Winkler Mineral Rights_Trying to compile relevant info and documents

General Mineral Rights Discussion
1

Like many on here recently, I inherited mineral rights back in '02. Similarly, this year I’ve received much higher offers than I have in the past. From 2002, I’ve always just ignored offers, collected my royalty checks and invested them elsewhere. However, the recent activity has prompted me to organize and really look into my mineral rights holdings, which has led to the realization that some important pieces are missing. My division order describes my holdings as the following:

DI: 36197 Operator: Exxon Mobil Property: Haley Unit/Section 5/ Production: Gas Description: All of Section 5, Block 27, PSL Survey, Winkler County, Texas, containing 640 acres, more or less. Limited to production between 6000 & 21,250 ft only Interest: RI .00097656

DI: 36197 E Operator: Exxon Mobil Property: Haley Unit 502 Production: Oil Description: All of Section 5, Block 27, PSL Survey, Winkler County, Texas containing 640 acres, more or less, limited to production between 6,000 and 21,250 ft. Interest: RI .00097656

I’ve been trying to determine a few things: my net mineral acres, oil/gas lease, and deed info.

A company with a recent offer said they found that I own approx. 2 mineral acres. But that they would need to do a full title search to figure out the exact number, which they would only do if I agreed to the sale (which I will not, at this point).

  1. Any advice where I can get this number?

  2. As a mineral rights owner, would I have the lease on this property, or is that the property owner? With ExxonMobil as the operator, does that mean I have a lease with them? If so, where can I obtain copies of these leases?

  3. Any insight as to where I can obtain a copy of my title/deed? The only paperwork I have been able to obtain through the movement of the rights in my family is the Division Order Property Description.

Thank you very much for any information that can be provided, I appreciate it.

2

I have something similar on my section involvement. If the other company is willing to stand by you–if there’s ever a disagreement with Exxon–your additional acreage may be a better offer if Exxon isn’t willing to include the 2 acres in a rebidding of 2002.

3

Assuming your lease royalty rate is 25%, you can divide your percentage 0.00097656 by 0.25 and get a percentage of the total acreage, which would be 0.0039062. Multiplying this times the 640 acres gives you about 2.5 Net Mineral Acres. If the lease royalty rate is 3/16, your net mineral acres are closer to 3.333.

You can try finding your lease at the Winkler County Clerk’s office, and also for the title. I am assuming the executor of the original owner’s estate filed the will with the County. There are also websites that you can search and for a fee, acquire the copies if they are to be found. With regard to your question 2, the lease follows the mineral rights estate, and has precedent over surface owner’s rights. You or your family member should have the original copy of the lease. You can probably assume that Exxon is the lessee, since they generally don’t have other companies operate their leases. If you speak with the Exxon mineral rights representative, they might be able to get you copies of the lease, but I haven’t had much luck with that.

Another point to consider—it appears that at the time the lease was executed, there might have been a shallow well on the property, hence the depth limitation from 6000 to 21250 feet. Or alternatively, your mineral rights might be only those depths. Getting the original title can solve this puzzle.

4

It appears that XTO (Exxon) began producing Haley-Garland Allocation 8 well (RRC 08-48520) in May 2016. This horizontal well was drilled from middle of Section 8 through all of Section 5. Are you on pay in this well? If not, you are due back royalties. XTO may claim that it is still working on title and be holding funds in suspense. Or maybe your division order was lost. There also seem to be a number of new horizontal well permits in this area by other companies. This is likely why you are getting pressure to sell. To trace title, use tx.countygovernmentrecords.com for recorded deeds, probate, leases etc. If this is an old lease, it could be in name of other relatives from whom it was inherited. Use advanced search for a part of name with relative as grantor. You can preview for free and purchase for $1 per page. Do not use Microsoft Edge as you will not be able to enlarge pages for reading. Use Chrome or Mozilla or other browser. Or ask Exxon or XTO for lease info - date, lessor, lessee, recording volume and page.

5

Thanks a lot for the response and information James, I really appreciate it. I’m really curious as to what the lease royalty rate is, because that seems to be hiding in the calculations somewhere, and isn’t presented in a straightforward manner on my paperwork. I’ll work on getting in contact with the County Clerk’s office and see if I can move forward with them and what I can discover. That’s an interesting thought it regards to the depth of the original mineral rights as well. With these, it always seems that once one question is answered, another presents itself; a wonderful cycle!

6

I appreciate your response; this is great to know. I’ve wondered if some of the paperwork (leases) are still in my grandparents’ names, and that’s why I haven’t been able to track it down. Additionally, that website should be really helpful. I have tried contacting XTO, but they definitely make it difficult to get through. I am going to continue sending emails and trying to call until I’m able to get through and talk with someone. The new well is news to me, so I would like to get that figured out. I believe I’m only on pay for my original well, and haven’t been notified of anything new. Again, thanks for taking the time to respond and provide this info; it’s appreciated.