My uncle passed away in 2010. I was recently contacted to see about signing a contract for some drilling. As far as I know the mineral rights were not in his will. My brother was told there was 9 of us nieces and nephews that would be sent letters. Some of them I know the others I don't. I have several questions. Thank you Lisa for your blog tonight I was able to learn a few things.
There were two contracts sent to us which apparently equals approx. 80 acres in Logan County. Sections 10 & 23-15n-1w. My contract came from Gary A Monroe & Associates out of Arkansas of behalf of Tetra Energy. Has anyone dealt with this group before?
Is there a way to find out if he may have had other sections that we don't know about? Also for them to drill on this property would all 9 of us have to sign a contract. On the one website I went to, it looks like 2 of the nephews have turned in their contracts.
Since I am new too this. Before signing any contracts. I want to know what my options are. I want to make sure I get the most out of it and what does it really mean in the end for us.
Donna:
All the records regarding your uncles mineral holdigs would be on record at the County Clerk office in the county where the minerals are located. Most likely, you or a member of your family would have to go to the CC office and research records or hire an individual such as a retired landman to do this for you. It is not necessary for all of you to sign in order for drilling to commence. Each of you can sign a lease with whatever company you desire, usually the one you which negotiates the best deal. If a well is drilled and you have not entered into a lease, your acreage will be pooled into the unit and you would be considered a paticipant in the well. There are multiple posts on this forum dealing with pooling and well participation. Take some time and do your homework by reading past posts on this forum before signing any type of lease. Finally, don't get in a hurry or feel forced to accept a deal that you feel is not in your best interest.
The nine of you should band together and hire an attorney to negotiate the lease.
I just found out two of the nephews sold their interest from the Internet. Unfortunately we are only cousins by marriage and my brothers and I only kind of know the nephew that sold his portion.
I know how you feel Donna, I’ve been going through the exact same process and it has certainly been a steep learning curve for me. But I’m getting pretty comfortable with things now and I have found several hundred acres across multiple counties that weren’t on our final decree. Do you have time to learn how to do the research yourself?
Donna Theis said:
I just found out two of the nephews sold their interest from the Internet. Unfortunately we are only cousins by marriage and my brothers and I only kind of know the nephew that sold his portion.
The rest of you should go together then, on an attorney. Depending on how much of the interest has signed a lease, they do not need 100% signed up to drill in Texas. There is strength in numbers, and less cost per person.
Thanks guys. I found out a lot of information yesterday on the county forum discussion. I also talked to my uncles nephew and was able to get a lot of questions answered. His father was the one who sold his portion. The nephew did not. I found out their great grandfather originally homesteaded the land but it waslater sold. They kept the mineral rights. Turns out us kids portion will be 4.62 acres. Not as much as we thought.