Congratulations on finding us! If you’re like most of the people who find this website, you didn’t know you owned oil and gas rights until just a few days ago. You probably didn’t even know what oil and gas rights were.
Then someone either called you out of the blue or sent you a letter explaining that your great-great grandpa owned minerals in West Virginia. West Virginia? Where’s that? you probably asked yourself.
That someone (called a landman, as I’m sure they explained to you) went on to explain that your great-great grandpa (or some other ancestor) lived in West Virginia at one point and owned West Virginia mineral rights when he passed away. Those mineral rights passed down to his heirs, and you are one of his heirs. You are now the proud, if a little confused, owner of mineral rights in West wherever-that-is Virginia.
To complicate things, the landman is asking you to sign a lease, and maybe an Affidavit of Heirship, and probably a couple other documents related to the lease.
What does this lease say? you’re wondering to yourself. Am I getting myself into a liability issue? Are they paying me what it’s worth? Is fracking OK or am I messing up some poor West Virginian’s life? Am I the new Jed Clampett?!?
So many questions….so few answers! Until you found this web site…..
We’re here to help you understand what’s going on. We’ll answer all those questions and quite a few you didn’t even know you had.
We’ll help you understand what a lease is and how it’s going to affect you.
We’ll help you feel confident that you are doing the right thing, whether that’s ignoring the landman completely or working with the landman to sign a lease and get the rest of your family to sign up, too.
We’ll help you have peace of mind, knowing that you haven’t taken too low a price or gotten yourself into a bad liability situation.
We’ll help you look into the future and predict whether you’re going to be able to retire on your new income or…just be able to buy a burger at McDonalds every once in a while.
We’ll help you decide whether the environmental issues are something for you to consider or not.
We’ll help you know whether to put your mineral rights into a family trust for protection.
We’ll give you some practical advice on how to negotiate with the landman if that’s all you need.
For that matter, we can do all the negotiating for you. All you’ll ever have to do is sign the final document and mail it back to us.
Whatever it is you need help with, we will do. We have the experience, the knowledge, the expertise, and the training to take care of all your oil and gas issues.
By the way, we don’t work for the oil and gas companies. We keep ourselves out of that kind of work so that we don’t have conflicts of interest.
I too had no idea that relatives of mine owned oil and gas rights until just a few weeks ago. Out of nowhere, a lease proposal arrived for my mom, stating that she owned minerals in West Virginia. She received this information weeks ago; or maybe it’s been a month or more now. I don’t know; I haven’t been keeping track. Although we are from West Virginia, my mom wasn’t shocked, flabbergasted, or even the least bit surprised by the letter. I would have described her reaction to this news as cynical?
Since then, my mom has received several calls from a guy who wanted to “discuss” her new-found inheritance. He did clarify that the inheritance came from my dad’s side of the family (relatives that were born and lived in West Virginia). As I mentioned, I didn’t know that I had relatives who owned mineral rights, but I think my mom knew, which may explain her yawning reaction. The inheritance would have been for my dad, but since he is no longer with us, they are being passed on to my mom.
The landman who has been calling my mom would really like her to consider signing the lease, some kind of memorandum, a W2, and some other stuff. Does this mean our relatives never signed a mineral rights lease in the past? Or does this mean that since the rights have been passed on to my mom, a new lease has to be approved? I have no idea.
At this point, I would take back my initial description of my mom as cynical. Maybe apathetic would be more accurate?? She is a retired senior and I don’t think she has the energy to take on anything new like this. I tried reading through the lease myself. I think I understand most of what I’ve read, but it’s the “I don’t know what I don’t know” that makes me hesitant to encourage my mom to find out more. But this I do know; I would sure like to find out if my mom has any chance of moving herself to Beverly … (Hills, that is).
It’s unlikely she’ll be able to make that move to Beverly (Hills, not WV). Most people in your situation don’t have a large share of the oil and gas as it’s been split up between family members for several generations. The lease itself is more complex than you think, and there are things you’ll want to ask for that aren’t in the lease. Start off by asking for more money, of course, and a higher royalty. Get Gross Proceeds, No Warranty of Title, Indemnification, Marcellus Shale Only, and No Automatic Extension clauses to start off with. If you do, that’s a decent lease. There are still some things you can ask for, but that’s a good start. If you’d like to get on the phone with me and talk through the lease in detail, we can do that. I charge for that, of course, but if you’re up for it, give the office a call at 304-473-1403. Good luck, and have fun!
My mother has some royality in Richie Co.. Her tax bill for the last few years has been around $12, This year the bill is around $1800. I talked with the Richie Co. tax accessor and found out the bill is for production year 2 years prior so for year 2022. I contacted the producers, they had her old address, they sent a form for her to sign so they can send the checks. Since my first contact with them and before I received the form, my mother passed. I am her Power Of Attorney and the executor of her will. I also will inherit this royality.
Can I sign the form as POA and include a copy of the POA? This is money she had comming before she died.
Once your mother has passed away, the PoA is no longer effective. It’s one of those things that’s only for life. Now that she has passed, the executor of her estate has the power to do things. If you’re the executor, you could probably sign on her behalf. You should also reach out to the oil and gas company and let them know that she died. They will probably want you to provide them with a number of documents, but they may start making payments to you right away if you can provide those documents.
hi, I own approx 100 acres in Marion County, WV. Been approached to buy all 100 acres (which I’m fine with, I don’t want to lease it out, just want to be done with it). Offer is around 488,000. Not sure if this is reasonable or not. Any advice?
That’s a decent offer in Marion County, but you can do better, especially with 100 acres. I would try to talk you out of selling, but if you’re dead set on it, I’ll also help you sell. I’ve got a list of buyers that I can approach, and I’ll be surprised if we can’t do better. If you want to just deal with the company you’re talking to, make sure there’s no warranty of title (use a quit claim deed or a special warranty deed instead of a general warranty deed), make sure that they can’t keep your property optioned forever (the companies that did this back in the day are gone, but I still keep a watch out for this kind of language in a purchase and sales agreement), and make sure to get more money from them. Good luck, and have fun! Hope to hear from you. 304-473-1403
I was approached by MBH Minerals of Pittsburg regarding selling my mineral interest held in Taylor County. I’ve done some internet sleuthing but do not come up with much background information on this company. They may be a part of MBH Resources but likewise not much info that I have been able to put my fingers on through relevant searches of WV or PA government data bases, BBB, and other forums. They do have a State of PA business license. Are you familiar with this company or would you be able to point me towards better resources to validate their operations.
I don’t remember working a deal with MBH in the past. However, these oil and gas investment groups pop up from time to time. Usually they’ll work for a few years, buying up minerals until they’ve exhausted their investment money, and then fade off. I’ve seen a number of them come and go that way. My general recommendation is to hold on to your minerals as they should be worth more in the long run than in a one-time sale. There is a little bit of development going on in Taylor County, so it’s possible you could get a lease on those minerals. If so, you could expect a bonus payment in the vicinity of $1500/acre up to maybe $3000/acre, depending on which company is offering the lease. If you have paperwork that you’d like to review, you can call the office at 304-473-1403. We charge an initial consult fee. Good luck, and have fun!
Kyle, Me and 12 family members have inherited mineral rights in the clay District of wetzel county Wv. The property is 3 connected parcels totaling a little over 73 acres EQT is offering one hundred fifty dollar bonus each and 15% royalty. To my knowledge nothing has been done on these properties. These numbers seem very low to me from the little bit of investigating that I have done. Maybe I’m wrong I don’t know but I do know my grandparents didn’t hold on to these mineral rights for us to just give them away for basically nothing. Any input you have would be great Thank you
So, you probably have a very small share of the oil and gas underlying those three tracts. EQT doesn’t usually give out your net mineral interest (the size of your share) unless you ask. They will give it to you if you ask, though. Regardless, you’ll want to ask for a larger bonus payment, I usually counter with $1000 in situations where people have a small net mineral interest. The royalty may or may not be worth negotiating much, it depends on your net mineral interest. If it’s well below 0.10, then I usually ask for 20% and just take whatever they give, because the amount of money coming from such a small interest is so low, regardless of the royalty. Also make sure to ask for a No Warranty of Title clause, No Recoupments clause, Indemnification, a Marcellus Shale formation limit clause, and No Automatic Extension of the primary term (the primary term is five years, usually). There are other things you could ask for, but we should probably talk about them. If you’d like to do an initial consult (which we charge for) give the office a call at 304-473-1403. Good luck, and have fun!
My mother starting receiving royally checks from Charles Well in Marshall Co. , West Virginia 2 years ago. She passed way 9 years ago and never knew anything about the mineral rights because the land was never drilled on. My father, her husband, inherited everything from her estate. She had a will, but it never went through probate. My father is in a nursing home with health issues. We would like to change ownership to his 3 daughters instead of changing to him and then changing it again. We have never cashed any checks and all royalties are now in escrow with the company. What is the easiest way to transfer ownership while my father is still living?
Since he’s alive we can draw up a deed transferring ownership to his daughters (or, really, to anyone he wants). Just call the office at 304-473-1403 to get started. We may have to do some paperwork (ancillary probate) to transfer the property from your mother’s estate to your father, as well. It depends on how your mother received the property herself.
My dad (only child) recently passed and my mom was offered 100k (then 150k) for mineral rights held by my grandfather. The land was sold in the late 1950’s, but the mineral rights were retained. The land is in Marion County – Lincoln district. Any advice on how to begin research process?
First off, I generally recommend that people hold on to their mineral rights rather than sell. They should be worth more in the long run than they will be in a one-time sale. However, if you’re going to sell, you can leave it up to the purchasing company to do the research. They are incentivized to credit you with the correct amount of minerals as they want to purchase as much as they can. Just make sure to use a Quit Claim deed or a Special Warranty deed, not a General Warranty deed. A General Warranty deed includes a promise from you to them that you own the minerals. You’re not in a position to know this, and they will have done all the research to determine that you are the owner, so they should be taking that risk on themselves.
oil and coal company are land locked and need a right away… i actually think they messed up and came under and into my minerals below… apparently they are stuck and my property is the only way through underneath. they offered me $50k for a right away. what should i do? if the offer me millions for what they took they can have it all. but if they took whats mine can i sue?
There are a lot of variables I don’t know in this scenario, so I can’t say for sure. I’d have to see maps, at very least, and I’d want more details about what they’re saying to you. I’ve not heard of a right of way for underground rights, but even after 15 years there are things in oil and gas that still surprise me. Give the office a call at 304-473-1403 and set up an appointment to talk with me. I’ll be on vacation for a couple weeks, but will be able to do some stuff remotely anyways. Also, if they’ve offered $50K, there’s more on the table. Always make sure to ask for more than you expect to get.
Hello, my grandmother passed away in August 2024 and in her will I am the sole beneficiary, She has 9 acres of mineral rights in Wetzel county and 39.5 acres of mineral rights in Tyler County! EQT is ripping her off because I read you get a royalties check every month but from day one my grandmother got her check every 3-4 months and it’s for $50 some dollars each time on 7 producing wells! The math doesn’t add up! honestly I will sue them if they have been ripping my grandmother off for years before she died! Anyways I don’t want to keep them I want to cash out and I read there’s taxes when you do which I’m ok with because a really nice vacation after 25 years of sacrificing my life to keep my grandma alive did a number on me, so a long vacation sounds so amazing plus there’s a couple other things I want to do! How much are these worth per acre? And how much would the capital gain be?
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you probably didn’t inherit all of the 9 acre or 39.5 acre tracts. You probably only inherited a portion of them, and there are probably a lot of other people who also own a portion of them. That’s the way it is here in West Virginia most of the time. Great-great grandpa died owning some of the mineral rights, and everyone that inherited from him got a share, and then they got split up more in the next generation, and so on and so forth down to you. I would love to be wrong about that, because 48.5 acres of mineral rights would be worth a lot. I wouldn’t sell them in Tyler County for less than $5,000/acre right now. Capital gain is 15% right now (20% for some, apparently it’s not a set number any more), so that would cut in to your profits a bit. You should contact whatever company is sending the royalty checks and ask them how many net mineral acres you own. That will tell you how much of that 9 acre tract and 39.5 acre tract you own. Good luck, and have fun!
Hi, I was just contacted by a contract employee informing me I inherited mineral rights from my grandfather on 78 acres in Lewis County, WV- very near Weston and it was her job to find the heirs/owners. My grandfather passed in 1986 and the contractor said I hadn’t been contacted before because it has never been driilled and apparently some company/companies are interested in drilling on the property for the first time. I know nothing about how to handle this and would so appreciate and advice, opinions or links to information you could provide. Thanks so much!
Since it’s Lewis County it’s probably HG Energy that has contacted you. If the property hasn’t been drilled, they’ll want to take a new lease. They’ll pay a bonus that’s based off the number of acres that you own, which is probably some fraction of a tract because you probably aren’t the only one who inherited from your grandfather. The bonus will probably be in the $1,500/acre range. HG is pretty tight with their money. Do try to get an 18% royalty. And of course, on both of those, ask for more than you want so you have some negotiating room. Make sure you get a No Warranty of Title clause, Gross Proceeds, Indemnification, and Notification of Assignment. Also, make sure the lease only applies to the Marcellus Shale. I haven’t seen a lot of HG leases (they mostly work in areas that already have leases) so I can’t give you much specific help without a copy of the lease. Good luck, and have fun!
I need help. My dad owned mineral rights on a lot of land and he pasted away with out a will, so it went air shipped and everyone has been receiving payment for it for years but me. And I don’t talk to them nor will they tell me anything because everyone that starts drawing it makes the payment lower for everyone. But he was my dad, his name is on my birth certificate. But I don’t know what to do, any help with this will be very appreciated….thank you
Hi Walter! If you haven’t already reached out to the company, you could try doing that first on your own. They’re usually good with situations like this, where there’s an additional heir that somehow got left out of their documentation. If you have already reached out to the company and provided them with documentation, send us copies of the email chain if you can. We should probably talk about the situation on the phone. Call 304-473-1403. Send us over any documents that show that you are an heir to your dad, and we can talk about why you think the oil and gas company left you out and what we can do to get you onto the company’s paydeck.
Kyle was approached by a company to buy some oil and gas rights in Doddridge County (cove) (down by southern border of the county) held by an older lease I think at 1/8th royalty. . they said they will drill them someday but not now. .any idea of the value of those rights currently?
Generally I recommend that you don’t sell. The minerals should be more valuable over time than in a one time sale. The southern part of Doddridge isn’t very busy right now, so they’re probably right about not getting drilled right now. I wouldn’t sell for less than $4000/acre, as we’re getting leases in the $3,000-$3,500 range in Doddridge right now. I’d push for quite a lot more myself, but that’s just me.
We’re wondering what the current fair market rates are for a Mineral Rights Oil & Gas lease in Marion County, Paw Paw district? My two siblings and I were recently offered $1500/acre with a 16% gross royalty on just over 10 net acres out of a total 60+ gross acre area of interest. While the royalty seems decent from what we’ve researched, the bonus per net acre offered seems quite low
You should be able to get up to around $3000, maybe even $3500/acre, and an 18% royalty. O&G companies have been pushing hard lately to reduce those numbers, though, so don’t be surprised if you have to push hard for that.
So my late husband and his siblings apparently found out from Antero sending documents more than once to do a lease on oil and mineral rights. My six children are the heirs now, since their father passed 9 years ago.
Some of my older children are now married and the documents are in the maiden name, I have a couple of minor children still, and the rest of his siblings are meeting to discuss how to proceed from here. This inheritance of land was a complete surprise to everyone. It’s in Wetzel County (Gross acres 31.8, net acres .00315) We’ve never encountered anything like this, so I’m reaching out with maybe where to start. Or what I could share with everyone else.
We didn’t send anything back after their first attempt at informing us. They have now sent it a second time, through UPS and the USPS.
**Lease signing bonus has gone up from $300 to $500 and the royalties from 15% to 17%.
You have a very small amount of minerals, so don’t worry too much about royalties. Push hard for more bonus. Once you’ve received a bonus, see if they’ll turn around and buy it from you. The old rule of thumb for royalties is $100-$500/acre/month once all the wells in the unit are producing. I’ve seen higher than $1000/acre/month, but even that only gets you about $3/acre/month. The wells will last 20-30 years, so 240-360 months. Royalties also get smaller over time, with a pretty steep decline curve in the first few months. Make sure to get a No Warranty of Title clause, a Hold Harmless clause, and a Marcellus Shale formation limit (so the lease only applies to the Marcellus Shale).
A land agent reached out to our non-profit since we were a beneficiary of a trust which may have contained mineral rights to a reserve of land in Taylor County, WV that was inherited by the trust’s owner. The agent’s company wants to lease the rights. The agent shared that this reserve of land was never listed in the land books and therefore never assessed accordingly, and that it was unlikely this asset was even listed in the trust. I want to ensure we have no connection to this land but am unsure of how to confirm this. I called the land office and they did not have record of our donor on the assessments.
If it were me, I would work with the land agent first, asking them how you ended up with the mineral rights. Request a copy of the pertinent document. If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to do some title work, or have it done. We can do title work. It can be expensive because title in West Virginia is usually complex, requiring lots of time to figure out. Good luck, and reach out if it gets beyond you. 304-473-1403.
I have a lease with EQT and they currently have a producing well on the property. In September 2022 they sent the first royalty check to my deceased father. After probating his will I sent all of the necessary paperwork to EQT. I have not received any payments. They claim that this is due to a problem with their computer software. This has been going on since January. The last time I spoke with them they stated that they owed us somewhere around $20,000. Is there anything that I/you can do to get them to pay me? I also think that I should receive interest on the money due.
You have two real options. One is to keep reminding them that they owe you money. Chances are, they’ll pay out at some point. I have a client in the same predicament, and we’re continuing to work with a different company to try to get money paid out. It may get done quickly, it may not. They’re usually not very forthcoming with details and deadlines. The other option is to sue them for breach of contract. This is probably going to cost more money than it’s worth, but if they just don’t pay you, this is what you’ll have to do. Before filing a lawsuit, you’ll have to read the lease closely to make sure that you know how the language of the lease is going to affect everything.
Mr. N.,
Great info. here provided by you.. Here is the ask…. I’ve got a contract in hand from Antero with offer to purchase in Tyler County, WV. coming in at 2.55688 for $6,010/acre…. my other 3 siblings have the same offer for this “net”….quick math is roughly $15k total. Multiply that by the 4 of us and we are talking roughly $60k to sell these 2.55688 Net acres. Hold or Sell?.. I don’t need the cash right now but should I hold my share or take the offer and sell? I’m thinking Antero will soon start production/drilling considering this offer, new pads all around us within a 10 mile radius and at that price point offer we may be sitting on top of a good royalty pay day for the first couple years anyway….??? Am I wrong here???
My general recommendation is to keep your oil and gas rights. However, everyone’s situation is different. If $15K will make a huge difference in your life, then take it. If you’re financially stable and expect to stay that way, then keep the minerals. If you’d like to talk about it, call the office and set up an appointment. 304-473-1403. By the way, $6K/acre isn’t a bad price, but you can probably do a little better.
Hello
I own 157 acres in renick wv..greenbriar co..with all mineral rights..I’m trying to find out how much my mineral is worth and would it be better to sell them outright or lease them..thanks
You should hold on to those mineral rights. They’re not worth much or might not even be worth anything at the moment. There are very few people who would buy them, and they would be offering a few dollars per acre. There’s no oil and gas development going on in Greenbriar County, and any money being put to use in the oil and gas industry is up in the northern counties. It’s more likely that a coal company will try to mine under your property than that an oil and gas company will drill under your property. Now, that could change. It’s impossible to say what’s going to happen next in oil and gas. But the way things are right now, it’s very unlikely that your property will get developed anytime soon.
