they drilled in Howard County, Texas, this is the same mineral interest company (A) leased. I had money held in suspense with company (B) that was released after providing a W9. I found out that I am a unleased mineral owner. In early 2025 I was given a company (B) Drilling Title Opinion that was written in 2020. In the Drilling opinion was my current address, I was never contacted about signing a lease. In my opinion this seems a little shady that they had my current address but never attempted to contact me about leasing. Am I wrong?
Your lease would have had a primary term of 3 years minimum, and perhaps with option to extend the primary term by paying additional bonus. So that in 2020 your minerals were under lease to Company A and not available for lease by another company. For whatever reason, Company A did not participate in the wells or perhaps the wells were spud or completed after your lease expired. This highlights the importance of watching for permits and production on and around your minerals by studying permits and the RRC GIS viewer. If you had seen this, then you could have contacted Company A to see what plans it had for participating as a WI or asking Company B if it would like to lease your minerals under the well. You should download all the well permits, plats and completion reports for your files. See if more wells are permitted. Read up on what it means to be an unleased mineral owner in Texas. And you can ask Company B about signing a lease now, although you should not expect any bonus. If you own other minerals, then start watching and compiling records.
Thank you for the help.
I have researched the Texas RRC website in Howard County, Texas, I found the 12 well that where permitted and drill by Company B. I not sure if Company B bought the leases from Company A. I did get a drilling opinion for my interest from Company A and in the opinion it has my address and a portion of the Affidavit of Heirship done by company A. I’m sure the person that furnished the drilling opinion wasn’t supposed too. I guess I wondering why they did contact me about signing a lease instead of making me unleased mineral interest. I suppose by making me unleased mineral interest I am helping them pay for a portion on operating cost. I received a check for money held in suspense in October of 2024. Since then my monthly checks are going towards JIB. I have also purchased my aunt and a cousins mineral interest in these same wells. I know that my aunt and my cousins mineral interest is 2x of what my interest is.
If Company B had purchased the leases held by Company A, then you would have been under lease for the wells. You can confirm this by looking for any assignments from A to B in the deed records. Maybe A took leases with the plan to flip them to either B or some other company which wanted to participate in the wells and could not find any buyers. Or A only had leasing funds and could not afford to participate. Or B refused to allow A to participate. Lots of reasons. If you post the company names and well information, then someone may know something. If you were under lease to A at the time the wells were permitted by B, then you were out of leasing market at that time. You are being treated as WI, paying your share of costs but getting 100% of related revenue. If your lease was at 25% royalty, then you would only get 25% of the revenue for your minerals and your lessee would get 75% of revenues and pay the costs.