New here and not wanting to bombard the forum with questions, but our family has had leases now since 2012 and only just recently has any drilling activity begun.
Going back through multiple lease offers as well as purchase offers, I have found lease documents that didn’t even reference “net acres” at all. Similarly I find later lease or purchase offers with our gross acreage agreeing with previous documents, but differing net acres.
Trying now to organize this information, however its mind bending. LOL
How do we as mineral owners, verify the “net acres” when an agreement is placed before us?
YEs, it can be quite mind bending and a bit frustrating to track down. The first place to ask is the offering group. Ask them for the paragraph or two from the title opinion that states your interest in net acres. If they won’t share it, then ask them to verbally tell you and write it down. Explain that you are trying to reconcile your records and need it clearly stated. (Sometimes the leasing agent is only ballparking and they have not done a title search. They usually do that after you agree to lease as they are expensive to run.)
Lease records usually only state the gross acres. That is common. Rarely will you see one with net acres.
If you have leased, then go back to the company that you leased with and ask for the paragraph from the leasing title opinion. By then, they have done the title search (hopefully) and can tell you how many net acres they said you had to lease you. After drilling, the operator will do a Division Order title search which is much more rigorous and may have some changes.
You can track the title yourself at the county courthouses. A bit more complex, but you can get help from the clerks if you are very nice. Or you can hire a landman to do help you.
You will not be able to get the whole title opinion as it is very expensive to obtain. Just ask for the paragraph that pertains to your interest. If you have a Division Order then that is usually a better title opinion as they really care about who they are going to pay money to for many years.
With respect to division orders, would you happen to know if they are typically staggered when sent out to owners?
My wife has leases that are involved in all six lateral wells off a single pad. Each lateral is its own unit.
To date, we have only received one division order, for one unit/well. All six began producing in September and other owners are already receiving royalty payments.
My wife, her father and her sister are dividing the proceeds in thirds. Her father received his first payment with his November statement, (he was already receiving royalties on other properties), my wife returned her division order in early December and has heard nothing more, and her sister has yet to even receive her order to sign.
Does that seem screwy to anyone but me?
Its concerning that neither has received division orders for any of the other five wells. It is verified that they own the interests, Antero has paid us to lease them multiple times and I found our interests filed with the paperwork to the county.
The DO can be staggered, but it depends upon the unit language as to whether they send just one or multiple ones. Contact the Division Order department at Antero and ask them. Each person needs to contact them individually as the DO analyst should not give out information on other people.
There can be hundreds of owners on a well, so it can take months to get it all straightened out and all titles verified.
Thank you. Yes, I looked thru each of the six well/unit’s last night. Indeed, each unit has hundreds of owners.
It just seems screwy that payments would begin before some owners are even contacted. My wife’s family are all involved in the same lease, yet one is already receiving payment, and one hasn’t even received the DO.
I will contact Antero and inquire.
The one DO we have received so far is simply a decimal and the math according to the formula I was using doesnt work out. Antero’s filed paperwork indicates our interest at 9.55 acres, while the decimal formula indicated it would be a little less than 15.
The other five laterals we have heard nothing about. For newbie’s, I suppose our concern is understandable.
You can go to the county courthouse IDX Search and look up DPU’s for the units. A DPU is a Declaration Of Pooling and Unitization document the operator (Antero) files once the Units are completed. For example: The John Doe unit, will show everyone included along with the plat map and every lease pooled in. The Plat will provide how much acreage Antero is using in the one well-bore unit boundary. As M Barnes mentioned, it could take a while for DO’s to be presented as there could be hundreds or more Heirs. You will also want to check with Antero if you only have the right to sign a lease and collect a bonus as there could be an NPRI reservation in title. Antero or the Operator can tell you about your title if you ask them. Hope this helps.
Always a good idea to send a certified letter return receipt requested. Then you have a paper trail of who signed for it and when they received it. Emails and phone calls may get the answer you need, but documentation may also be important.
Are you certain that your father in law doesnt own 100% of the proceeds? You state the leases started in 2012, yet drilling activity had just begun. Either your father in law signed a 10 year OGL, a well was drilled that held all of the acreage or new OGL’s were signed in the last few years? Its likely that your wife and her sisters interest was “red flagged” due to a title issue, since their dad is already in pay? Its hard to say without knowing all the facts and seeing the documents and chain of title into your wife.
Yes, we are certain the royalties are split three ways. I have the paperwork.
In 2012 the land was leased initially by Stone Energy. Then amended by Stone Energy for rights to drill deeper. They never did anything with it and then went bankrupt. EQT inherited the leases near the end, but they failed to re-sign and drilling slowed. This was around 2017.
In 2022 Antero approached and a new lease was signed. Father-in-law divided the proceeds with his daughters for certain. We have acknowledgement and have received a DO for one of the six wells.
So far, not a peep about the others. Just seems odd to a neophyte.
I wrote very detailed email to Antero Owner Services. Hopefully they have an explanation.
Regarding the 2022 OGL, did your father in law, your wife and her sister sign separate OGL’s? Do you know if your father in law is getting payments on the full interest or 1/3rd of the interest? Its rather odd that your father in law is in pay and the other 2 arent if all 3 signed separate OGL’s, since hes in pay, it might be easier for him to contact Antero and get an answer on top of the emails you sent? But also keep in mind, with the close of the year and a new year beginning, the land techs at Antero are likely swamped, so it could just be a case that 9.55 acres/3 is on the last thing on their to do list which sucks and isnt the reason you want to hear, but its the nature of the business unfortunately.
Thank you. Yes, I found my father-in-law listed several times. Hopefully its simply delayed due to bureaucracy. We are plenty patient. There is no emergency, just learning to do my due diligence in a field I knew little about.
Thanks Bob. Father-in-law’s payment was for the same interest portion (decimal) that my wife signed for, so the interest appears to have been divided correctly. You are correct that it is odd. I cannot fathom a reason.
Sister-in-law still has not received her paperwork nor a return call from Antero.