Do you have any knowledge or ideas about why some companies have started charging WV Gas and Oil Severance Taxes on old wells that have never had this charge applied and are not allowed in the old leases? Pin Oak Energy is one such company that acquired some leases and wells in West Virginia and started withholding these taxes as a deduction. Their 2023 deductions are more widespread than the 2022.
I own 74 acres (Surface) in Ritchie County WV an was offer 3000- 3500 an acre for them to lease 30 acres kind felt insulted with how much revenue a well pad can produce
If that was per acre, then that’s a good offer in Ritchie. IF that was a flat fee, then that was highway robbery and the landman who presented the offer to you should be embarrassed. The sad thing is, I can imagine a company making an offer like that.
I just sold 1.3 aces that I inherited in Tyler Co. Never knew anything about it until I signed a bunch of papers and received very minimal royalties since 2014. I sold for $7000 an acre, so got $10000 for 1.3 ish acres. I have to pay capital gains tax but I have no clue how much it was worth when I inherited the rights. How do I find out.
It really depends on when you inherited it. Before 2007 it’s pretty safe to say that it was worth at most a few hundred dollars per acre. Since 2007 the value of mineral rights has fluctuated, but since 2009 you could say at a minimum $2000/acre, depending on how you value it. There are three different ways of looking at the value; how much you could sell it for, how much the lease bonus would be, and how much actual royalties are. Each one will give you a different value, and each one could be applicable or could not be applicable. Good luck, and if you need more help with this give us a call. 304-473-1403.
Good afternoon, I was just reached out to along with the rest of my siblings about gas and oil mineral rights in Brooke County West Virginia, They explain to us that they want to purchase .338 of an acre. But when the paperwork came in it read they were wanting to purchase the “gross interest” of 101 acres not the .338. To me it sounds like they are offering me a price of a lower valuation and want me to sign over a large amount for a small price
Gross acreage is the size of the tract. Net acreage is you share of the tract. They reference the gross acreage to help identify the tract that they are buying an interest in, and they use the net acreage to determine how much they will pay you. If you sell, make sure to ask for more than they’re offering. A lot more. They’ll negotiate you down from whatever you ask for. Try starting at $8K/acre.
Is keeping my mineral rights better in Lewis County WV then selling my little less than an acre?? I have 7 little strips of land through my Father and Aunt that I inherited mineral rights. I was contacted from HG Energy. Recieved signing bonuses and 12.5% royalties is what I will be getting.
It really depends on what you want. If you have just under an acre I’d recommend holding on to it until you at least get the first couple of royalty checks and know what kind of income it will produce. But if all the buyers trying to contact you and paying the taxes on the interest is just too much hassle for you, go ahead and sell it. You won’t be getting rich of about one acre of mineral rights, after all. It could produce a decent side income for a while if it ever goes into production, though. It’s a tough call when you have right about one acre, to be honest. It could be a really nice income, or it could just be a paperwork headache. It really depends on you.
They sent me paperwork for 3 of the strips of the land to start the Royalty payments on those. They said they expect the others around Feb. 2023. There is 7 or 8 little strips all together. Hopefully it will bring a nice little side income. Lol. I just wondered what your thoughts were on it as my siblings also have the same thing.
We purchased acreage where an old vertical well still exist. The company that is listed is not responsive and we are trying to update landowner contact information and get a clear understanding of the ROW in place for the access to the well but allow us to utilize the land. We aren’t concerned with any mineral rights or payments of anything, just want to clear understanding of their responsibilities, general activities we can expect, and understanding of boundaries so we can develop the land for our purpose and both parties can handle this. Is the company required to keep updated landowner information? If the surface rights have been issues years ago, does that carry through to new owners where damages outside of the ROW, they must compensate landowners? Is this something your practice deals with?
The company has the right to use the surface in whatever way is “fairly necessary” to access and develop the minerals. Where there’s an existing well, they are usually going to just be using whatever access road they have used previously. They’ll probably weed whack around the well and maybe do some maintenance to the access road, at most. If the well is producing they may come out and change the paper in the meter monthly. If it’s not, you won’t see them. If it’s not, and you own any rights to the oil and gas in the ground, you should ask them to release the lease. If they don’t, we can look into what needs to be done to get the old lease declared abandoned. That way they can’t come back out in a few years and just start using the well again. They would have to get permission from you. The company doesn’t have to keep updated landowner information, but if they want to get in touch with you they’ll find you. You have any and all rights that previous landowners had.
My mother is elderly and has 55 acres in Ohio County. Alpine has been approaching the family to sell the rights and we are concerned if accepted that she would be burdened with capital gains. She signed a lease a couple years back with another company and they made her correct the taxes on that and claim that lease money on last year’s taxes.
You will owe income taxes on the sale. Exactly how much is going to depend on the specific facts of your situation, and you should talk with an accountant about that. Good luck, and if you decide to sell please give us an opportunity to market your mother’s minerals for her. We have a list of buyers, and we know the market, so we can probably get a better price than you’ll get on your own.
So glad I found your site. Petroleum Partners put in shallow vertical wells on property that I have a share of mineral rights that I inherited from my father. We had not cashed dozens of small checks from the time before and after he died – I contacted them and first of all said they normally don’t send out a check unless the accumulated royalty was at least $500. Secondly, they have a list of uncashed checks but claim they need their bank to research to verify they were not cashed. Probably about $2000 worth of checks – it’s been about 6 weeks and they are telling me I need to wait for the bank to research. Does this sound reasonable?
The $500 is a lot higher than most other oil and gas companies in West Virginia. The most I’ve seen here is $100. If you’re in a different state the usual amount may differ. For the unclaimed checks, they usual know whether those checks have been cashed. They may just be putting you off, but they may have gotten burned by someone recently and so are being extra cautious. Most checks can’t be cashed after a certain time, but some checks can. Usually if an oil and gas company is worried they’ll request that you return the physical check to them, then they’ll issue a new check to cover them all. I’d guess they’re putting you off, but Petroleum Partners should be doing fine financially right now with the price of oil and gas being as high as it is. Good luck with this!
Hi. I’m interested in buying a land with mineral rights in West Virginia move there and open a small business. The company’s activities involve the use of natural gas so I want to hire a contractor to drill a well and use my own natural gas.
Can I do it and wich main things shoud I check befor I just buy the land and find a contractor to drill a well.
I.e. as I know in Louisiana I have to have 600 acres to drill a well. Does WV has the same rules or any other?
Whether you will be able to drill on your land depends on whether there is a well there already or not (there’s half a chance there is, regardless of where you are in West Virginia), whether you can acquire the mineral rights (this is sometimes really easy, sometimes ridiculously difficult). Honestly, the spacing rules are probably the least of your worries. You should identify a couple of likely locations and then start researching the oil and gas issues related to each tract. Then there will be the risk that if you drill just a vertical well you could end up with a dry hole. You might find that it will be cheaper, quicker, and more reliable to purchase gas from a utility. But it will definitely depend on the tract.
I recently found out I inherited 30 gross acres (0.00502 net acres) in Tyler County Ellsworth District. Antero offered me 200 flat fee and 14% realties. How do I negotiate this to my best benefit?
Always ask for more than you expect to get. Counter at $1000 flat fee and 20% gross proceeds for the royalties. Also ask for No Warranty of Title, Indemnification, and a Formation Limit. These are the absolute bare bones I would ask for right now, but there’s quite a lot more to it. I do an initial consultation with people in your position that takes about an hour. If you’d like to talk with me, call the office and set up an appointment. 304-473-1403.
Does anyone have a rough estimate what an acre produces in royalties ? I’ve heard between $250-$500. I realize that there are many factors such as percentage negotiated ect ect. Thanks for your time.
The old rule of thumb was between $100-$500 per acre per month once all the wells that will be producing from your property are completed. However, it was a rough rule of thumb in the first place. I’ve seen plenty of cases where the actual number was greater or less than that. Also, current natural gas prices are so high that you have to double or triple what you were previously getting. This high price environment won’t last forever, though, and inflation is going to make each dollar worth less, so it’s really best to wait until you get actual royalties before you start spending money. Don’t forget that royalties are usually going to decrease with time as production will decrease with time. Also don’t forget to save out money for income taxes and production taxes.
Thanks for your information. Very helpful.
Got approached 2 weeks ago by coal landman. I dont own the coal right to a 15 acre farm but he was wanting to buy subsidence rights to go and mine thier coal under my farm. Its a new mines being built and woukd be about 15 years to be mining under me.
He offered 21k to buy the rights or a lease royalty deal for 125k but that woukd be once it was mined.
I don’t want to deal with the shady stuff on coal royalties. What is a going rate per acre for this scenario? Taylor county WV
Thanks in advance
I don’t know the first thing about coal or subsidence. General rule with energy companies, though, is that their standard paperwork only benefits them, and they’ll always pay a lot more than their first offer. Somehow I’ve never run across a lawyer who actually knows a lot about coal, even though I’ve been doing oil and gas for over a decade, otherwise I’d give you the name of someone to talk with about this. I’m sorry I can’t help any more.
Kyle,
Antero recently reached out about acquiring a 5-plus acre piece in Ritchie County. They are offering $4,500 per acre. I’m not selling but I’m wondering the best way to play it. I assume they wouldn’t want to buy if drilling wasn’t imminent. Curious for your thoughts.
Jeff
We’re negotiating a lease in Ritchie County right now that’s at about half that for the bonus. As far as a selling price goes, that’s not bad for Ritchie. However, I don’t think I’d sell. Royalties are better than the sales price, usually within the first year and sometimes sooner. Now that’s assuming it starts producing, which it probably will. You’re right to assume that drilling is (probably) imminent. They usually don’t try to buy unless they’re confident they’ll recoup that investment pretty quick. We could be wrong about that, though. The industry is notoriously unpredictable. Regardless, I generally recommend you keep the mineral rights. If you do decide to sell anyways, give us a call and we’ll help market them.
EQT found me recently. They want me to sign various documents related to a Marion County oil and gas lease dated February 22, 1889! They want a ‘Memorandum of oil and gas lease modification’, an ‘amendment and ratification of oil and gas lease’ and an ‘Order of Payment’ signed. I’m wondering if I should negotiate their offer and, if so, what are frameworks/guidelines for squeezing out as much as I can? I’m also unsure about everything from “back pay” due (I don’t think anyone has been paid in over 100 years and I understand that both oil and gas production have been ongoing in some form) and any potential liability I would be assuming. I’m also wondering how you structure your fees if you get involved. Thanks!
I’ve been able to get as much as $500/acre from EQT for a Modification. You’ll want to find out how many acres you control, a/k/a your net mineral acres. If you have tenths of an acre you don’t have enormous negotiating leverage. If you have a couple acres you’ve got something worth taking care of. We do an initial consult with people. The price has changed over time so I can’t quote a price in a place that will be memorialize for as long as this web site exists. You will come away with a ridiculous amount of new knowledge, a handbook that covers everything we talk about (there’s too much to remember, even with good notes), and you may decide you can handle negotiations on your own when you’ve had a chance to read through the handbook. If not, we do flat fees or contingency fees depending on how many acres you control. By the way, a lease from 1889 beats the oldest active lease I’ve seen on my desk by three years. Some of those old leases have been around a long time!
I just found out that I own rights for .1 acre of one tract, .4 acre of another, and then .1 acre of a third tract of land. I got offered $3250.00 for all three total. I know that has to be low what are the three actually worth combined?
That’s a pretty good amount for a lease. If it’s a sale, it’s not quite so good. Either way, ask for more. You never know what you can get unless you ask for it. Counter with $7,000 for all three. Of course, if it’s a sale offer, keep it. It should be worth more with bonus payments and royalties in the long run than it will be in a one time sale.
Hello,
I have mineral rights in Tyler County, approximately 550 acres. I own a very small % (.00119 on 140 acres and .00403 on 406 acres. Currently, both are leased to Antero, one lease signed in 2019 and one in 2020. We recently received an offer from Antero to buy out our interest for $700. They are only interested in one acre. Another Energy company has made us an offer for over $15,000 for our interest. I have one sister that is taking the offer, she needs the money. I don’t know where to take it and invest the money now or to hold on to the rights. There has been no drilling that I am aware of, but permits may have been pulled. Under the leases the royalty is 15%. I have 3.223 mineral acres, whatever that means. Can you offer some guidance? Thank you.
I generally recommend that people hold on to their mineral rights. If you’re in a situation where $15,000 will make a big difference in the way you live your life, or if you have a different investment that you are more familiar with, then selling makes some sense. However, mineral rights will pay off more in the long run than they will in a one time sale. If you are financially stable, I recommend holding on to them.
I purchased some property in Illinois that has an Oil and Gas lease from 1958
they did just as you said – took the oil then stay forever storing gas… the lease mentions it will terminate if they don’t pay their annual storage lease. Well they haven’t paid anything since we transferred ownership over 14 months ago. the lease mentions they are not liable for late payments until we provide proof of ownership change. Via email – we provided ownership deeds, maps, title search and parcel numbers on 4 different occasions over the last 14 months with responses from the company all along the way – however they have not paid to date.
Do you think we have a shot at actually terminating this lease? or does email not count as notice? The lease says we have to send a registered letter to the company headquarters and give them 30 days to correct payment errors – but does email not count? I’m planning to send a registered letter anyway,, but not sure what address to use – the one on the lease from 1958 or figure out what address the new company is these days?
I’m not familiar with Illinois law, so I really can’t speak to your situation. If you were in West Virginia I could say that you’re going about things the right way for a West Virginia lease. The only thing left to do is talk to an Illinois lawyer who knows something about oil and gas law. I’m not sure that’s going to be easy to find. Illinois is not know for oil and gas. Good luck!
Thank you!
I think the Illinois lease is template based off the Virginia ones –
Update – we sent certified 30 termination notice – they called us to apologize and then the 30 days passed and nothing.
Any suggestions on what to do next – we worry about starting a battle we can’t afford to last out…
Thank you
What is the going rate for mineral land in Monongalia County, Battelle district? I’ve had two companies send me paperwork for leasing a total of three properties (minimal land) and now a random purchase offer in the mail for three acres of land. Why would some want to lease and others purchase?
Some of these companies want to produce natural gas, others are mainly investors who make money by owning mineral rights. The producers are the ones trying to lease, and the investors are the ones trying to buy. Producers will sometimes buy as well. Monongalia County prices are a little hard to pin down right now. I expect lease offers are starting at about $1500/acre, and you can probably negotiate them up to the $3000-$4000/acre range. I wouldn’t sell, but if that’s your preference I’d try to get close to $6000/acre.
HI,
My family inherited some mineral rights in west virginia from my dad who died. Everything is still in his name and we live in ohio.
His estate has been probated and completed. The paperwork the mineral rights company sent is ridiculously complex to complete. Do you deal with this kind of stuff?
Thanks.
Yes, we do. Honestly, it will probably be mostly front office staff pushing papers around. I suspect the mineral rights company is requesting a death certificate and maybe an exemplified copy of a will. We can definitely take care of that. Call us at 304-473-1403.
We own property in Marion County and there was a working gas well when we purchased about 28 years ago. They stopped working the well and removed the pump-jack about 8 years ago. We have asked repeatedly for them to clean up our property and remove a rusting holding tank and the remaining remnants of the well. We do not own the mineral rights and there is a 100 year lease on our property that states it can be ongoing as long as the well is producing. We looked up the number on the well tag and found that there a minuscule amount of gas being produced. We have no idea where it goes since there is no pump or anything to move it. Is there any way for us to reclaim our property and make them cap the well and leave? Is there a certain amount of production they can claim? Thank you for anything you can help us with. Carol DelRosso
The gas will flow without a pump, as the formation usually is under pressure. However, a well as old as the one you’re describing could be part of a gathering system that is made up of multiple wells flowing in to one meter quite a distance from the actual well location. The meter records the amount of gas produced, and the company allocates that number between all the wells. Proving that your well is not producing gas can be difficult, and it is necessary if you want to get them to plug the well. We should probably talk about the situation in more detail, and look at the old lease and look at the actual well, even if it’s just pictures. Call the office at 304-473-1403.
I’d like to split my rights up now while I’m alive between my 2 kids, my wife and myself. Is there any easy way to do this? Thanks
Could you tell me how I can find out if I own mineral rights to a property I own in Central Pennsylvania.
You would have to find an attorney who works in mineral rights, make sure they are familiar with the county where your mineral rights are located, and then have them do a title search. The specifics are going to vary immensely depending on how much you know already about your mineral rights ownership. I am not licensed in PA, so I can’t help you with this project.
Hi Kyle,
We have attempted to contact you on multiple occasions over the past 6 months via email and phone and am not able to reach you. I’m becoming very concerned about our relationship. We paid you a large fee in the beginning for assistance and haven’t heard from you and haven’t been able to reach you since. We simply want a status update. We really hope to hear from you soon.
Mr Nuttall: I appreciate your support of those who hold mineral rights. Your blog has helped me get up to speed on rights that have come my way through my deceased mother’s family in West Union, WV. I have a question regarding an Affidavit of Non-Production. My Dad, as direct heir to my mother, is owner of the mineral rights on property that was originally owned by my great uncle. I have found the Deed showing the property going to my mother and her siblings upon his death in 1961. I found a later Deed (1967) that shows the sale of the physical property but the retention of the mineral rights, executed by those originally deeded the property. As my mother’s heir, my Dad entered into a lease related to those rights in 2002 and concurrently (same exact date) was asked to sign an Affidavit of Non-Production related to those rights prepared by the same party who was the Lessee on the Lease. My question is: do you give up your mineral rights when you sign an Affidavit of Non-Production? I have some familiarity with legal documents as a former banker and my read is that the purpose of this document is to generally clear the legal connection to any prior lease after a certain time of non-production, not to give up rights. But I may be incorrect in that understanding. In our situation, the Lessee and preparer of the Affidavit show on a Deed at a later date as having acquired the actual property for non-payment of real estate taxes. I believe that would be an acquisition of the physical property for non-payment of taxes, unrelated to the mineral rights or my family’s ownership of those rights. I see no evidence where the family gave up those rights, as they did in other land sale situations. Based on other parcels where we have mineral rights, I believe the parcel related to this situation could be producing and paying royalties. I wanted to get a general sense of the legal aspect of the Affidavit of Non-Production before I determine my next course of action. Thank you.
An Affidavit of Non-Production is, as you understand, only related to whether an old lease is still producing. That’s if the document is drafted that way. It technically could be drafted to transfer rights, but that’s not what most Affidavit’s of Non-Production do. I would, of course, have to read the Affidavit itself to be sure about what it says. Good luck!
Thanks for the confirmation. This is a pretty simple and straightforward document that refers only to the production. I need to do more digging on this situation. You may hear from me if I need to take any form of action. I would welcome giving you business for the nice work you do for all of us out here with your good information and answers.
Thank you, and we look forward to working with you!
This is tomeka Elizabeth clay can u help me find out where I have oil and gas rights
I can help you find out where you have oil and gas rights in West Virginia. It’s very useful to have a more precise idea of where to start. Do you have an ancestor who lived in West Virginia or who bought mineral rights in West Virginia? Title work is time consuming in the best of circumstances, so being able to narrow the focus of a title search is essential.
Our family has a royalty interest in 61 acres in the Green District of Wetzel county.
