Williams County ND

General Mineral Rights Discussion
#1

My Dad just found out he is part owner in the mineral rights of 232 acres in Twp 154 Range 100 West Section 31 and Section 30. Also Twp 153 Range 100 Section 6 Lot 2.

Does anybody know if Continental Oil already have active rigs in this area? What might we expect for an offer? A representataive from Diamond Resources has contacted the family and we have already provided them with copies of death certificates of our ancestors that purchased these mineral rights in 1951. No legal representation has been hired yet to work with Diamond Resources/Continental.

Any advise would help. I just started researching all of this yesterday. Thank You

#2

Active rigs ? I didn't see any. They probably drilled your wells and left. Yes I said wells. You have a well in section 30 [ Brakken 30 - 31 1-H ] that also legs (wellbore) into section 31, operated by Brigham 96,777 barrels of oil in 13 months. You also have a well [ Todd 1-6H ] in 153 - 100 section 6 drilled by Continental which is off the confidential list and should be fracked relatively soon, which I'd be willing to wager will also be a good well. I've had a really bad experience dealing with Diamond Resources. I recommend you at a minimum make sure you have a statement of claim recorded at the county recorders office with your current contact information, I also recommend that you only deal with Diamond in writing and keep everything. I wouldn't be in too great of a hurry to lease anyway. You might as well wait to see just how good that well is going to be. Study all of your options, someone might outbid Diamond/Continental for your lease and participate in the well.

#3

Thank you for your help and informtaion. All of this is very new to the family and I'm sure we'll be finding out more. Would you be able to give me advise as to where I could find a map on the internet as to the actualy name of the townships we are dealing with? 153 & 154. I've been able to find a township map with names on it but not numbers such as what we have in the legal description of the area that's covered by these mineral rights.

Also, is 96,777 in 13 months a good figure? If Brigham is already in there how come they haven't contacted us yet? Would it be that they are removing oil and not making payments to all mineral rights owners..?

Thank You..

#4

It's very possible Diamond put in the effort to find you and that Brigham did not, the standard of due diligence is pretty low. It's really common for me to inform people who come here for leasing help that they already have a well. If you don't have a lease within the last 20 years or a fresh statement of claim on file with your present address, I would say it's a crapshoot whether they would find you or not. I would say that the oil production of your Brigham well was better than just respectable considering that your well had over 100 days cumulative in which it did not produce and it still likely made 8 million dollars or more, probably not too far from being paid off, I think it likely that in the longest period of downtime they were installing the pump. As for a map, there are some maps you could buy that I consider pretty pricy. If you just want to visualize where your property is, you could look on the GIS server map on the NDIC Oiland Gas Division website, go to the site homepage, on the left hand side select GIS server map, when the map loads select find section from the menue on the left, input your township, range, section click on zoom to section. You have a very distinctive water lot which I think you could compare to a free county map online and find where the nearest roads and towns are, without using your credit card or getting up from your computer. I hope this helps.

#5

Patty, looking through the North Dakota Recorders Information Network, there are several investment companies that likely have an interest in your wells, also likely they would like to have a larger interest in your wells, don't count them out as possible lessees, or as help to negotiate your price higher if/when you lease.

#6

Thank you so much for your help. I don't have any more time tonight to spend on this but will probably contact you again once I find out a little bit more. Everybody I've spoken with says this is a very active area and we should look very closely at any lease offers. I didn't have time to try and find a map with the names of the townships that coincide with the numbers of 153 and 154. I'm still trying to picture where in Williams County this area is. I'd like to research more when I get time. Thanks again for all your helpl.

#7

According to my sportsmen edition of the Williams County atlas, both T153-R100 and T154-R100 are listed as Stony Creek. They lie immediately east and south of the city of Williston where Hwy 1804 heads east and T153 borders McKenzie County on the south. Your sections are contiguous and show as being underneath the waters of Missouri River/Lake Sakakawea. If you like, I could scan those pages in and email them to you. Just friend me and I'll do it privately. The NDIC map shows some horizontal wells into both sections but I didn't get to the level of figuring out the names or companies of the wells.

#8

Hi Dorothy,

I don't know how to "friend". This is the only chat room I've ever entered in my life. Please tell me the process and I will gladly send you my email address. I'd love to see a map. And thanks for the information on the Township name of Stony Creek. What do you mean when you say the sections are contiguous?

Thanks - Patty

#9

Patty, you can friend people by going to their home page and clicking on the mail icon under their avatar. You will be informed that you must be friends first and you will be able to send a brief message and invite them to be your friend. I will send you a friend request, it will appear in the upper right hand corner, underneath your name where it says inbox, friends and so forth.

#10

contiguous means they are adjacent or right next to one another. Section 31 is in the extreme southwest corner of T154-R100 and Section 6 is in the extreme northwest corner of T153-R100. T153-R100 is directly south of T154-R100, which makes section 6 directly south and adjacent to section 31. This will make more sense when you see them on the map. Because they are both under the river, you should check the prior forum discussions regarding the State of ND trying to claim all minerals underneath the river.

by the way, I sent you a friend request so you should be able to just accept it.

#11

I will second the motion to steer clear of Diamond. They were our first contact and leased from us for what turned out to be far under the area standard.

#12