We have been approached to sell that interest by an investment company. Antero is supposed to be the drilling company. We are having trouble locating the area where these acres exist. We do know that it is off State Run Road. We think it is around the Porters Falls area but as I mentioned, we are just not sure. We have been given a lump sum offer but are not sure it is a fair offer. Can you provide some focus on the area and the activity.
Wetzel County is a great place to own minerals. There’s a lot of development activity going on across the county. There are wells permitted in the Porter Falls area, but it’s really hard to say exactly where your property is in relation to them without more data. I usually recommend holding on to minerals unless you really need the money. Good luck!
Weare planning our trip to be in Buckhannon for a consult on 3 September. Planning on staying the evening in Buckhannon and looking for a place to stay. Is the Centennial a good place? Is Highway 33 from I-79 to Buckhannon good road? We would return to New Martinsville on 4 September. Thank you
I haven’t stayed in any of the hotels here in Buckhannon, so I really can’t make any recommendations in that regard, I’m afraid. Highway 33 is an excellent road. Look forward to seeing you here tomorrow!
Hello Kyle,
You were of great value to my wife and I several years ago in negotiating a lease with Antero in Doddridge County. Thanks!
My dad has a net 10.18 acres in Green District in Wetzel County. I have been following that area online for years and it appears Antero is gearing up to drill there. I’m pretty sure they have a pad ready and I know the pad close by has some new permits to drill. They have offered Dad $2,000/acre and 15%.
Can you suggest what we should counter with?
Thanks.
I don’t know if I’m putting this in the right spot I’m not very computer smart but I had issues with a oil and gas company who come out to shut off my gas to my home for nonpayment because I had gotten screwed by an employer that owed me thousands of dollars but they kept shutting off the wrong street valve for month I thought nothing if it because I assumed they shut it off well months go by and I get a letter from them stating I was tampering with the meter something I would never do then they said there was a gas leak from the road to the house and it was my responsibility to fix well come to find out after I had a plumber pressure test it there was no leak they lied now they are sending my fiance bills for thousands of dollars when the bill was never in her name to begin with .. what do I do how do I get this multimillion dollar company to stop harassing me for their mistakes
There are multiple legal issues involved here. First, I would talk to an employment law specialist about the employer who owes you money. That’s a complex area of law that we can’t help you with. Second, since it sounds like your issue with natural gas is with a public utility, you should contact either the state Attorney General or the Public Service Commission (if it’s here in West Virginia). Good luck with both issues.
I looked through the comments in hopes of finding someone else with the same problem but came up empty.
I get royalty payments via direct deposit, but got nothing for the month of June. I tried calling two different offices at CNX every hour on the hour, but everyone seems to be unavailable. I get very nervous when no one is available to answer phones. Is something going on that I should know about?
When my parents died my sister and I were passed down a 19 acre mineral rights parcel. My father, aunt, and uncle, had a combined 57 acres of mineral rights. My aunt sold her portion, but my uncle’s acreage is adjacent to ours. Appalachian Mineral Partners has offered him a cash price of $2,000/acre and he is considering selling his share. We just received an offer from the same company for $3,000-$8,000 per acre for our acreage. The land is in Marshall County, Liberty district. What is a valid sale price for this land if we were to sell? I’ve read a number of your posting replies and it seems you encourage owners not to sell if they don’t have to. Is there a better way to make this land more profitable for us besides this offer? We are receiving very little money from leasing this property now.
$2,000/acre to sell mineral rights in Marshall County is low. $5,000/acre is better, and probably realistic for the current market. If the right company is interested you might even be able to get more. It’s impossible to say for sure what you can get, but I wouldn’t sell unless that money would make a big difference in the way I lived my life. Those minerals rights should be more valuable over time than they will be in a one time sale. It’s speculative, and long term, but if you are financially stable I generally recommend keeping the mineral rights. Everyone’s situation is different, though, and we’re working to sell mineral rights for several clients right now.
I recently came across division income statements in my deceased grandmother’s name. These statements date back to 1989 but have no defining property description on them. The return address on the envelope is from Big Buck Energy Oil & Gas Inc, 214 North Boulevard West, Huntington, WV 25701. The statements note Andy Jones Gas Company. I have tried to research with no luck. I worked for a company in NYS that leased for wells and right of ways that closed down when a moritorium on drilling was issued in NYS – not sure if this was an issue in WV or even if this property was in WV as there is no defining property (SBL or address) on the statement. I assume this is nothing and that no royalties would be owed but thought I could research.
The West Virginia Secretary of State doesn’t have a record of Andy Jones Gas Company. Big Buck Energy was revoked back in 1999 for failure to file an annual report. Chances are you won’t be able to get any info from anyone involved with those companies. However, try going to the West Virginia Treasury’s website (wvtreasury.com) and go to the Unclaimed Property tab and enter your grandmother’s name there. You may find some unpaid royalties there. Good luck!
Hi Kyle,
I noticed in your recent article for March you shared that, “We’ve been seeing more EQT leases in the western part of Marion County, and this article supports our anecdotal evidence that activity is picking up there.” Can you be a bit more specific as to where in western Marion the lease activity is increasing? Is there any activity in the Metz area? Thanks.
Matt
All of the leases we’ve seen have been in Mannington District. They’re rather scattered around in Mannington District, as we don’t ever talk with all the people who own minerals in any given drilling and production unit.
I recently received paperwork for a Paid-Up Oil and Gas Lease from Brown Resource Group (HG Energy) for a mineral interest in Harrison County, WV. They are only offering a flat rate bonus payment. What bonus payment can you expect to receive per net mineral acre? Any help is appreciated.
HG isn’t paying much in the way of bonus unless you have a lot of net mineral acres. Even then, they’re not paying much relative to what you could get if you were in some of the northern counties. That said, I would think you could work them up to about $2000/acre if they’re in dire need of your property. Good luck, and let us know what you end up getting, if you will.
I just received a letter from CNX saying, “Congratulations. We have drilled a new that includes some or all of your minerals and now need to fill out some additional paperwork so tht we can start mailing your royalty checks.”
Along with it was also a letter stating, “The increase in the total acres in the unit has caused your decimal interest to decrease.” This letter also requested that I sign, date and return the enclosed revised Division Order.
My question is why, if they drilled a new well and the acreage increased, does that constitute a decrease in my decimal amount? I don’t think I understand what’s going on!
The decimal interest is based on the size of the unit. If you had 100 acres in a 100 acre unit, you decimal interest would be 1.00000000. If they increased the unit to 200 acres and you only had 100 acres, then your interest in the unit would be 0.50000000.
Hello,
I have received a contract from Tug Hill for lease of 130 acres of my mineral rights in Marshall County, Cameron District. Their offer is $1000/acre and 13% royalties. Since I have leased this property from 2010-2020, I am aware their 1st offers are low. My question is what is a fair amount to counter for each?
Thank you!!
Well, I’d expect to get around $3000/acre to maybe $4000/acre, depending on how much you control. If you control 130 acres then you’ve got some serious bargaining power, and you definitely want to ask them for more than just money. There are other ways of making your lease and mineral rights valuable to you. A formation limit and a Pugh clause are the first things that come to mind, but graduated royalties if they don’t want to pay a lot in royalties right now is something that might come up, and a shorter primary term with no automatic extension is another thing to think about. We should talk. Call the office at 304-473-1403.
I had a call from a mineral and gas company offering to buy my mineral rights. It looks as if my portion is 33 acres and the offer is 3000 an acre. He said that they are not interested in a lease. Do you think there is room to move on that price and should I find someone that would make a lease offer? The property is in Marion county.
I generally recommend that people hold on to their mineral rights. They should be more valuable in the long run than they will be in a one time sale. However, if you need the cash to make a significant change in your life, then go right on ahead and sell. If you are living comfortably and can hold on to a speculative (because you don’t know when or even if the mineral rights will be leased or produced) and long term (because even if the development process starts today it will probably be years before you see royalties) investment, then don’t sell. $3000/acre isn’t great in Marion County. We’ve signed leases for more than that at times. We’ve also signed leases for less than that at times. Selling should be done at a higher price than leasing. EQT is the only company that might be taking leases in Marion right now, so lease prices are down for lack of competition.
Kyle as with most wife in MS was contacted by EQT landman about long lost relative mineral rights in Wetzel County WV and wants us to sign a lease. I found you on Mineral Rights Forum and wondered if you could help with terminology of Addendum on a lease. The percent seems good but the verbiage is lacking in the lease. I could send you copies and would pay for your services. If you could email me I would appreciate it.
Yes, that’s exactly the kind of thing we do. I’ll send you my email address.
We received a letter from landman(?) offering to pay us $3000 to purchase our 5 net acre NPRI in Mannington District of Marion County that we didn’t know we owned, but according to the letter was purchased by grandmother, inherited by father and subsequently me. I don’t know if that’s a good offer or not. Don’t have a clue what to do.
That’s about $600/acre. We’ve negotiated leases in that same area for $2500/acre in the last couple of months. I wouldn’t sell for that. Don’t sell unless you really need the money, but don’t sell at that price regardless of how badly you need the money. Just a little bit of negotiation will get you a lot more money than that.
Thanks so much for your advice. You said not to sell unless we relay needed the money and we don’t. I’m hoping that is an indication that it could produce recurring income which is preferred of course. Thanks again.
Hello, my mother and several cousins have received lease contracts from Antero last week. The acreage ownership numbers on each contract are different. My mother supposedly owns 53, a cousin owns 26, another 24, ect. I had read in earlier posts that it may be a percentage thats actually owned. Where would I find out for my mother and the rest of our family what they own and the possible worth. I believe the rights are located in Tyler co. Ellsworth district. Although there is reference to Wetzel co. Green district. I am very confused of what our family owns. I urged them to hold off signing a $200. Bonus and 12.5 until we have more information. Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
There are two acreage numbers, one is gross mineral acres, the other is net mineral acres. The gross mineral acres is the size of the tract. The net is your share of that tract. Antero includes those numbers in the Order of Payment, the document that details when and how much money they will pay you for a signing bonus. Antero also sometimes includes those numbers in the cover letter, but not always. If they’re paying you $200 they think you own a very small net. The usual bonus in Tyler County right now is in the $3000/acre to $4000/acre range. Always ask for more than you expect to get. Counter at $1000 flat fee (if you own a tiny net mineral acreage) or $6000/acre (if you own enough net mineral acres to get more money that way). Counter at 20% royalty, and make sure to get gross royalties, not net. If you give them net they’ll deduct some costs from your royalty. Make sure to get a No Warranty of Title clause, a Hold Harmless clause, and an Formation Limit, and you’ll be doing reasonably well for yourself. If you’d like to talk over more details, call the office and set up an appointment to talk with me. 304-473-1403.
I have 2 certified titles done by Steptoe and Johnson in 2013 and 2018 for 2 different adjoining tracts located in Barbour County WV with the exact same chain of Heirship. A copy of these 2 certified titles was given to us by a Landman for the purpose of tax tickets. Plus I have a chain of title done by a different Landman who is very respected and was referred to us by our attorney who had recently become seriously ill for additional ownership for some of the same heirs in the same tracts mentioned. This ownership is for a percentage on a 17 acre tract and also a 30 acre tract located in Barbour County and has been passed down to my brothers and sisters and others from my great great grandfather deceased 1927. We have been receiving royalties on these 2 tracts since my mother’s estate was settled. The Barbour County Assessor’s office is refusing to recognize the legality of these 2 certified titles to some of my relatives, one in particular who has passed away within the past year unless we contact another attorney updating the certified title even though their actual names are on the certified title with their amount of ownership. Thus they will not issue tax tickets even though this is owned. My name is not on the title as my mother passed away in 2016 and her estate was not settled until 2018. Could you help me and others with this ongoing problem that the assessor’s office is being extremely difficult to work with? We are wanting to receive a tax ticket for something we own. Thank you.
Yes, we can help with that. Unfortunately I can’t tell you exactly what will work to get this approved by the Assessor’s office because each county kind of does their own thing their own way, even though the rules they follow are created by the State. There’s always some wiggle room for interpretation. Give the office a call and we’ll talk about how we can approach this. 304-473-1403.
Hello, I recently received an offer from Antero for the mineral rights to property in Tyler County, W.Va. There are 600 people involved in the claim and my portion of the rights are 0.00188 on 53 acres of property. This seems like a tiny amount to me: Is it better for me to sell the rights (and how much should I expect to get for such a small portion or should I negotiate with Antero to get a better leasing deal. They have offered $200 sign-on bonus and 12.5 percent in mineral rights. Thank you for any help you can offer.
You’re thinking right. When you have such a small interest it doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep it. Royalties aren’t going to be much. Try to get them to pay more for it, though. Counter at $1000 and see what they say. I will say that I usually counsel people to keep their mineral rights, but when they’re so small they tend to be more of a headache than a benefit. If you’d like to discuss more in detail you can call the office and set up an appointment to talk with me at 304-473-1403.
Thank you for your advice. It is much appreciated
My dad passed away April this year he had mineral right that was not in the will and his wife wants to keep them is she allowed or do they go to his kids. Thank. You
It’s going to depend on how the will was written and your state’s law. I’ll assume you’re in West Virginia. If the will had a clause where the “rest, residue, and remainder” of his property was given to someone, then that’s how it will work. If the will had a clause that gave all of his real estate to someone, then that someone gets the oil and gas. If not, there could be some other clause in the will that deals with it. I would have to read the will to know for sure. If not, then intestacy law kicks in, and then I would have to know a lot more about the family members to be able to tell you how it works, because intestacy can be complicated. If you want a taste of it, check out Chapter 42 of West Virginia’s code. Good luck!
I am in the same situation, except my dad did not leave a will, and my mother has signed numerous leases. Can anything be done??
The answer is the same, though it’s more likely that your mother actually owns the mineral rights. You would need to consult with an attorney from your state to be sure about who your father’s heirs were. In West Virginia, assuming a classic nuclear family, your mother would inherit everything from your father in an intestate (no will) situation.
I received an offer from Daniel Lambert, Independent Landman representing Antero Resources of Delaware about an offer to Lease or Purchase Oil and Gas Interests on 53 acres in Tyler County, West Virginia that I appear to own. They said an affidavit of Death and Heirship was enclosed, but that document was not enclosed. Four years ago my father and sister received a similar offer although I don’t know if it was the same company. My father tried several times to follow it through and nothing came of it. Do you think this is worthwhile to pursue?
It can be financially worthwhile. It can also not be. It really depends on how much of the 53 acres you control. Most likely, you only control a small fraction of it. With Antero, you can tell just from the paperwork how much you control. Check the Offer Letter and the Order of Payment for “net mineral acres”. If it’s more than 0.1, I recommend you keep (don’t sell). If less, you’re probably going to make more money if you sell. Always ask for more than what they’re offering. If it’s a flat fee, request double. If it’s per acre, try to get $3-4K per acre in Tyler County right now. Call the office if you want to talk at length about selling/keeping, changes to the lease, or any other questions you have. 304-473-1403. Good luck, and have fun!
Thank you so much for your advice and reply, we appreciate it!
Neither the offer letter or the payment section of the lease contract stated anything about “net mineral acres” only the gross 53.00000 acres. We are trying to contact the land agent to ask him about the net mineral acres, but have not heard back.
Thank you again for your help, blessings.
Found your site when searching “oil and gas leases”.
Found in my step dad’s papers. Paid Up Oil and Gas Lease dated 2012. Mannington, Marion County, WV
55.375 acres. Also an Order of Payment for $632 bonus for 2012 through 2017. I’m guessing it may be important and I need to send to his family in WV?
It’s important to whoever his heir(s) is/are. If he had a will, it will pass accordingly. Tell his estate planning lawyer that the oil and gas interest he owned is real property, and the lawyer will know who gets it. I can’t be more specific than that without seeing the will. If he didn’t have a will, then it passes according to West Virginia intestate law, which gives it to a combination of his children and spouse. It’s impossible to say for sure who that is without more details about the family. If you want to try to figure it out on your own, check out chapter 42 of the West Virginia code. If you want help, give the office a call at 304-473-1403. Good luck, and have fun!
Hello,
I own 314 acres in Nicholas County but do not own the mineral rights. A local coal man is wanting me to sign a lease concerning my surface rights. I have no idea what my rights are concerning loss of use, loss of timber etc. I have been advised by locals to not sign anything and consult with an attorney. Do you represent individuals in my situation? I would really appreciate and email or call.
Thanks
I haven’t done any coal work. I know you’ll want to deal with the issue of subsidence in the agreement, but I don’t know what else there is to think about. I recommend you call around to some of the attorneys in Nicholas County and see if any of them have done coal work. I would give recommendations, but I haven’t worked with any of them.
First of all, thanks for all your expertise and perseverance on behalf of mineral rights owners because this has been extremely helpful just to get an idea of how to begin to understand the process even to know what questions to ask.
Mom has one lease in Greene County PA which she received a Declaration and Notice of Pooled Unit on and then three leases in Monongalia County. She pays County tax on one of the parcels.
The companies holding the leases have changed over the years and it is really confusing as to what she actually owns and what we should do with the leases. Could you walk me through your process of how you would help us? What information would you need from us in order to find out what she actually owns and if there is any value to it? HELP!!!!
For the PA property, I’ll have to recommend a PA lawyer. If you’ll call the office, my staff can put you in touch with him. I won’t put his name here because it will stay here forever, and who knows if we’ll always be able to send people his way. On the Mon County properties, the cheapest way to figure out what you own is to contact the companies that hold the leases and ask them. If they aren’t helpful then you’ll have to hire us to do title work. It’s not cheap, so try to work through the companies first. If you need us, call 304-473-1403. We’ll need copies of any and all documents you have on the properties. Good luck!
Hi, we had Antero Resources reach out to us regarding 10.7 acres in Tyler County, WV. They sent us a Offer to Lease Oil and Gas Interest in Ellsworth District, Tyler Cty. They want to pay each person $100 to sign and 12.5% royalty on any future oil and gas production for the property in exchange for a 5 year paid-up oil and gas lease. Does that seem fair?
It sounds like you own a very small part of a big tract of land. Antero is offering you their minimum bonus to sign. That minimum was $250 last year. Prices have gone down, but they have a very real chance to go up next year. I suggest asking for $500 per person to sign, and negotiate from there. The 12.5% royalty is the legal minimum. Ask for 20% and negotiate from there. Five years is standard in this part of the world. You should also get a No Warranty of Title clause, a Hold Harmless clause, and strike paragraph 18 (or at least the part that says you promise there aren’t any old wells on the property). That takes care of liability issues as best we can. There are other changes that can be made, but that would take quite a while to go over. If you’d like me to review your lease, give the office a call and set up an Initial Consult. 304-473-1403.
Do you know if the royalties are per person or does the percent get divided among all parties to the lease?
My brother, sister and I own mineral rights on 65 acres in Pleasants county. We live in Kentucky and would like to know if there any interest in that county now. We have had offers to purchase our mineral rights, but we have decided to wait a while.
Thanks
There really isn’t much development going on in Pleasants County right now. Jay-Bee is the only company working there, and while they’re active, they’re not a big company and not pushing a lot of new development at the moment. I can see purchasers being interested in that area, but I’m like you, I would rather hold on to my minerals rights if I could.
Hi Kyle,
I’ve received a letter from Antero wanting to lease and pool my mineral rights in Wetzel County. I own approximately 6+ acres. They are offering $200. I know times have changed but does this seem fair to you? The last time I leased rights (different acreage) it was for $5000 an acre for x number of years and no pooling. I appreciate the good advice you have given all of us on this site!
I suspect that they’re requesting a modification of an old lease that is still effective. In those cases, $200 is the typical Antero offer. You can do better, though. Ask for $2000/acre and see what they say. Before you do that, though, check to see what kind of agreement it is. If the top of the first page says “Paid Up Oil and Gas Lease” then it’s a new lease and they should still be paying in the $4000-$5000/acre range. If you’re not sure, call and set up a time to discuss everything with me. 304-473-1403.
I have Mineral rights to 161 acres in Stover West Virginia.. Are you interested ??
I don’t buy and sell for myself. I know some people who do, though. Raleigh County isn’t going to bring much, maybe a couple hundred dollars an acre at the most. If you really want to sell, give the office a call and set up a time to talk with me. 304-473-1403.
Do you happen to know what the per acreage mineral rights lease amount and royalty percentage for Ohio County is at this time? Landman stating things moving fast. If I don’t sign, will be cut out or payments will be put into an escrow account.
I think $3000/acre and 18% would be reasonable in Ohio County. I’m sure they’ve come in lower than that. Don’t let the landman rush you too much. You’ll be able to gauge their actual interest in taking a lease from you quickly by asking for more than you expect to get and seeing how much they come up from the price they’ve offered. If you’d like help with negotiating, or if you’d like to talk through the rest of the lease terms, give us a call.
Hi I’m confused lol my mom owned royalty’s in pike county Mississippi she has been leasing it since like 08 she lived in Alabama for past 45 years denbury sends her a 15-30 dollar check bout twice a year ok now mom passed Aug 5th there’s 4 of us kids an we can’t find anything out about her royalty’s we think that they may have been getting co2 from her mineral an knowing that mom didn’t know any better they just haven’t told her ok so my question can you please help us figure out what they are doing with her land to that is now ours thank you so much
I’m not licensed to work in Mississippi, but I can give you some very general advice. Usually the company will require a death certificate and a copy of the will or probate proceedings before they will issue a check to you. While I don’t know for a fact that this is the case in Mississippi, or with Denbury, it’s pretty standard practice in the industry. You should be able to work with Denbury to get this worked out.
There was no will what steps do o I need to take so I don’t loose her royalty’s
I don’t know, not in Mississippi. I do generally recommend you call the company that’s responsible for paying the royalties and ask them what to do. If what they tell you doesn’t make sense, or seems fishy to you, call a lawyer in a town close to where you own the minerals. I am out of my element when you start talking about Mississippi law.
My mother has been getting a small royalty check from Core Appalachia LLC for years. She left it to her 4 children in her will. My 3 siblings voted to give rights to this royalty to me. What do I need to do to transfer ownership of the royalty to my name?
If the estate is still open, the administrator of the estate will need to give them to you through the estate process of your state. If the estate is closed, your siblings will need to sign a deed and have it filed in the right County. If you need a deed drawn up, we can take care of that for you. You may also need to file some of the estate papers in the right County, or have an ancillary probate done. That depends on a number of factors, which my front office staff or I can help you figure out. Give us a call at 304-473-1403.
Can u help find out info for my dad and I ? He’s trying to find out info about being a heir to mineral rights. It’s with Carter Oil & Gas ,we cant get know info from anyone. We had a lawyer and received noticed he passed away. We had already paid a $500.00 retainer fee.
It’s said to situated on the waters of Strait Run in the district of Washington,County of Jackson. State of West Virginia
I can, but it’s awfully time consuming to track down who owns mineral rights. By time consuming I mean expensive. Mineral rights are not terribly valuable in Jackson County right now, so unless you happen to have quite a bit of money to throw at something, this is probably not worth chasing down right now. However, if what you’re trying to do is get Carter Oil to pay you royalties that have already been paid to someone else in the family, that’s not quite as time consuming.
I’m one of those who received a mystery offer in the mail stating my deceased domestic partner had a non participating royalty interest and an offer to purchase it for $3,000, no further details.
I wanted to find out what is a fair price and I asked for more information and this is what I was told:
The original tract of land is 299 acres but has been divided into 6 tracts in the last 100+ years. My late partner’s (hereafter her or she) Great Grandfather received 1/2 of his father’s interest, (about 8%) which would equal 24.9 acres. Her Great Grandfather, did not have a will, and only two of his children procreated. Therefore, she inherited about 2%. As you can imagine, this divided greatly over time, as her Great Great Grandfather only had a portion, originally, himself.
To reiterate, the original parcel is 299 acres in which her Great Great Grandfather had roughly 16% ownership and only in a non-producing royalty interest.
It is located in Marion County, WV
There is no address as there is no surface structure, however, the tracts are referenced in the Marion County, WV Courthouse as: 12-36-21, 22, 23, & 24.
Also, this offer is for one tract, so would I still be a percentage owner of the other tracts? What other questions should I ask? This is all a mystery to me.
Thank you
You seem to know more about the ownership of the minerals than most. In spite of the info you have, it’s not quite enough for me to really help you. I’ll bet that offer is on the low side, though. Most of them are. It’s hard to say without knowing exactly how many net mineral acres you control. Net mineral acres is your share in the tract. I don’t think I would sell for less than $3,000/acre in Marion County right now. They’ll say that gas prices are low, but if you wait a couple years gas prices could be high again. I doubt it, but it’s possible. Don’t accept a low price just because of a temporary situation.
Thank you. The acre share is 6 acres of the original 299 acre tract. I really appreciate the information as the offer was for $3,000 total.
The royalties are still in my late partners name. What do I do to transfer them in my name?
Thank you so much for the information.
I’m assuming you mean that the estate has been closed. Now there are variables. If there’s a will, get a copy of the will. If there is a document in the estate papers that says how the property was split up, get a copy of that. If not, let me know. You’ll need to send those documents to us, and set up a time to talk with me. I’ll take some time to review the documents before we talk. 304-473-1403.
My brother passed away and left his share of the family oil and gas lease with antero.
How do I get a valuation for the probate paperwork?
We can do a valuation letter. Call the office at 304-473-1403 and we’ll get the process started.
I was contacted by NNE PROPERTIES LLC in reference to mineral rights I inherited from deceased husband. The property is in Monongalia Co. It includes 2 parcels. The 1st parcel; Gross AC is 124.25000000, Net AC 0.96228518, Ownership 0.00774475 $4811.43. Parcel 2;Gross AC 58.63250000, Net AC 0.22901854, Ownership 0.00390600 $1145.09. Total offer of payment $5956.52. This payment would be for selling my mineral rights. I’m wondering if this payment seems appropriate, and is it wise to sell my mineral rights? Thank you
That’s a tough decision. If you had a lot fewer acres I would say go ahead and sell. If you had a lot more I would say definitely keep. I think that if that money will make a big difference in the way you live your life (dream vacation, pay off last debt, put addition on house, etc.) then go for it. If you’re in a financially sound situation I think you should hold on to them. The mineral rights can be worth a lot more than what they’re offering over time. However, there’s no guarantee that they will ever pay off. They’re an investment, but a long-term and highly speculative one.
Our family owns mineral rights in WV, and have leased them to a drilling company and are awaiting royalties soon. We keep getting increasingly larger offers to buy the mineral rights from several different companies. We have been ignoring them, but they are persistent. Should we see this as a sign that we are correct in hanging on to our mineral rights if there is so much interest in them? Or, is this par the course for areas that have rich mineral resources? Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated!
Thank you!
It’s hard to say whether the offers you’re receiving are because the producer is close to paying royalties or not. I would hold on to them if you think royalties are coming soon. However, if the cash is going to make a big difference in your life, maybe it’s a good idea to take the offers. Just beware that the offers with the highest dollar amounts are often based on the gross acres (how big the tract is) not the net acres (your share of the tract). Don’t be misled by six figure offers unless you know you have more than 15 net acres.
Hi, thank you for your response, and we are just now receiving our first checks (we understand now why the offers kept increasing!!) , and your advice is right on target. We will definitely be holding our mineral rights and the property for the foreseeable future! Thank you!!
I feel my title is a marketable record title, Do you handle these kind of cases?
If what you’re looking for is a title search to determine what you have, we can help with that. Call 304-473-1403 and set up a time to talk with me about it.
I have been notified that my great grandfather purchased mineral rights on a small tract of land in Tyler County, West Virginia. Antero is offering a $200 signing bonus and 12.5% royalties.. Should I negotiate for a better offer? How receptive are they to negotiation?
Yes. Always negotiate. If you’re getting $200 you probably have a very small share of the property (the rest of the property is probably owned by relatives, some very distant) and it’s reasonable to sell your interest. Anything less than 1/10 of an acre is probably not worth dealing with, but this is a personal decision. They’ll probably offer $400 for a sale. Always try to get more.
I’m currently taking over the planning of my father’s estate. He has >100 acres in Tyler County & we recently received an off to sell for $6000/acre (just the mineral rights, not the land). He previously leased the land but that lease has expired over a year ago. Just curious if this is a fair offer or not?
$6000/acre to sell in Tyler County right now is definitely a good price. I would try to get more, though. Ask for $10,000/acre and see what you can get.
Hi, I have a question that Im hoping you can help me with . After years of suspicion , I have discovered I am heir to mineral rights in Tyler County West Virginia. I have found at least 11 oil and gas leases singed by my mother dating back as far as 2014.Some of the property in question was owned by my father who passed away in 2005.There are documents that Ive found online stating that my siblings and myself are heirs to said property for mineral rights but we were never contacted by anyone when my mother signed leases to the mineral right on the land and other properties . We weren’t even contacted by my Mother that this was happening . My question is , how do I proceed in getting my rights to these leases and any back royalties that could have been paid to her.
As long as your mother is alive the mineral rights she owns belong to her. If you received mineral rights through someone other than her, then you should definitely follow up with the companies that signed leases with someone other than you.
I just learned my mom has mineral rights in Ritchie County that she inherited after her husband passed away. I contacted EQT and was informed that they sent money to my mom in 2017 but it was returned to them as she passed away in 2015. They sent me an heirship affidavit, stating that I need to file it with Ritchie County and once it’s recorded they can release the money to me and my siblings. Is there anything else I should be doing? How long does it take to record it? I have received nothing else from EQT. What should I be asking for? Thanks
Filing and Affidavit of Heirship does not create any obligations on your part. It just states that you are the heir to a certain person. At least, that’s what it should say. Read it and make sure there’s nothing else in there. If that’s all it does, check the data and make sure it’s all correct (date of death, marriages, number of heirs, existence of a will, etc.). If the data is correct, go ahead and sign it and file it.
Can a person reserve a future interest in OGM even if he doesn’t own it at the time of the reservation?
I bought 200ac’s but it had a reserve of 25 years on the OGM _ the reserve will cease at the end of that 25yrs. And goes to the landowner at that time. 2045
If I was to sell this property and reserve the right to those future interest- would that make me the landowner by law and give me all OGM rights in 2045?
Would I become the landowner at the time that I sold this land?
It seems unfair but if I could have that right why wouldn’t I do this…
That’s an interesting question. The basic principle is that you can only give what you actually own. For example, if you own just the surface you can’t sell the surface and the minerals. However, what you seem to be asking about is a principle called the After Acquired Title doctrine. Simply put, it means that if you just own the surface and you sign a deed that says you’re selling both the surface and the minerals, and then you later buy the minerals, they would automatically transfer according to the deed you previously signed. In your situation, where there’s a reservation that lasts until 2045, if the minerals would transfer to you in 2045 and you reserve them to you now, then yes, they will be yours in 2045. That’s assuming there aren’t any other facts I am not aware of that could affect the situation. Where people are doing sophisticated things like a 25 year reservation, who knows what else might be affecting the ownership? I hope that answers your question.
Hi Kyle,
Would the After Acquired Title Doctrine apply to a situation where we have a lease with a gas company but 50% of the mineral interest in two of the three of the parcels, totaling about 43 acres, is vested in a deceased grantor and their unknown heirs. We sold the surface of the 100 acre property but we specifically reserved all mineral rights including the future rights of the unknown heirs at the end of the seven year interval. The buyers of the property signed an addendum to the sales contract acknowledging this and waiving their rights to them, plus we included the same language in the deed. When the seven year waiting period, as per WV code, expires can we then comfortably and legally claim that the other 50% interest and escrows revert to us?
What you’re describing doesn’t really involve After Acquired Title, but I think you’ve gone about things the right way to make sure the minerals come to you. Of course, I haven’t reviewed the deeds and addendum, but it sounds like you know what you’re talking about, so I trust you did the right thing.
I have a little over ten acres under lease in Marshall County, WV. I have been offered 10,000 per net acre to purchase from one company which appears to be tied to the company I have leased to. I have also received interest from other companies, as well as a mineral exchange company who is offering to advertise the acreage nationally without charging me any commission. The mineral exchange company must have a copy of the lease in order to market the acreage properly. The lease is under the provisions of the laws in WV. There is a confidentiality clause in the lease as follows; “Confidentiality: Lessor agrees that this lease contains proprietary information that would be irreparably harmful to lessee if made public; therefore, the terms of this Lease shall not be disclose to any third person or entity other than Lessor’s attorneys or accountants provided that they also abide by the terms stated herein without the prior written consent of lessee.”
My questions are whether or not there is any way around this confidentiality clause as it appears, and if I write asking for consent from the lessee and they decline to permit disclosure, do I have any other options ?
Kyle, I am an owner of mineral rights in Harrison Co. HG Energy is interested in amending a lease long held by storage. I don’t have much of an idea what a fair deal is and am wondering why I would try to negotiate considering the (relatively) new co-tenancy law which guarantees terms equal to the best ones agreed to by those who did sign?
Thank you for your reply.
We received a notice of that O&G rights of .0250 INT and .0010 INT in 102 acers was sold to a company and we can get it back for what looks like $10.5K each. This is in Harrison, Union Outside District. The Assessors office in Harrison said it was assessed at $200. Do you know what this is worth esp if there is no current activity? Now that it has been sold for the tax lien should we just forget it?
The assessed value isn’t it’s real value. However, what you own is probably not worth $10.5K. We’re going to have to assume that the 0.025 is how much of the 102 acres you own. Doing the math, that equals 2.55 acres. 2.55 acres in Harrison County could probably be sold for about $3K-$4K/acre right now, or about $10,200. There’s very little leasing activity in Harrison County, but if you were offered a lease you could probably count on about $1500/acre if you negotiated hard. Then there are the royalties, which can be expected to pay out in the $100-$500/acre per month range. It’s hard to say exactly how much you’ll get in royalties, or even if you will get royalties, so it’s hard to factor them in. Over time I expect that the minerals would probably pay for themselves, but only if interest in developing the oil and gas in Harrison County picks back up. That’s very likely to happen, but nobody can say if it’ll be next year or next decade. Hopefully I’ve given you enough information for you to be able to make a decision as to whether you want to redeem the minerals.
Six years ago we inherited mineral rights in Marshall County. Just a few months later we signed a lease for $3000. We have now sold it and are trying to figure out what the cost basis is. No appraisal was done at the time of death. How does one determine date of death value?
We can do a valuation letter for you. We’ll need the net mineral acres and the date of death. That will give you a document that your CPA can use. Give the office a call and we’ll get going on it. 304-473-1403.
Do you happen to know what the per acreage mineral rights lease amount and royalty percentage for Brooke County is at this time? I notice in these comments there’s quite a range between counties. Thanks!
You’re right, there is a very large range between counties. The most recent lease we worked on in Brooke County was for about $3,000 per net mineral acre. You’ll have to fight to get that right now, though. Things have been slowing down a lot. Good luck, and have fun!
Hi,
I received a call from my sister in August. She said she was contacted by a person working for Antero resources to find the heirs of my great grandfather. She said he stated that there was already two wells pumping on that property.
and he was getting all the documents for payouts. My question is does this sound accurate and if it is how long does this process take and what would be an average payout for a well
Your story is very common. Lots of people who live outside West Virginia own minerals in West Virginia. Mainly this is because people who left the state in the early 1900s forgot they owned minerals here. How long it takes to find the owners varies, but it usually takes a long time. It’s genealogical work, and sometimes it’s really hard to figure out the genealogy. As to the payout, it varies. Until you know how big your interest in the well is you won’t be able to even guess how much money you’ll get from it. There are also some other variables, such as the total gas produced from the well, the value of the gas (ethane, propane, and butane are more valuable than methane), and the price of gas when it’s sold. Good luck and have fun!
My wife was one of the many contacted about selling (previously unknown) inherited mineral rights passed down from her great – great Grandfather. Turns out she inherited mineral rights for .94 acres in Wetzel county West Virginia. The “landman” is offering to buy these rights for approximately $3000. I understand a more common offer is approximately $3000 for a lease along with a royalty, is that correct? Also, the agreement sent over by the landman states that all “current and previous years’ taxes” are to be paid by my wife. We were not aware of the inherited mineral rights until recently and do not know who has been paying the taxes (just that it was not us). Since no distinction is made between paid, unpaid, etc., for “current and previous years’ taxes”, we are especially nervous about this portion of the agreement. Does this mean we could then be responsible for reimbursing whomever has been paying the taxes?
First, don’t sell for $3000/acre. We’re routinely signing leases for $6000/acre in Wetzel County. Try to get them up to $8000/acre on a sale; counter at $12,000/acre. Now, about the taxes. You probably won’t end up being liable for any taxes. Like you said, someone else is paying the taxes. However, even if you end up being liable for the taxes it should only be a couple of dollars. Taxes on mineral rights are awfully low. If that clause concerns you a lot, just ask them to remove it from the agreement. Let them know that you’ve never gotten a tax bill but that you don’t want to try to figure out the situation and if they want to buy your minerals they’ll have to worry about it. Don’t let them talk you down on price over this, either. The dollar amounts involved are really small. While you’re at it, ask them to give you a No Warranty of Title clause. That way you’re not making any promises that you own the minerals. You probably haven’t looked at any of the old deeds or wills that affect this property, so you don’t have any way of knowing whether you actually own it or not.
Hi. I just heard news that I have around 100 acres with mineral rights in Roane County in WV. My grandmother says that there is oil there. How do I go about confirming all of these mineral rights and ownership, and then how do I go about finding if there is oil or gas on the land? How much does something like that cost?
If you live close and have time you can go down to the courthouse and do the research yourself. The ladies that work at the courthouse will be glad to help you find documents and navigate the books at the courthouse. They won’t give you any legal interpretations. If you aren’t close or don’t have time, you can hire us to do the title work for you. Give us a call at 304-473-1403. Keep in mind there’s not any Marcellus shale development going on in Roane County right now, though it could (in the far distant future) move that direction.
My grandmother just called the county clerk people, she said that they said, a company “mountain” something(possibly an oil company)was trying to buy the taxes because I guess her sister hadn’t paid them. We went ahead and paid them now so everything should be good. I guess it’s a good thing if it was an oil company right?
I just recently inherited mineral rights in Lincoln County WV from my late father. I’m having a hard time finding out if the minerals are leased, or exactly where the minerals are. I’m not even sure who the land owners are. What steps do I take to find the information I need? Such as finding a gas company who may be leasing it or finding a map parcel? Or coordinates to the minerals? I was told when I did the affidavit that the paperwork stamped by the notary was as good as the title or deed. I sent a copy of the paperwork to my personal lawyer 3 weeks ago and haven’t heard anything yet. I talked to a company called H3 LLC who picked the interest up when the taxes became delinquent. They have gave me more information than anyone else but are saying they’re wanting to charge for any more information. They say they can point me at an exact area and tract of land, and some other info also.
We can help you with figuring out where the property is. Right now there probably aren’t any companies actively drilling in Lincoln County. There isn’t any Marcellus shale development going on there, and the Marcellus shale is pulling in almost all the development money that’s available. I’m curious to know what the affidavit is that you signed. An affidavit isn’t usually going to do the same thing as a deed. H3 probably knows a lot about the property and that may be the least expensive way for you to get information. However, I would check on the dates that the property was sold for back taxes. You have an awfully limited time period in which to redeem them, if that’s what you want to do. I would check on that first, before I did anything else.
My brother and I each inherited 10.25 acres (25% total) out of 82 acres total of mineral rights that have been leased under Dominion and now HG Energy wants us to sign an amendment/ratification. The property is located in West Virginia, Good Hope area. They have also offered to buy the rights. They say they want to drill soon. I would like to talk to someone who could look over the paperwork and advise us about our situation and maybe make recommendations and provide more information. Is that something you would do?
That’s exactly what we do. We’ve dealt with HG a number of times recently. They aren’t paying much money for the agreements they’re getting people to sign, but they will make some changes to limit your liability and keep you informed. We’re pushing them on the money issue as we speak. Hoping for good results. Give the office a call at 304-473-1403.
We have mineral rights in Wetzel County. Our contracts were expiring and EQT recently recorded a lease for one sibling in November 2019. The remaining siblings were told our contracts could not be filed without an Affidavit of Heirship. Therefore, the rest of us will not receive an order of payment. How is this possible to honor 1 lease without an Affidavit of Heirship, but not the others? We were told by our landman several excuses such as “EQT can pay whomever they want” or “Y’all are too late”, etc. Is there any recourse?
EQT has been going through a massive transition with the new management, and a lot of projects have been placed on hold, turned over to new people, or completely abandoned. You may be the victims of all this. That said, if they’ve paid one family member they shouldn’t have any problems paying another family member, assuming the project is still moving forward. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve run into a situation where my clients have gotten paid and their siblings have not, and vice versa. Timing can absolutely be an issue. So, if they’ve decided that you guys don’t own the minerals, then of course they don’t have to pay you. If they decide not to move ahead with the project and they’re only going to pay your sibling but they never develop the property, then you’re out of luck. You’ll have to wait for the next project to come along. If they move ahead with the project, continue to act as if the other family member owns minerals, and don’t pay you, then they’re trespassing and you can sue them.
I have several cousins who signed leases with EQT about 2 years ago for inheritance property that we all had found out about shortly before. I was informed my contact information was given to the landman to contact me. I do believe this was done. I was never contacted by them. I called them after a few months had went by and was told they were not currently offering any new leases. Is it legal not to include owners in a lease if you are aware they do exist ? Or do I do I fall into the same category of the previous answer ?
Sometimes the producer loses interest in an area. This has been happening a lot lately. We have clients who have lost deals on leases and pipeline rights of way because the producer didn’t want the property any more. At some point the producer will probably be interested again, or another producer will be. You’ll just have to wait. The reason that the producer can take a lease from one family member and not another is because the property that each family member owns is a separate piece of the mineral rights, kind of like different volumes in an encyclopedia. Each volume can be sold or leased separately and on different terms.
Hello. Back in the 60s and 70s, my mother’s family signed a coal option with Eli Rabb. After my grandmother’s death, Mr. Rabb approached the family again and somehow made them sign a lease, and this time, it included gas and oil rights…however, none of those who signed recall EVER signing anything to do with gas or oil. Not all family members signed. Is there any recourse for those who did?
It’s unlikely that anything could be done for them at this point. A signed document, especially one that was signed decades ago, is not likely to be set aside by a court. It might be worth it for me to take a look at the document they signed, particularly if the tract is a large tract, but it’s unlikely there’s anything that can be done. I hate to say that, because without actually looking at the document and getting an idea of what the actual situation was at the time, there’s always a possibility. I just don’t want to give anyone a lot of hope for no reason.
You commented on my e-mail on Moundsville Heirs and I replied. My name is ********** and my telephone # is *********. I have my grandfather’s will, the Affidavit of Heirship that my brother and sister and I signed as well as the letter from the genealogist notifying us that we are the heirs. As I stated I believe the land amount is approximately 56 acres in Marshall County and currently owned by Ronald Dean and Victoria Yoho. The District is 3 in Cameron. The Parcel is 03-10002300000000. From the WV gas and oil sight it appears that there are 3 horizontal wells either on the property or in close proximity to which is hard for me to determine. SWN Production has 051-01580, 01584 and 01608 in production since Nov 11, 2016. What would you charge to look at the documents and give me your opinion?
I edited your comment some to remove data you probably don’t want just floating out there on the internet. We currently charge $250 for an initial consultation. I would need to see the documents you have and just based on what you have told me we would have to do a title search to retrieve the documents we would need to prove your case to the producer or, if necessary, the court. We start with a $5000 retainer for title work and I caution people that $5000 isn’t usually all it takes to get the title work done. In fact, it’s often quite a lot more than that. If you’d still like us to look in to it, give the office a call at 304-473-1403 and set up a time to talk with me.
I’ve been approached with a Pooling Agreement from Tug Hill in Marshall County, WV. I have .37 acres and their offer was $1000 and 12.5% royalty. They offered to my other family members $1000/person. So, my 7 cousins who share the equal interest of .37 acres were offered $7000 total for their .37 Acres and I was offered $1000 total for my .37 acres. Now they have contacted me for a 7 acre parcel for a Pooling Amendment and are offering $1000/acre and $1000 for my .37 acres as well. Same company, same family. Very different offers. Seems shady
Yep. But it’s probably not. Most of the companies we deal with have a flat rate that they will pay anyone who owns less than a certain amount of acreage. With Antero right now it’s $200. With Tug Hill it seems they’ve bounced up to $1000. So you’re getting paid $1000/acre or $1000, whichever is more. That’s nice because *hint hint* you can afford to have an attorney do a quick review of your documents or maybe even negotiate the thing for you. No pressure of course. Good luck whatever you decide to do!
Hi Kyle,
We have recently inherited property that my Dad said had 100% mineral rights. The property deeds going back to 1800s bear that out, however, I was just told that unless we are getting two tax bills (surface and mineral) we don’t actually own the minerals. This is in Marion County. Any insight you can provide is much appreciated.
The tax bills are only an indication of what you own. The Assessor’s office does not track actual ownership. They do their best to make sure that the right person is being taxed for the right thing, but they make mistakes sometimes and–far more often–they are given bad info. If the deeds indicate that you own the minerals then you own the minerals regardless of who is taxed for it and regardless of what you are taxed for. In fact, most of my clients don’t receive tax tickets for the minerals that they own. To be sure that you own minerals you would have to have a title search done which, of course, we can help you with. Give the office a call to set up an initial consult. 304-473-1403.
Thanks for the work you are doing. This is all very confusing. My mother is constantly getting mail from Antero Resources – and a few others – about 54.50000 gross acres (0.0.036239 mineral acres) of mineral rights that she inherited from her mother in the Centerville District of Tyler County. They seem very anxious to get the rights to this property. The offers have varied from a flat sum of $250.00 dollars and a 15 percent royalty if the property is pooled into a unit for production. That the went up to $600 dollars plus the 15 percent for five years. The latest offer “our best and last offer” mentions $600 dollars as a ‘lease bonus payment’, but no royalties. They say that if she doesn’t sign within 45 days, they will go ahead and develop the property pursuit to W.Va. code and “deem that you have elected to receive a production royalty”. It is all very confusing. My mother is old and despite Antero’s claims that they have made “reasonable attempts to negotiate”, they have basically sent papers to an old woman and said “sign here”. Is there a way forward that offers some clarity? I look forward to your reply.
What they’re talking about is using the co-tenancy laws that were passed a couple years ago to force a lease on to the mineral rights your mother owns. They’ll have to go the State Oil and Gas Commission to get permission, but if they’re unopposed they’ll get that permission. Right now their offer isn’t a bad one. $600 to sign when you have a 0.036239 net mineral interest is a good price. The 0.036239 means you have about 36/1000 of an acre, about 1,315 square feet (if my math is right, insert lawyer joke here). It’s not the smallest I’ve seen by any stretch, but it’s not a lot. Typical bonus amounts in Tyler County right now are about $3000/acre, so $600/acre would buy about 1/5 of an acre, significantly more than you own. The royalty is low. Try to get 18%, and try to get gross proceeds (meaning they won’t deduct any costs of getting the gas from the wellhead to market). Also try to get a No Warranty of Title clause and a Hold Harmless clause. Also ask them to remove paragraph 19 from the lease. It’s a promise from you that there aren’t any old wells on the property and you aren’t in a position to know that. Good luck, and if you’d like more help call the office at 304-473-1403.
We have been contacted by Antero to buy our part of 54 acres in Doddridge County W.Va. our part is around 2 1/2 acres! Supposedly they have purchased all or most all other shares. We recieved a letter from their attorneys saying we must sell buy certain date or we will be charged for all kinds of stuff! We didnt know we even had this. They are offering 4200 to purchase our shares. I honestly thought that was kind of low for over 2 acres especially if we are selling.. since its been turned over to their attorneys is it to late to do anything or should we just sell for that price? Thanks
That does seem a little low on the price, and they usually can’t get a lawyer involved if all they’re doing is buying. So I suspect that they are trying to get a lease from you. If so, they’re probably planning on using the cotenancy laws on you. They’ll force a lease on you, but pay you a signing bonus and give you a pretty good royalty along with other good things. It’s not a horrible situation. You can get more money from them on the signing bonus if you negotiate with them. Try to get around $3K/acre. You won’t get that in Doddridge, but that’s a good price to start at.
Mr. Nuttall, my husband and I, have small rights in two parcels totaling 198.65 acres in Marshall County. Approximately 4 yrs ago, we received a letter from Republic Energy for their rights to lease this land for $891 every 3 years. We still pay the taxes on the property, but have not heard nor received a check from Republic Energy since. We live in SC and do not know what to do, or where to go to do something. Hopeful you can guide me in the right direction.
Republic Energy Ventures sold out to EQT a few years ago, probably right after they talked to you, actually. There’s a lot going on in Marshall County right now. EQT, Antero, Appalachian Petroleum Partners (APP), and Tug Hill are all active in that county. You could contact any one of them and see if they’re interested in the property. Actually, contact all of them and see if you can get a bidding war started. They’ll want to know the tax map and parcel number of the surface tract (not the mineral one that you get a tax bill for–that one starts with 9999 and doesn’t have any relation to where the surface is). If you got documents from Republic there’s probably a tax map and parcel number listed on them somewhere.
I just purchased 214 acres in east Preston County, WV and want to know the process for finding a company to lease the gas/oil. If I use an attorney, what is the average cost to negotiate a lease?
Thanks
Northeast Natural Energy and EQT are the only companies I know of that might be interested in Preston County right now. Reach out to them and see if they are interested. If they are, then give us a call. I’m not sure what other lawyers are doing right now but for a big project like yours we will probably do a contingency fee.
Wanted to take a little time out of my day to let everyone know of the great experience I have had in working with Kyle and his excellent front office staff. ( I primarily worked with Darla and she was wonderful to work with. Very knowledgeable with a great phone presence and business attitude.)
For those of you that are wondering whether you can afford to pay an oil &gas attorney his/her fees in negotiating with the drilling companies, you need to understand that any money you expend in working with Nuttall Legal is an INVESTMENT and not an EXPENSE.
You can expect to receive a return on your investment by being able to negotiate a much better oil & gas lease agreement than you would ever be able to do so by yourself.
In my case, Kyle was able to squeeze an additional $2,500/acre bonus payment beyond the number I had in my mind going into the negotiation. I also did mot have to worry about post production costs, since there were none, courtesy of Kyle’s negotiating skills.
Additionally, Kyle educated me on some finer points of oil & Gas law that I was not aware of that made the overall lease agreement tilt to my favor and away from the drilling company.
All in all, I ended up with a much stronger lease agreement, legally and economically, which provided me with an excellent return on the investment I made in working with Nutall Legal.
You will be more than happy with the results and you will learn something about oil and gas law in the meantime.
An excellent legal resource that is on the side of the little guy…..
I currently own both surface and gas and oil mineral rights to two land tracts in WV. I am in the process of selling the surface but a potential buyer wants to remove statements in the deed that basically read ‘grantors reserve unto themselves, heirs, and assigns , any and all mineral extraction rights and privileges appurtenant to the aforesaid tracts of land, either at law or in equity, whether described her or not, acquired by virtue’.
Instead, the buyer wants a clause in the deed that states we the grantors agree NOT to disturb the first 10 feet of surface for gas/oil mining. Does this negates my mineral rights or create issues should I want to lease or sell these mineral rights in the future? This potential buyer owns all of the surface, and most of the gas and oil rights around me but is NOT interested in buying my minerals rights – he only wants the surface. He states that he does not want someone coming in and drilling on these tracts – he wants total control of the land/area. I know that in horizontal drilling that I should and am supposed to be compensated for my rights regardless if actual drilling is done on the surface of these lands, and my two tracts are much smaller than those of the potential buyer’s surrounding area.
The price for the surface is great but I want to find out if I agree to the deleting of the above statements and agree to the 10 feet surface comments, am I creating future issues for myself with any mineral extraction or sell of such mineral rights? There currently is NOT active gas mining in the area. I would prefer not to lose the sell of the surface but I also do not want to hurt myself in the event of future gas mining.
Thanks for any replies.
If it’s a large tract then you might be hampering future oil and gas development. However, you wouldn’t necessarily be cutting off all development completely. The way it’s done now is that a drilling pad is built, vertical shafts are drilled, then horizontal shafts are drilled. The horizontals currently go out about a mile or two. If they can build the well pad on a neighboring tract and drill under you from there, then you don’t have any problems. However, they can’t always drill out that far. Sometimes there are obstructions, either legal or practical, that keep them from drilling out a long ways. It’s impossible to say for sure whether giving up the right to use the surface will impact the ability to extract the oil and gas from your property. I’m sorry to not give you a better answer, but we would literally have to look into the future and predict where the drill pad would be located before we could know for sure.
Thank you for your honest answer. I know we cannot predict the future but your answer does provide some help in my decision. Thanks again!
Good morning,
I am with Shriners Hospitals for Children. An individual would like to donate his mineral interest to us. Can you assist with the deed prep and filing? I appreciate your help and look forward to speaking with someone about completing this transaction.
Thank you!
We sure can. Give the office a call and they’ll get you started. 304-473-1403.
Hi. My siblings and I inherited 103 acres of mineral rights. My sister signed a purchase agreement with JRS. First of all the agreement does not have a date, just Dec____2018.
They are now at the end of their 90 days. Apparently, there is some confusion. I feel we are not getting the answers I need. My sister says give them more time, but I feel differently. Any ideas?
They’ll try to hold on to the right to purchase the minerals for as long as they can. Right now things are slowing down a bit and there’s not quite as much money in the industry. They are probably trying to pull together funds to complete the purchase. If you want to sell, you can ride it out with them. I recommend that you hold on to the minerals as they should be worth more over time than you will get in a one time sale. However, everyone’s situation is a little different and it might make sense for you to sell. If you do want to sell and can’t seem to get JRS to go through with it, then you can call the office and we can help market the minerals for you.
Kyle Nuttell and his staff are absolutely the best attorney for the purpose of gas oil and mineral leases. Me and family member in another state received an envelope with leases for us to sign and return. We called each other because it looked like a scan. Come to find out it was not. It was past down through family. We had just a very little interest so many people should have just signed the lease and returned it. Me and my family wanted to know more so I found Kyle Nuttell attorneyl LLC. We talked with Kyle and he told us everything we needed to know and how to deal with the land man. Kyle gave such awesome advise we got an new and improved lease contract. Kyle is very knowledgeable and steered us through the whole thing. I am so impressed with him and his whole staff. Thank you for everything!! You have 5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ from us. I highly recomend him !! Don’t let the landman lowball you. Contact Kyle Nuttell like I did. You won’t be disappointed. Thank you Kyle
Hi I was wondering what you know about Northeast Natural Energy? I signed a 5 yr lease with them for property owned in Mongolia County, Battell district. I see they have a well down around that way but looks as though they have gone all around the property , I also have very little in Clay district . My sisters and I inherited from my Dads side of the family, we each own around 2 acres , not much but more than what we had, none ! We have 3 different parcels which with all goes a little over 2 acres. I spoke with one company at a seminar a couple of weeks ago, the one man very arrogant and not nice told me very little acreage should get rid of it, which I stated to him No but yet his company wanted to buy it from me, which I stated you told me not worth it so why do you want it ?? I did not like him at all ! But it is what it is someone stated to me be hesitant with Northeast but the leases have been signed. But not be much but if they do something a little is worth something to me and my sisters !
I recommend you hold on to those minerals. There are times when it’s reasonable to sell, but for the most part it’s better to hold on to them. As far as NNE, they’re about the only game in town in Mon County right now. I’d like to see another company working there–competition drives prices up and makes negotiation a bit easier. You’re most likely bound to that lease for the entire five year primary term, and if there’s an automatic extension they’ll probably exercise it and keep the lease in place for another five years. If they get around to producing from the property you’ll get paid royalties and the lease will continue in force as long as there’s production. Call us if you need any other help.
Hello Mr. Nuttall, I need help concerning a lease that was signed 5 years ago with EQT. My siblings (5 of us ) and I signed a lease on 66.5 acres in Marion County. This was inherited through our father and we’re not sure how many descendants there are. There could be as many as 22. We each received $793.56. It is time to renew the lease and we would like to know if we could renegotiate for a better deal. The property is located in Warriors Fork. Thank you for any information you can provide.
My siblings and I recently were told by a landman that we each have 1/3 of ½ of 1/3 or 0.44444 acre. in oil/gas rights. My sister and brother hastily signed a lease agreement; I have not signed.
It then came to my attention that the landman emailed one of my siblings writing: “If ___ chooses not to participate his interest would most likely end up being sold on the court house steps. This would usually take a long time and would require that me or someone with ___would attempt to contact ____ and lease his interest, then outside attorneys working on behalf of ___would attempt to contact ___ and try to get him to lease. If need be the outside Attorneys would file a petition to partition suit in Doddridge County against ___and when that is finalized the Judge would rule whether his interest would be sold to highest bidder or what other remedies that the Judge can choose.”
Am I right in assuming that this is someone just trying to manipulate me into signing the lease agreement?
No. That’s something they can actually do. There are a couple of considerations to take into account here. One is that if you tried to oppose the partition suit you would probably have success. Judge Sweeney is not a huge fan of partition suits, and is likely to side with the mineral owner. However, with 0.44444 net mineral acres, you don’t have a large enough interest to make it worth your while to fight. You’d spend way more money hiring lawyers than you would get back. Generally, I recommend that people in your position just negotiate for as much as they can get and then set it all aside. You can get better terms than your brother and sister got, and make sure your liability is limited as much as can be.
My mother, as survivor of my dad, received a mineral rights lease offer from Antero for .00205949 interest of 14.200 net mineral acres. They are offering a flat rate of $200. It’s a 5 year lease with renewal option if 5 years. In the event it is placed into a pooled unit and drilled, she will receive a 15% royalty. The property is in Doddridge, West Union, Tax Map 8, Parcel 18; etc.
This was a surprise to her and she actually thought it a scam, so didn’t return the paper by the Dec 21 deadline. I told her I would look into it, but have no clue where to start or if this is an appropriate offer. I did call Antero and have not spoken with anyone- all the phone numbers only allowed leaving a message. I did not call the agent, Andy Poling, because neither the phone number or email were attached to any Antero numbers.
Any advise will be appreciated. Thank you!
Hi Laura. The lease is not a scam. Antero is one of the two big oil and gas producers here in West Virginia, EQT being the other. I’ve negotiated leases with Andy Poling, so he really does work for Antero, assuming nothing has changed since last April. The deadline is not important. They include that in their offer letter to keep someone from coming back to them after prices drop and trying to force them to enter in to a lease at higher prices, and to try to get people to sign quickly without looking at the lease. The $200 is reasonable considering the size of your mother’s interest. 2/1000 of an acre is about 87 square feet, smaller than most bedrooms. That said, they do want to get a lease from you because they’re supposed to before developing the acreage. Try to get as much money up front as you can, as you probably won’t get much in the way of royalties even if the well is a monster. Ask him for $1000 and see where he comes back. If he jumps a lot, he can probably move some more. If not, you’ll have to be patient and say no a lot to get much. Ask for 20% royalty (you’ll probably end up at 18%), and make sure to get gross proceeds. Gross proceeds means they can’t deduct costs of getting the gas from the well to market from your royalty. Also get a Hold Harmless clause and a No Warranty of Title clause from them. That will remove as much liability from you as possible. Liability for signing a lease is pretty low to start with, but those clauses get it awfully close to zero. Also tell them you don’t want to give them Coal Bed Methane, Storage Rights, or the right to use the property for injection wells or disposal wells. All the changes, by the way, will be made in an Addendum, and that’s OK. While you have him talking to you, get a map of the property so that you can figure out where it is, and try to get a copy of the deed/will or whatever it was that gave your mother an interest in the property. The more you know the better.
Thank you so much, Mr. Nuttall. I’ll get in touch with Andy, following your advice.
Myself and heirs were contacted 4.5 yrs ago and signed a lease for interest of 16.23 total mineral property. Now, we’ve been contacted again and received a a lease for another 80.00 acres of property! How could this much acreage be missed 5 yrs ago? Our property is in Wetzel County Appalachian in West Virginia.
It’s very simple. The records that pointed the oil and gas company toward you for the 16.23 acre tract probably didn’t have anything to do with the 80.00 acre tract. Even if they did (a will might list a bunch of tracts) the company that was interested in the 16.23 acre tract wasn’t interested in the 80.00 acre tract at the time. Now they or another company are/is interested in that tract, so they’re contacting you. It’s quite possible that there are other tracts out there that you own an interest in–but literally nobody knows it. Wetzel is a good area to own minerals. Make sure that you don’t settle for less than $6K/acre and 18% gross. Companies are working hard to drive prices back down up there so you may find it quite difficult to do, but give it a try.
Leased our mineral rights on 129 acres in Jefferson county Ohio in 2008 with other family members. Each member had their own contract. Our part is 8.33% for royalties (no production yet). Our annual rent was $1077 each year. (shut in rental is $10 per acre). Five year term lease. On year 6,2013 we received 5 times the amount from Hess, then the following years $1041ea year from Utica then Ascent. I assume it will need to be renewed again in 2018. Is it possible to get more for a renewal now that rights are worth more. Original lease is worded “Lessee may exercise this option to extend if on or before exp date of primary term…..Lessee pays an amount per net acre covered under that certain un recorded Bonus and Rental agreement of even date here of. This lease was sold to Hess, then Utica then to Ascent, they took the original leases of each 15 family members, and divided each by our percentage of royals. We now get 15 small checks each year dated on the individual signed contract dates instead of the one check we use to get on our Nov lease date, and yes it adds up to about $35 dollars less.
I’m not licensed in Ohio, so I can’t give legal advice there. If you’d like to call the office we can give you the names of some attorneys we’ve sent people to before. We haven’t heard any complaints back yet, so we suspect they’re at least marginally competent. 304-473-1403.
There are about 15-20 of us that inherited mineral rights on about 74 acres in Tyler County and EQT says they want to come at our property “sideways”. They want each of us to sign 3 leases and they say they will pay each of us $200 per lease. Some have already signed their documents but most of us are still holding out. The leases also state that for all wells drilled on or after the date of the lease that they will pay a royalty of one eighth of the net proceeds realized from the sale of all oil produced and sold from the premises. Would we be crazy to ask for at least a few thousand per lease, per person?
Hi Sandra. Definitely ask for more. I could give you some specific advice if I knew how many acres you had, but in general leases are getting about $4K/acre up in Tyler right now. If you have a little tiny net mineral acreage (and since you have been offered $200 per lease you probably do) then working with them on a per lease basis will probably net you more dollars. There’s nothing wrong with asking for a few thousand dollars per lease. Also make sure to get as much in the way of royalty as you can. Usually you can negotiate up to 18%. Start at 20%. Get a No Warranty of Title and an Indemnification clause, and ask for no coal bed methane, no storage rights, no injection wells, and no disposal wells. Good luck, and if you want some specific advice on your leases, call the office and set up an initial consultation. 304-473-1403.
Hello,
I received a letter addressed to my mother (deceased in 2003) from Country Roads Minerals re: a 2.6 net acre oil and gas mineral interest which she inherited from an aunt. They are offering $6,500.00 to purchase the interest. My brother and I are the only heirs.
I have no idea where to begin with this, so any guidance would be appreciated.
Thanks – Linda
Hi Linda. I usually recommend that you don’t sell. However, if there’s something important you could do with the cash right now, then go ahead and sell. Ask yourself, “can I put that money to good use right now, or am I in a good position to hold on to a long-term, speculative investment?” When you know the answer to that question, you’ll know what to do. If you do decide to sell, get more money than they’ve offered. Also, we can act as a broker, holding on to the signed deed until their check clears, and we can put you in touch with other buyers and see if they can pay you more. Call if you decide to sell. 304-473-1403.
Appreciate your perspective on this, thank you!
Here is another question concerning our mineral rights. I can find next to nothing about the company (Relique Energy in Morgantown) that the landman represents. I am sure he is offering us a low price, so he can sell to a larger company. (He insists we need to have this done by the end of the year.) Is it better to deal with a landman or should we deal directly with the company? And, what companies are actually leasing and drilling in the PawPaw District in Marion County?
Relique is relatively new to the area. They’re small, and can’t offer the prices that some of the more established companies can right now. But if they’re the only company making you an offer, then that’s what you have to work with. You can deal with either the landman or Relique. You’ll get the same deal either way. Most oil and gas producers use lease brokers, companies that acquire leases for other companies, just FYI. Right now, EQT and Antero should still be working in Marion County. Of course, this is now 2018, and new budgets have been put into effect, and some of the companies may be working in new areas and pulling out of old areas. Good luck!
Surprise! Learned 5 years ago we own a percentage of O&G rights in Mannington District. It seems this is not on the tax listings. We secured a 5-yr lease with what is now EQT, and they have now renewed their lease. My questions: Is it necessary that we re-enter the mineral rights on the tax listings? How complicated is it to do so? Do we need an attorney? If EQT is happy, should we just be happy? Thanks so much!
Hi Madelon. If you want to completely protect your interest from being accidentally lost, then you should have it entered on the tax rolls in your name. However, some counties require an attorney to be involved in getting the title work done before they enter a new interest on the tax rolls. You should call Marion County and find out. If you have a very small mineral interest it may not be worth it to spend money to get it done. Good luck, and call us if you need any help.
Thank you for your response — very much appreciated! And please forgive a follow-up question: You say a ‘very small…interest…’ 4 siblings own an undivided 1/2 interest in 53.35 acres. So the present question: Is this worth spending money to get it done?
Kyle,
Ten years ago some of us signed a mineral rights lease with WACO (now EXXON or XTO) for 5 years. We got a laughable amount of money a year. It all ended after 5 years. And, there was no leasing bonus! After the lease was up, I wrote to XTO to see what the next step was. I never heard from them. We just let it all go. NOW, we are being pursued by a landman from another company. He says he will lease it for $1500 an acre at 14% royalties. We don’t want to make another similar mistake. Are we really free from that first lease? According to what I have been reading here, that is a low ball price for 86 acres in the PawPaw District, Marion County, WV. We know nothing about the company which was recently formed about 5 years ago, and would need someone to look at the lease BEFORE we sign this time. What is you take on this??
Good questions. Technically, that old lease should be “released”. In other words, the company that had the lease when it expired should have filed a release of lease at the courthouse. In reality, hardly anybody files a release of lease unless the mineral owner requests it. So a landman seeing an old lease will simply note it in their records and later check to see if there’s a producing well on the property. $1500/acre and 14% royalties are low for Marion County. Somewhere in the $3K-$4K/acre range and 18% royalties are much more common for a negotiated lease there. Your mileage may vary, depending on the specific location of the property and how many companies are working in the area.
My brothers and I inherited 8 acres of mineral rights only [not surface property] located in Green District, Wetzel County and have been offered $4,000 per acre/18% royalty to lease or, $6,000/acre to sell all thru a land man representing EQT. We live in Ohio and are inclined to sell just to rid ourselves of any future liabilities or entanglements. We don’t know the ins and outs. Any thoughts?
Hi Michael. You can get rid of liabilities for the most part. As far as entanglements, as long as you own this mineral right and as long as natural gas is being used somewhere in the world you will probably have a landman asking you for a lease or sale. If you just don’t want to deal with that, then selling is the best course of action. I generally recommend people keep their mineral rights as they should be more valuable in the long run than they will be in a one-time sale. If money is not the greatest consideration for you, then sell. If you want to hold on to a long-term, speculative investment, then don’t sell. Eight acres in the control of one family is good. As you can see for yourself, you can get $36,000 to sign a lease, and maybe more. The royalties could be considerable if it’s produced someday. If this lease expires you could end up getting another signing bonus, and another, and another. If you’d like some specific advice, give the office a call and set up an initial consultation and I’ll help you decide what’s best for your situation. 304-473-1403.
Hi Mr Nuttall — Our family has some mineral rights in Harrison County. Do you know when in time the mineral rights separated from the land ownership?
No. Most likely it was sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s, but it could have been at almost any time. You would have to do some research at the courthouse to be sure.
Hi I inherited 996 leased acres and 66 producing wells in Lewis and Gilmer county wv. I would like to sell them since I live in Florida and no nothing about natural gas. Who should I contact? Thanks Mechelle
Hi Mechelle. We should probably talk about the particulars of your situation. There are a couple people and a couple of companies I know who might be interested in purchasing those kinds of rights, but it’s an unusual situation and you’ll definitely want some help. Give me a call at 304-473-1403.
I am negotiating with DPS (Tug Hill) on Birch Ridge in Marshall County. I have them at $4000 per acre at 18% royalty on 327 acres, split between various heirs. They are offering $10 per acre shut in. Does that amount for shut in royalty sound fair enough for this area ?
If you guys control all 327 acres then you can probably do better than $4000 per acre. Tug Hill is going to hate me for saying so, but I’ve seen deals finalized at $6500 per acre in Marshall recently. Those are pretty high prices in West Virginia, so they may not last long, but if you can get more money for the same thing, you should get more money.
Also if you guys control that much property then you should be getting some other things, such as a Pugh clause, termination language, and some other fun things.
On the shut-in, most companies will go up to $25 without much argument.
Thanks so much for your reply. The acreage is in several contiguous separate tracts and I wondered if I should seek to have each tract leased separately, or let them unitize them all into one.
I have an interest in oil and gas leases with XTO on approximately 8 acres in Marion County. These are 5 year leases signed about 1 year ago. Recently, XTO has offered to but all or part of the leases, offering $6,000 per acre. I have no basis of comparison to determine if this is a good price. Also, I have no idea what a going rate for royalties might be. What is the best way to determine how I can get the best deal, sell all or part, and how to counter the offer.
$6,000 per acre isn’t bad, but if that’s their first offer you can certainly do better. To give some perspective, people are signing new leases for as much as $4,500 per acre in Marion County right now. In Marshall County, they are signing new leases for $6,500 per acre. I don’t think I would sell mineral rights in Marion County right now for less than $8,000 per acre. Whether XTO will buy them for that is a different story, of course. As to whether you should sell or not, this post from earlier this year should help, as should this post from 2015. If you’d like some help with the decision, give the office a call and we’ll talk you through it. 304-473-1403.
Who is paying $4,500 for Marion County leases Kyle
Antero and EQT, if you can get them into a bidding war on property in the western part of the county. The eastern part of the county is a different situation. Of course, this is now 2018 and budgets and priorities may have changed. Relique and Northeast Natural Energy have expressed interest is some of the northern parts of the county bordering Monongalia County. It all depends on where exactly the mineral rights are located.
I have another question about a lease that was signed about 5 years ago in Mannington WV. We found out through an oil and gas company that my siblings and I owned mineral rights on 66 acres in Warriors Fork. Not knowing anything about what was going on with royalties and our rights we all signed the lease. We were never offered royalties and really did not understand what we were signing. Is there anything we can do to renegotiate this lease? It is a 5-year lease with their option to renew after that for another 5 years and on and on. Did we sign away all rights to these mineral rights?
I have a oil and gas lease with exco resources and I want out of it……they haven’t been paying the required shut in fee of $2/acre per year…..they sent me a letter stating that they would no longer be sending checks out until they reach $500+…..would that be a viable reason for a court to end a lease? thank you
I’m assuming that your lease is for property in West Virginia. The law in WV says that after 2 years of no production and no payments a lease is presumed to be expired. Unfortunately, shut-in royalty payments count as payments. However, a letter saying they will pay when payments equal $500 shouldn’t count. Sounds like you ought to give us a call and we can talk about the situation in more detail.
I have a question about a gas well on our property that has been abandoned. We bought this property in Marion Co 24 years ago. Mineral rights were not included but there was a lease on our property for this well. Lease was from 1894 and stated if there was no production for a year the lease would be null and void. There has been no pumpjack for at least 7 years. We have been approached by several companies for (we are assuming) renegotiation of this lease. I found out the owner of the well but we are confused as what to do. We were offered $400.00 and 14% royalties. How can that be if we do not own mineral rights? Any help would be appreciated.
Usually you only get offers for leases if you own the minerals. The fact that you’re getting offers makes me think two things: 1) you actually do own the minerals, or 2) there is something pretty obscure in the chain of title that these companies are misunderstanding, so that they think you own minerals when a closer inspection of the paperwork would show otherwise. Either way, $400 and 14% royalties is really low. Marion County property on the east side of I-79 should go for at least $1000/acre, and over near and west of Mannington you should be able to get up to $4000/acre. Now, if you do own mineral rights and the well hasn’t produced in years you should file an Affidavit of Non-Production at the courthouse. That will let anyone who might think about putting that old well back into production know that you consider that 1894 lease to have expired, and if someone does put it back into production you will have a paper trail showing the court that the lease had expired as of the date you filed the Affidavit.
Thank you so much for your reply and suggestion to file an affidavit. My only other question is how could we find out for certain if we do own mineral rights?
Kyle,
Are your thoughts on EQT still that they are bad to deal with? My father received an offer from them.
What is the going rate for a bonus and percentage in Mannington, WV?
Thanks
I prefer not to deal with EQT if I can avoid it, but if that’s who wants to lease from you then that’s who you deal with. I’d negotiate up to, maybe, $4000/acre and 18% in Mannington District of Marion County. Good luck, and call us if you’d like a little more help.
During leasing of mineral rights we found out that land we have been paying all the taxes on had two other heirs. What is the best way to go about splitting the land so they are responsible for the taxes on the rights they own? Contacting and asking to help pay their share hasn’t worked.
Typically, the county assessor is going to require you to get an attorney to prove the ownership and draft a letter to them in order to officially split the ownership up.
Hi Kyle. I own .4317 net mineral acres of a 47 acre plot that is in Tyler Cty WV. This is a new lease and they are only offering $1500 per acre bonus and royalty payments at state minimum of 12.5%. Do I have any negotiating power with such a small ownership? If so, could I negotiate for just myself if everyone else agrees to current terms offer?
Correction: .4714 net mineral acres of 45 acre tract.
$1500/acre is really low in Tyler County. You should get about $4500/acre, which would net you about $1,942. The royalty should end up at 18%. You can get a few nice changes, including limiting liability and making sure you’re paid for all the gas that comes out of the ground. Good luck, and call us if you’d like a little more help.
My family is in contact with a land man in WV. I received paperwork today about the lease of our inherited mineral rights. It says over 100 acres of mineral rights in the Mannington district of Marion county. I have no clue what the value of this is. They are offering $200 to lease it for 5 years. I have read it is best not to sell mineral rights, but is this a fair value for a 5 year lease???
You probably own a very small part of the 100 acres. Usually, when we see a $200 offer, it’s because the owner has a couple tenths of an acre at most. You can negotiate for a few things, including a larger up-front bonus and a larger royalty, and you can get rid of any liability issues. There are usually a few other things you can get them to agree to, as well. Good luck, and call the office if you’d like some help.
My sisters and I inherited oil , gas and mineral rigjts in WVa. Are these of any value? We have been contacted by a title company interested in buying. We would like to sell, but would like to know the real value first. Where can i find this information?
They are probably valuable. It kind of depends on where they are located. If it’s the northern or north-central part of WV, then they are definitely valuable. Other parts of the state may or may not hold much value, and it’s going to vary a lot. Out in the eastern panhandle there’s probably no oil or gas. Northern panhandle has lots, but is probably leased up, making the immediate value in dollars and cents not as high. Western part of the state may have Rogersville shale potential, but that’s years away from being developed. Southern part of the state may have oil and gas potential, but nobody’s interested right now.
I received a letter and documents (dated 6/12) about some land I have apparently inherited. This was from BB Land wanting to lease our rights for drilling purposes. My sister also received the same thing. This is from a distant relative through my mother’s side (mother died 10/14/79) – this is the first time we’ve heard anything about this. I emailed the lawyer back saying both my sister and I would like to gather more information before proceeding.
Last week we both received info on a civil suit being filed by BB Land, we are one of many defendants. The language is as follows:
“In the name of the state of West Virginia, you are hereby Summoned and required to serve upon William Crichton V, Counsel for Petitioner, whose address is 325 9th Street, Parkersburg, WV 26101, an answer including any related counterclaim you may have to the complaint filed against you in the above styled civil action, a true copy of which is herewith delivered to you. You are required to serve your answer within 30 days after service of this summons upon you.”
We have no idea what to make of all this – any help would be appreciated!
In order to develop any given tract of land in West Virginia for oil and gas production, the developer has to have a lease on every portion of the oil and gas. You own ones of those portions and haven’t leased to them yet. They’re getting to the point where they have to get a lease from you or it’s going to hold up their development schedule. In order to put a lease on your portion of the oil and gas they are going to the courts. They will ask that your portion be sold on the courthouse steps and they will buy it (usually). Once it’s owned by someone else they will get a lease on it. However, if you reach out them they’ll be glad to talk to you. They would rather get a lease from you than go through a partition suit. As long as the lease negotiation takes less time than the partition suit, they’ll sign a lease with you. We’ve worked with BB Land and Chrichton & Crichton before. It can be done.
My family was recently contacted by a Landman regarding inheritance of Oil & Gas rights on a tract of land. We also discovered that there was another, larger tract of land our family inherited from the same ancestor but someone contacted only one of the heirs (out of 5) about 30 years ago and they deeded over a portion of their rights. I searched the name of the purchaser and found the OG rights passed through their family and has since had a lease signed on it. All the documents appear as though they have full ownership of acreage and OG rights. Is there recourse? If so, is this something an oil and gas attorney can handle or do I need another type of attorney?
One owner can’t sell the other owners’ interests in oil and gas. There are not exceptions to that rule. Those interests could have been sold for back property taxes or something, but the sale of one portion does not give ownership of the other four. We can help you dig deeper and find out what happened. Sure hope you still own it, that would be great.
A lawyer called my sister and said we inherited mineral rights I’n west Virginia and sent her a afedaved of air and said a land man would contact us that was couple months ago how can i find out how many acres it is and what should i do
Give the landman a call. Sometimes landmen are pretty busy so if you don’t get an answer right back keep trying. If that doesn’t work call the company they work for and see if they’re still interested in that tract. Sometimes they lose interest. Sometimes they are working on clearing up the ownership before sending leases out to everyone. Sometimes they will have determined that you don’t actually own what they initially thought you did. Good luck.
We were contacted by a landman about some property in Marshall County WV that our family owned. There are thirty family members involved and the landman says that all thirty family members need to sign the lease agreement or they will walk away and give us nothing. Do they need all of the family members to sign a lease to drill on the property? Is this common practice to insist that all family member sign? Thanks.
That’s actually an uncommon way of doing things. It makes some sense from the point of view of the company, as it keeps them from getting held up by one out of thirty. I haven’t heard of a company taking this tact before, however. Which company is it, if you don’t mind?
Chevron
We have recently been contacted by a landman that we are heirs to some mineral rights in Marshall county. I am voicing my exceptions to some of the lease terms and conditions, but am trying to get a ballpark cost for a West Virginia oil and gas lawyer to review the lease after the changes are made so I can let the landman know I wish to increase the bonus amount by my expected legal costs and give him and idea of what those costs will be.
Thank you.
We offer an initial consultation that is very useful. During that initial consultation we’ll cover a lot of ground, including the bonus amount for the area and the royalty amount you should expect. We’ll talk about how to limit your liability, how to get the most money, how to limit the company’s ability to extend the life of the lease unnecessarily, and answer any and all questions you have. We’ll send you a handbook that covers all this so you don’t have to rely on your notes and your memory of the conversation. At the end we’ll talk about whether it makes sense for you to hire us to negotiate for you or not. For most of the people I talk to, it actually doesn’t make sense to hire us to negotiate, but you may be the exception that proves the rule. I sure hope so. Give us a call at 304-473-1403.
My mother owns fractional gas rights along with extended family members inherited from my great grandfather’s farm in West Virginia, Upshur county. She has been receiving small checks for decades from 2 wells with another one inactive. To avoid will/probate issues she wishes to transfer her rights to me now. We both live outside of West Virginia. She holds no paperwork only the Last Will of my great grandfather naming her (and others) for the mineral rights ownership.
How do we proceed from here to transfer rights to me?
If you want to avoid a will/probate scenario the only other option is to transfer it by deed. We would use a quit claim deed. The most common challenge in these situations is identifying the property well enough to satisfy the needs of a deed. Your great-grandfather’s will is a good step that direction. We would take his name and check the Upshur County records to determine what he owned and (hopefully) identify the tract. Alternatively, we would contact the company that has been sending you checks and ask them to provide us a copy of the old lease, which would provide us with the info we need to identify the tract. Then we would create a deed, have your mother sign it, and file it at the courthouse. If you would like help with all of this, give the office a call at 304-473-1403.
Just like your welcome page stated – we received news that we own mineral rights we didn’t even know existed. We received a lease via FedEx over the weekend and are on a steep learning curve. Can you recommend any good oil and gas attorneys in Ohio (near Columbus preferably) that specifically have dealt with Antero? Coincidentally and lucky for us, my brother is a petroleum engineer who has transplanted from Ohio to Texas and he’s been a wealth of information. But in negotiating with Antero I think it would be important to have a lawyer familiar with them and the area – which is Noble County, Ohio. Any tips you have would be appreciated. This forum is amazing, by the way – great information!
If you could call the office at 304-473-1403 we can put some attorneys in contact with you. We’re not licensed to work in Ohio ourselves, but we’ve dealt with some who are over the years and can help you figure out who will work best for you.
Kyle, what kind of natural gas price point would it take to see drilling and leasing activity extend beyond the current core in wv? say, if we got to $4, would we see action in gilmer, calhoun, lewis, barbour, western ritchie, etc?
I know this isn’t an easy one to answer. maybe it could make for an interesting blog post on the site? i’m a pretty serious devotee to your writing on here. thanks for all the great marcellus info over the years.
It is hard to answer. I’ve speculated quite a number of times on this. Based off the last time, I’d say it would have to hit at least $4.00/MMBtu for an extended period of time before development pushed into most of the counties you’ve listed. That said, Antero has pushed into western Monongalia and Marion counties, areas they were completely disinterested in previously. As time passes, the marginal areas are going to become more and more interesting, even at lower prices. By the way, I don’t expect to see 4.00/MMBtu within the next couple of years. Maybe once that cracker plant in PA gets finished…..
Antero has offered up a “Gross Proceeds at Wellhead” clause based upon MMBTU value. I know what BTU’s are but is there a hidden agenda here using this method ? Other than Antero, does the State verify this value ? How would the mineral owner verify this value at any given time to ensure no corporate hanky-panky? Trust but verify !!
Antero’s Gross Proceeds at the Wellhead clause is the one I prefer from them. It’s clear that no post-production costs are allowed. The State does not verify the BTU count. The State requires reporting in MCFs. Usually you will come out ahead with BTUs because the company will apply a multiplier to the MCF number (1.12 x 1000MCFs = 1,120 BTUs, for example) to take into account the amount of energy in the gas. However, unless you audit them, you can’t be sure that the BTU multiplier is accurate. Get an audit clause in your lease, then go audit them if their numbers seem off to you.
My mother recently passed and left mineral and oil rights to two heirs including myself. The rights were leased by Denbury for about 20 years or more. They were drawing CO2 off the property.
Denbury has now been acquired by Exxon.
Do you think Exxon will be sending the family a new lease?
The property and rights are located in Rankin County MS. The wells (generating the lease value) are not directly on the property but just adjacent.
Can you give me some shot in the dark idea what will happen with merger? Meaning do we stand to have more prosperity with this inheritance?
I can’t really speak with any authority about property in MS. Most oil and gas leases will last for as long as production is being had from the property, but MS could be different. You’ll have to find a local oil and gas attorney to help you.
Would the threat of selling our minerals to a third party, e.g., on “US Minerals” Forum be an effective tactic against Antero’s take it or leave it negotiating tactics.
After a 6 mo. Antero “blackout” from negotiations over our 2.2 net acres in Doddridge, we recently received a call from Antero’s lawyer attempting to “cherry pick” our counter offer. As justification for low balling us on the bonus amount ($2,000 / acre) he presented us with 2 documents from Dodd Cty Circuit Ct. titled: COMMISSIONERS’ FINDINGS OF FAIR MARKET VALUE, both showing a finding of $2,000/acre fair value for minerals dtd Feb. 2017. So I have 3 questions:
1. What should I use to counter FMV argument ?
2. Are we close to partition since we are dealing with the lawyer vice landwoman?
3. How can I avoid court action but not surrender my minerals to “Ant” ?
2.
The Fair Market Value they provided was from a partition suit. Usually partition suits are not argued heavily, and the commissioner in charge of the property doesn’t fight for a really high price for the minerals. Doddridge County minerals should lease for $2500-$3000/acre. You are probably close to partition, but as long as you seem to be attempting to negotiate with them in good faith they’ll continue to negotiate a lease with you. There is no way to avoid court action if Antero decides to pursue court action. You could fight the court action, but that would require hiring a lawyer. You could ignore the court action, but you would end up losing the mineral rights. You can negotiate for a better lease, get some money and maybe some royalties, and keep the mineral rights. I think that’s the better option here.
Hello,
My family and I were recently contacted by a land man from Antero Resources, who says that each of the 4 of us has inherited 12.5 per cent mineral rights in Tyler County Wv. We were sent a lease that offers no bonus, and has no royalty clause. I’m concerned about the language in the lease, and none of us have signed it as of yet. What should we do next?
You may have a modification of an old lease. It sounds like you should get some clarification from the landman. S/he should be able to spend some time explaining in more detail exactly what’s going on. Once you have all the info you can get from the landman, call the office, send us your documents, and we’ll figure out what’s going on.
Hi I got a question is there anyway to get my ex husband off the oil lease the land is in my name n I just got remarried
If you have all of the ownership, then you should let the company know that. There’s no way to have his name removed from the documents that are filed at the county recorder’s office, but the company can update their records to make sure he doesn’t get any checks. The company will require documentation showing that he should be removed, and it’ll probably take a couple months of back and forth between you and the company, but it can be done.
Kyle,
We have a OGM lease with Antero that looks like it will expire this summer before drilling commences as they have not applied for a permit yet. What is the exact point in process that defines “drilling operations” as described in lease:
a) as long thereafter as oil and gas, or either of them, is produced from the land or from lands pooled therewith, or drilling operations are continuously prosecuted as hereinafter provided, or this lease is otherwise maintained in effect pursuant to the provisions hereof;
and how would a lease renewal work? There is a right of first refusal clause. The initial lease was for $2,500 an acre and 16% royalty. If Antero chose to renew would that be renegotiated? Acreage in Clay district, Ritchie County close to Beason Run.
We own minerals in Wetzel county and are being offered $4,500 an acre to lease. I have negotiated everything else I wanted in the lease but think we could still get more per acre, what are your thoughts?
That’s actually a pretty good price per acre. You might be able to push them a little more, though. Since you’ve gotten everything you think you want in a lease already, you can tell the landman that you’re ready to sign, you just want $5,000 an acre. Or $6,000 and acre, or whatever you feel like. If you have a large percentage of a large tract that they really want you will be able to ask for a lot.
The landman is telling me that we only have 25 acres and $5,000 is the top $$ they will go. Does that make sense to you in our area? I know other companies are leasing as well but they are pushy that is for sure.
Yep. Actually, having 25 acres is a pretty good situation compared to a lot of people that we help. You’d be shocked how many have 0.2 net mineral acres or so. $5000 is good, but you can always try to push them for more. Don’t forget, the other terms in the lease are important. You want to make sure you avoid any possible liabilities, make sure the lease will expire when you think it will, and that you keep as much of the royalty as possible. They may be pushy because of the other companies. It’s possible that they know other companies are interested in your property and they want to tie you up before you can get them into a bidding war.
My grandmother owns 118 plus acres of oil and gas rights in Tyler county. She recently passed away without leaving any of it in her will. Who will the property be transferred to or will it be? How much would you say rights in Tyler county have been going for lately if sold our leased and which would you recommend?
Those are some really big questions that depend a lot on the specific circumstances. In general, intestacy law is going to apply to the inheritance, and generally it goes to her kids and any of her kids who have heirs. Regarding selling vs. leasing, I generally recommend leasing. The amount of money you get from the land over time should be more than what you will get from selling. You should be able to lease for about $4000/acre and 18% royalty in Tyler, or sell for about $6000/acre. This is not the best format for discussing questions like yours, unfortunately. Give the office a call and let’s talk on the phone. 304-473-1403.
Mr. Nuttall: I received agreements for five different tracts totalling over several hundred acres in Wetzel County. I surmise from the bonuses offered that I have a rather puny net mineral interest (for example, $80 for a 175-acre tract). I have ‘negotiated’ a no warranty clause, an indemnification clause, and a royalty of 18% from the original 12.5%. But, the company says no way, nada, ain’t gonna happen to gross proceeds. Is it because I own such a small interest in this case or are some companies just flat out not negotiating gross proceeds? (I didn’t even know I owned part of this land until recently, live outside WV, and figure with such a small net interest the leases would likely be worth next to nothing for me, especially without gross proceeds.)
It does sound like you have a pretty small net mineral interest. However, verify your net before you sign. That’s information that is vital to you and easy for the landman to provide.
It sounds like you’re dealing with EQT. Pretty much every other company is willing to pay gross proceeds. You’ll have to fight forever to get EQT to provide you with something similar. One thing I’ve seen them do recently is cap their post-production costs at $.80 per MCF. You might ask for that. The other things I’ve seen them do once was set the price equal to that paid for other gas put into the transmission system in the area. Good luck!
We signed a lease with EQT in Wetzel Co 4 months ago and was supposed to get bonus on 11 Mar but now they said they couldn’t find the way the heir ship goes and want us to sign a affidavit of heir ship but we had warranty of title put in the lease so should we sign please help soon.
An Affidavit of Heirship is only listing and detailing the heirs of an individual. If you can personally vouch that all the information on the Affidavit is correct, then you can sign it. If not, you should either verify for yourself that all the information is correct or you should tell the landman you are not going to sign it. You should take this position even if you promised in the lease to sign documents to clear up the chain of title. It’s not reasonable for them to expect you to sign something that is incorrect. The Affidavit will be placed of record in the County Clerk’s office. Other people will rely on the Affidavit to determine who inherits the oil and gas. You don’t want to be responsible for any mistakes in the Affidavit. Similarly, if the Affidavit is going to change your ownership in the minerals, take a real close look at the information provided in the Affidavit to be sure it’s correct.
We have a landman contacting folks here in cabell cnty. He’s offering what amounts to $5 per acre for 5 year leases is there any movement in this area or is this just the going rate for locking up rights for them to market at higher values to other companies?
Cabell County isn’t hot right now. I would definitely talk with the landman, find out why he is trying to get leases, which formation(s) he is after, and maybe sign a lease if he was willing to limit the lease to a specific formation or group of formations. I wouldn’t under any circumstances sign up at $5/acre, though. Hot or not, there’s gas in Cabell County that will be far more valuable than that eventually.
Ok, thanks. We did this years ago with Cabot for about the same $/acre but nothing ever came out of that. I just don’t wanna pass up what appears to be the only game in town.
The mineral rights are through my mothers side of the family. My mother divorced my father when we were young and remarried 30 years ago. She passed away a few years ago but the new husband is alive. There was no will left by my mother. Do the mineral rights go to the new husband or to the children of my mother?
If I remember my intestate law correctly, it will be split 50/50 between the surviving spouse and the children of the previous spouse. Don’t quote me on that, though. It’s been a while since I brushed up on the intricacies of intestate law.
thanks. I’ll do a bit of research on it.
I live in Jackson Co WV. When we purchased property lawyers did a deed search and we were told we owned all mineral rights. We were then sued by Cabot for refusing to let let deep drill on our property for over $2 million dollars. We won on where the site would go and it’s not in my front yard. Everyone else got some sort of monetary value out of it but we were never offered anything. How do I found out who really owns the rights and if I do what can I do to get what’s owed to us.
It sounds like you’ll need to have a title search done. It sounds like you’re hinting at the fact that some or most of the minerals are owned by other people. If that’s the case, they probably inherited the mineral rights, and there are probably quite a few owners. The good news is that since you have a copy of the complaint and other documents from the lawsuit you should have a list of who the current owners are. That makes the genealogical side of the work quite a lot easier. The bad news is that title work is still time consuming and consequently expensive. You can cut down on the amount of money you will spend by doing some of the title work yourself. If you haven’t already gotten familiar with the record room, head on down to the county courthouse and do so. The ladies who work there will be very helpful if you ask. They will not tell you what any given document means (they’ll tell you to ask a lawyer), but they will tell you how to find the documents you are looking for. Typically, if you’re nice to them they’ll be nice back. Good luck, and if you need help figuring out the title to your minerals give us a call. 304-473-1403. Darla will book you an appointment to talk over what you’ve done and what you need help with.
Kyle,
My 2 siblings and myself just received an agreement stating our great grandfather had 42.5 acres mineral rights in Clay county West Virginia, they offered us $600 bonus and “shut in royalty” of 16%. What does “shut in” , mean and is this beneficial to us? First of all I didn’t even know I had mineral rights in West Virginia but I guess I do and second of all how do I know if this company is actually going to drill or if they’re just buying up property so they can lease it to someone else and should I ask for more and what is the going rate in Clay County for this minerals they’re talking about Marcellus and Utica Shale and how soon can I expect to know what’s going to happen? My brother and sister had some attorneys look it over but we’re not from there we’re from Missouri so I just wanted to check with a gas and oil attorney in West Virginia that would know more about what is going on my understanding is the surface land was sold many years ago now my next question is why have we not been told about this and is there property tax on this mineral acreage that we have never paid and how does that work?
Whew! That’s a lot of questions at a time. The following answers are going to be pretty short. First, there probably aren’t back taxes owed. If there were, the property would have probably been sold for back taxes a long time ago. Second, I had not heard of any Marcellus/Utica development going on in Clay County. Clay is quite a ways south of the major Marcellus/Utica development in West Virginia. Third, some companies do more developing, others do more holding/flipping. What’s the name of the company? Fourth, $600 and 16% isn’t bad, but they never make their best offer first. Good luck, and if you want real help call the office at 304-473-1403.
Hi. I was contacted by Energy Corporation of America about leasing mineral rights on 20 acres in Greene Co PA I inherited. Their offer was $2000/acre and 12.5 percent royalties.
Your thoughts on what I should counter offer?
I don’t keep track of prices in PA, unfortunately. I would guess you could get up around $4000/acre and
12.5%18%. If you call our office (304-473-1403) Darla can put you in touch with a PA attorney who does the same thing we do here in WV. There are quite a few other things to think about when you have a 20 acre tract besides just the bonus and royalty amount.My sister and I inherited a mineral right from our father. Apparently this particular area has been divided among many mineral right owners probably due to passing down to many children. My sister is no longer interested in keeping it as the money earned is not worth keeping up with the taxes and paperwork. To her it’s a headache. To me it’s a reminder of my dad and family. I guess I’m sentimental. She now wants to sell her right to me for a dollar. I am not sure how to go about that. Also, the money paid on this right isn’t worth paying a lawyer to handle the transaction. In fact, I’m not sure if it’s worth looking into but I told my sister I would do some research. I don’t want to spend a lot of money for the sale of this mineral right when it’s not worth much. Any suggestions? Is there a simple way to do this transaction?
It’s going to take some money to get the transaction done right. You should have a deed drawn up. I’ve seen some deeds done by non-lawyers, and they’re rarely done right. In order to do a deed, my office would require a description of the property (found in the most recent deed) and a copy of the current tax ticket. Sometimes both can be hard or impossible to acquire. You can call the office to see if we can help you. 304-473-1403.
Hello, I have just been recently involved in the sale of mineral rights on behalf on my mother that had received this by way of inheritance. Without knowing more than I do , the price – offer seemed adequate judging by what the annual taxes are. Is this not relevant to the value of any particular mineral holdings ? It surely kinda works in real estate in applying a proportionate formula.
Richard , in ABQ , NM
I wouldn’t rely on the tax value to determine the value of mineral rights. Over the last five years I’ve watched the value of minerals rights skyrocket, plummet back to earth, and start to climb again. Eleven years ago you could have sold mineral rights for $50/acre and thought you were getting a good deal. Today if you’re selling for less than $6,000/acre in some counties you’re getting a bad deal. Other counties you’d have a hard time selling them for $500/acre. The value of the minerals really depends on where they are located, and on what the price of natural gas is.
Is $5500 per acre to sell in Jackson twp. Monroe County Ohio the going rate? We are trying to see on 74 acres if this is ok w my brothers and me. Thank you
I don’t keep track of what’s going on in Ohio, I’m afraid. I’m not licensed to practice up there. you could call the office (304-473-1403) and we’ve got a number for some attorneys who do practice in Ohio, though. They’d have a better idea of the going price for Ohio minerals than I would.
Hi Tony,
Can someone with a life estate in minerals initiate the sale of the minerals and execute the deed without the remainderman? This is confusing.
Thank you
The owner of a life estate can sell the life estate to another person without the approval of the remainderman. However, it will only be the life estate. The remainderman will still retain his/her rights. You can only convey what you own.
Life estates and remainder interests get pretty complicated, and there’s some interesting law that’s been developed over the centuries in regards to the life estate/remainderman relationship. It’s actually pretty sensible once you get your mind wrapped around it, but it can take some time to grasp the concepts. Look up the Open Mines doctrine if you need something to put you to sleep some night. Good luck, and call if you feel like you need help with it.
Thank you very much Kyle; this is such a huge help.
I am so excited to find your website.
Best
Hi Kyle,
My wife has been getting paperwork for the last several months regarding a ~12 acre parcel which she’s about 0.23% share (1 members of ~140 on the parcel), which she had no idea she was a partial heir to a year ago.
She had seen paperwork from Chevron several months ago, and had actually spoken with somebody, but she’s really against fracking in general so she held out. A few weeks ago she got a legal doc saying something about a quiet title/partition suit, and today she received a box with a ~6″ stack of papers… all the docs related to the suit.
Seeing this box full of court papers, I’ve decided to get involved. After researching several hours tonight, I saw your name come of frequently, particularly for this region and thought I’d ask. She has 30 days to respond… What does this mean, and what are our options? Is it too late to get back to the bargaining table? I’m getting the impression that holding-out will in no way prevent drilling, is this true? Options moving forward?
You seem extremely helpful, THANKS!
Mike Dooling
Holding out will not stop drilling/fracking, but it will slow it down a bit. My general recommendation for people who are opposed to development for whatever reason is to negotiate hard with the company (slowing them down a bit) and take the money that you receive from the bonus/royalties and donate it to an organization that opposes development. There are more than one to choose from. This is more effective than letting it go at a partition sale because the partition sale usually results in the company owning the mineral rights and pocketing the profits.
It’s not too late to negotiate, but it might be too late to negotiate hard. You’ll have to feel out the landman/lawyer that you end up talking with. Usually, if you contact them after a partition suit has been filed they will still work out an agreement with you.
Thanks!
I’ll advise the same.
Mr. Nuttall,
A family member’s mineral rights here in Tyler Co., WV were seized and sold in a partition suit. He lives in TX, and travels extensively for work, often outside of the US. Because of his schedule, he sometimes gets far behind in sorting/reading his mail, as happened in this case.
As I live here in WV, he has asked me to track down the proceeds from the sale on his behalf. Over a year ago, I contacted the county clerk’s office regarding these funds. I was referred to the office of the prosecuting attorney, who gave me the names of two attorneys, one in Wheeling, the other in Moundsville. When I contacted them, one did not return my call, and the others’ office stated that it was in the hands of a judge in Wheeling, but offered no advice. I dropped it that point, in favor of more pressing issues of my own. It has now become pertinent again, as our mother is terminally ill, and the funds are needed for her care. My problem is, I don’t know where to begin, other than starting over at the beginning.
Can you offer any suggestions?
The funds should be in an escrow account somewhere, either at the county or the state. Since you’ve checked with the county, it seems you’ll have to contact the state. If that doesn’t work for you, give the office call and we’ll see what we can do to help.
My parents sold their Ritchie county – W. Va. property in 2004 but did not sell the mineral rights. The purchase agreement states that mineral rights were not included in the sale BUT when the lawyer who drew up the deed he did not state that the sale excluded the mineral rights. My father must not have notice that exclusion on the deed when he signed it. My parents paid the taxes on the mineral rights and the rights were willed to my siblings and I when they passed away. We have paid the taxes since 2011 and received some royalities from leasing. The people who purchased the property sold it to Antero last year and in their deed it states they keep the mineral rights. We were told by a company that purchased some of our other mineral rights that we don’t own the mineral rights on the property my parents owned. Even though we have been paying taxes on them all these years. We contacted the lawyer who drew up the deed but he told us he was unable to fix the error because he represented both parties when he did the deed for the real estate company. They lived in New Jersey my parents are the ones who listed the property. CAN YOU HELP US?
We’re actually working on a very similar case right now. It gets messy and the little details are important. We can try to help, but I can’t guarantee success. Give the office a call at 304-473-1403 to set up an appointment to talk with someone about the situation. Get copies of all the documents that you can, including the sales listing, the purchase and sales agreement, the deed, and the tax tickets.
We have a copy of a right of way for Cranberry Pipeline Corporation:
dated 16th day of December 1983
Grantor (owner at that time) grants and conveys with general warranty to Cranberry a right of way and easement to lay, maintain, operate, protect, repair, replace, reduce or increase the size of and remove pipelines for transportation of liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons; so on so forth.
We purchased this piece of property in October 2013 with 100% mineral, timber, surface rights.
The pipeline has not been maintained (covered by trees brush etc) and is out of date (about 100 years old) and unusable.
We tried to contact cranberry pipeline corporation, which is now Cabot oil and gas about abandoning the pipeline but can’t get any good info.
Is this right of way still valid? What law or governing rule says when a pipeline is no longer usable and must be abandoned.
Also, if Cabot wanted to put in a new pipeline, would they still have the right to do so?
What rights do we have regarding them tearing up our land for a new pipeline.
What if another company wants to lease our land with potential to drill or put in pipeline?
Confusing??? Hope you can help?
Excellent question. The document is going to control, so a close reading of the agreement from 1983 will answer most of the questions. If there isn’t an end date, or if there isn’t some language that provides for an end to the agreement based off something happening or something not happening, then the agreement is most likely permanent.
Now, it might be possible to get the company to sign a release of that easement agreement. Since they’re not using it any more, they may find it cheaper to sign a document letting it go than to put up a fight. However, if the company has plans in your area they will want to hold on to that easement. Pipeline easement agreements start at $1/inch/foot and go up from there, so acquiring a new one can get expensive. You can always hope to get lucky.
Which state is this in? West Virginia doesn’t have a law on the books that deals specifically with your situation, but some other states might. If you’re in another state, you’ll want to talk with an attorney from that state. Call the office at 304-473-1403 and we can point you in the right direction.
I signed a contract for 32.80 acres. Divided among heirs at 3.41667 acres at 3500.00 per acre, lease option.. Received a bonus check worded as payment in full for the leased acres, but, the acreage was reduced to just 0.512. I am looking at the deed at the Wetzel county courthouse. The dead has 2 tracts. 1st tract is 34 4/5 acres and a second tract of 10 5/6. It appears the payment is for the second tract, though the check states “review of updated title indicates a decrease in the net amount to 0.512 acres from 3.41667
That’s typically because they did an initial search of the documents and genealogy and determined that you owned that much. Then they did some follow up research once they had signed agreements from you, and found new heirs that they hadn’t found the first time. If you can prove that they were right the first time your interest will go back up. That can take a lot of work, though, and it’s quite possible that they are right. Good luck.
A landman contacted me back in May and offered a little over a hundred dollars for the mineral rights I apparently own on a tiny portion of land in Doddridge County. I told the guy I wasn’t interested, that it would be more trouble than it was worth just getting the paperwork notarized, etc. Two days ago I received a letter from a different landman (landwoman?) stating that if I didn’t get in touch with her within ten days and accept the offer, the company she represented (EQT) would file a partition suit seeking to have a court force me to sell. My question is this: What’s the worst that can happen if I don’t agree to sell–other than the court eventually forcing me to sell, thus causing me to receive a lower (or no) amount? In other words, is it even remotely possible that I could be fined or forced to pay for court costs or compelled to travel or something equally unpleasant? I know of course that I should simply agree to the offer and get the whole business over with, and I’m aware that by refusing to do so I may be holding up the deal for some of my fellow lease holders. But her letter rankled me. I want to ignore it. You know, just to be stubborn.
Thanks
If you let it go to partition suit, the worst that will happen is that you’ll be served papers during the proceedings. You shouldn’t end up owing anything, at least, not the way it’s done right now. I’m sure some enterprising company will figure out a way of making people pay for the partition suit costs someday. You’re safe for now, though.
I do generally agree with you, it’s usually worth it to agree with them at some point. Instead of $100, ask them for $1000 and see what they say. If they laugh at you then you know you’ve probably got a little tiny interest and you probably can’t do much. If they agree to a significant bump up in price, give us a call and we can help you get a little better terms. Maybe not a lot more money, but definitely some important terms like limiting your liability and limiting the company’s control to a little less than everything.
Hi, Kyle-We originally had a lease with Chesapeake in 2011, which then was bought by Chevron. Our Chesapeake lease was $3500/acre, and we had addendums added which were relative to Hold Harmless, No Storage Rights, Royalty changed to 18%, Gross Proceeds and Warranty of Title. Our lease is up now and Chevron is offering $3000/acre, 12.5% royalty, and firm on the offer . . we asked about/requested addendums similar to our original lease with Chesapeake, and they will not add them. Chevron said that Chesapeake had no plans of drilling. At first Chevron said they had plans for our minerals, and I think we have drug our feet long enough on signing, that now they say the plans have “stalled”. The mineral rights are in District of Webster, Marshall County. Chevron said that no one is knocking down our doors offering to lease, so I think it is take it or leave it. Have you run across this, and should we continue to try to hold off? Is there something better out there?
Right now it seems that waiting and saying no is a good negotiating tactic. The price of gas has been going up and will probably continue to go up. At very least, it seems that it will stay at or above $3.00/MCF for the rest of the year. With higher gas prices and fewer drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs) the companies are going to be more motivated to take new leases and develop new property. With higher gas prices, there will also be more investment capital flowing into the industry. It also looks like the industry will be more stable for the time being, which encourages investment. With time, there should be more money flowing, and companies should be able to offer better prices and terms than they have recently.
However, you have to keep a close eye on this stuff. The industry can turn quickly for the worse, and if you hold out too long you will find offers being rescinded and changed. It can be a delicate balancing act.
That part about Chesapeake not having plans for drilling, that’s not true. While CHK often bought property with the idea of flipping it to another company, they also did quite a lot of development in the Marshall and Wetzel County area. If you have a large percentage of ownership in a large tract, you should be able to get as good or better terms than you got previously.
I need a Lawyer to read my Lease to see if states if I get a sign-on bonus if it is extended pass the 5 years.It is producing.
If it’s producing there usually won’t be any extension of the primary term. Most leases will move into the secondary term when production starts. As long as there’s production and royalty payments are being made, it stays in the secondary term. Once production ceases and payments cease, the lease will expire.
I recently inherited 100 acres in Upshur county/with O/G rights. 1 existing well, 3 untapped wells. Several questions I have.
-Do I need to get a hold of each of the 2 companies for transfer of lease or identification of new ownership?
-How do I get a copy of the lease(s) for viewing?
-The area around the tapped well is in bad shape, and even blocks access to part of the land. What can I do about this?
-There is a well on the adjacent farm, which its pad sits partially on my property. I know my father made an easement agreement with this company, that partly contains road maintenance to this pad. The road has not been maintained. How can I get the info regarding this easement, as it is the only way into this pad.
First, congratulations! Owning minerals can be lucrative and fun. There’s a steep learning curve, but it’s worth it.
You can find copies of the leases and the easement at the courthouse. It may take some work to do, but they’ll be there. If they’re not, then they technically don’t exist. We can help you with the research, or do it for you.
You should contact each of the companies that hold leases on the property. They’ll want some information from you in order to change their records and start making payments to you.
When you say “untapped” wells, I assume that means they are no longer producing. If so, they should be plugged or reworked. You can report that information to the DEP. An inspector will probably come out to look at them in pretty short order. The inspector will be able to give you some advice about the surface issues, too.
we are selling our property of 21 acres in monongalia county, our mineral rights are split50/50 with another person. The potential buyer want to buy our mineral rights to protect himself from any potential drilling. We are willing to give them half of our ownership so we maintain some control of the rights because we too do not want any drilling under our property. So my question is, if a drilling company approached us and wanted to put a pad on the property, would all of the mineral owners have to agree, or could the surface owner allow it to happen if they only own 25% of the mineral rights?
That’s a more complicated question than you might think. The surface owner technically can’t refuse to let the surface be used for oil and gas development. The oil and gas owners have to be able to use the surface to develop the oil and gas, otherwise the oil and gas rights are useless. So the oil and gas owners have the right to use the surface for oil and gas purposes. They are limited to only doing what is “fairly necessary”. The company will usually work out an agreement with the surface owner as well, however.
The oil and gas owners do have to agree; the company can’t develop the oil and gas without a lease from every owner. However, if someone is unreasonable the other owners (usually the company will buy one acre from a cooperating owner, making the company an owner) can use a partition suit to force development.
i have a oil and gas lease agreement with Antero Resources in Wetzel County that i have not yet signed. I had previously tried to get the post production costs section removed and requested that the oil and gas be valued at the point of sale to an unaffiliated third party. My question is do Oil and Gas Companies still negotiate Gross rather than Net Agreements or am i stuck with a post production costs clause with Antero. What about the problem that Antero sells its oil and gas to Antero Midstream.
Antero has two post-production clauses they usually offer people. One is the Market Enhancement clause, and the other is the Gross Proceeds at the Wellhead clause. I favor the Gross Proceeds at the Wellhead clause. If you ever see the Market Enhancement clause, you’ll understand why. I haven’t usually had too much trouble getting Antero to agree to the Gross Proceeds at the Wellhead clause. Sometimes the landman won’t be familiar with it and you’ll have to ask them for it specifically, but Antero has it and uses it. Just keep asking.
Kyle, how should the value of the gas at the wellhead be determined? I have a proposal that it is the value of gas based on MMBTU but no details in the clause exists on how that value is determined.
I hesitate to get into this subject too deeply here. There are a lot of details that need to be covered. The long and short of it is that West Virginia law only allows a producer to deduct costs if they’re detailed in the lease, along with a method for calculating the costs. Since that’s the case, the price should be set where the gas is sold to a non-affiliated third party. There could be a lot more that goes into it, though. Good luck negotiating!
Hello,
Any idea what the going price is for the sale of just minerals in Monongalia County? Thanks.
There are a number of companies buying up mineral rights and they all pay different amounts. I would say that if you were selling for less than $4000/acre you were getting ripped off, but it’s going to depend a lot on how big your interest is and how hot the market is. If you have an actual offer in hand, then you can judge the market at that time.
Kyle,
When my ex wife sold her farm in Monongalia county back in 2007, I suggested we separate the remaining mineral rights. The coal rights had already been sold.
The property was acquired by her prior to our marriage. Since I had put her name on my house title she felt it fair to put my name on the mineral rights on the farm. The farm was about 23 acres. The attorney who did the closing and drew up the new deed for the new surface owners showed the properety being transferred from my wife and myself, “a married couple”.. My name was not on any previous deed.
A landsman recently contacted both of us and made an offer on the mineral rights to either lease or buy. Since we have been divorced a few years , he sent us separate lease agreements to sign.
My ex is now contending that my name on the deed to the surface owners does not
give me any claim to the mineral rights.
My name is clearly on file in the county clerk office in the “deeds” section.
She is now asserting that she never intended to share the mineral rights and intends to tell the landsman that those rights should be in her name only..
What do you think, do I have any rights here. ???
That’s a really good question. I spoke with an attorney who does a lot of family law and probate work, and they said that you probably do own an interest in the minerals. That’s an off-the-cuff opinion, without any real research, so it could be wrong. If you want to hire someone to dig into it, we can do it or I can point you towards the other attorney. Call the office at 304-473-1403.
Thanks, Kyle….you have gone above and beyond and I appreciate your help !
Paul
The fact that you joined the deed of sale as a grantor does not necessarily mean that you had any vested interest in the property. It is common for a spouse to join in the sale and conveyance of property to release any marital interest they might have in property that was separately owned by the other spouse (such as inherited property and property acquired prior to the marriage). The issue is whether you were entitled to a marital interest. Talk to the lawyer that handled your divorce.
Thanks for the input!
My grandfather has a lease for oil rights in Marshall County, WV. He gets a check for a whopping $19 per year. He passed away December 2014 and the actual lease was never put into the trust that he had. It was a California trust and he was a California resident. We have changed over 2 of the leases to his heirs (my mom and uncle) with CNX Gas Company with no problem, we only had to submit an Heirship Affidavit and death certificate. We even recorded the Heirship Affidavit for any future issues. This one lease with Columbia Pipeline Group is giving us problems and is saying that we have to file a probate in WV to get it changed. Am I crazy to believe that that is completely unncessary for something like this, especially when another company changed it over no problem?
Columbia Pipeline Group is mostly involved with building and operating pipelines, so maybe they’re asking for the probate to be filed because they’re dealing with a surface interest instead of a mineral interest. It’s hard for me to say for sure without knowing a lot more about the situation.
Can a gas company drill without ratification of lease for polling on track of gas and oil of a old 1920 lease I own 1/6 of 75 acres
I think that I just answered this same question in the last comment. If not, call the office at 304-473-1403 and we can talk about your situation.
looking for answers radification of lease for pooling 1/6 interest signature required yes or no? has well on held by production 1920 lease
Yes, signature required, unless you’re in the 2nd Circuit (Wetzel, Tyler, Marshall counties), then there’s a very recent decision that says a modification isn’t necessary for pooling. Supreme Court hasn’t looked at that decision yet, and it could be overturned. The reasoning is solid, but there is solid reasoning the other way too.
Antero Resources is wanting to lease my portion of the Thomas Madison Shuttlesworth. 6-7 areas in Wetzel, Dodridge, Tyler, Ritchie Co of W.V. I need help. I dont trust them.
You should have some good negotiating leverage if your interests are large. We can definitely put together a better lease for you. The standard offer that they will present to you is always in the company’s favor, but they are willing to make changes. Once you have paperwork from Antero, give the office a call and we’ll see what we can do to protect you. 304-473-1403.
My brother and I own land in Cabell County. We were contacted last you to grant access for an environmental study. We agreed.
Tuesday, a man called stated he wants to meet with us. He has a check “for several thousand dollars, but it’s negotiable”
He wants to meet with us on Monday 11th. Not much notice, huh?
IDK. I was tempted to ask for an email to see if it had a Nigerian IP address
Probably the Mountaineer Xpress pipline. I don’t know of anything else happening out that direction. Cabot has been drilling an experimental well in Putnam County, the Cabot 50, to the Rogersville Shale. The Rogersville won’t get developed until gas prices get around $5/MCF or maybe higher for an extended length of time. I don’t see that happening for several years at least. So it must be the pipeline. Call if you want some help with that. 304-473-1403. Negotiating leases and pipeline easements is what we do around here.
I have minerals in Ritchie county and Noble energy stated a well on the land of my minerals rights .But pull out in February of 2014 They drill two other well and stated on my then left. Will they be coming back to Ritchie county anytime soon
I was out in Ritchie County yesterday, and could see two drilling rigs from Route 50. Drilling isn’t going crazy in Ritchie, but there’s still work going on there. It’s impossible to say when Noble will get back to work on yours though. The best you can do is continue to call them and see what info you can get out of them.
Do i have time to file a clay heirs excemption. And i was notified about. historic rights ,bit i need help
I’ll need a lot more detail. Is this a tax issue or something else? When were you notified? What were you notified about? This is the kind of thing that may have a statute of limitations, so you should probably call the office quick. 304-473-1403.
Kyle I own 33 1/3 mineral rights that’s leased by Antero Resources . My lease is up in 15 months, and It’s in Tyler Co. WV. The question I have is the land man from Tyler co sent me a modification for pooling with 84 people in and around our unit. They are supposed to only have one well and it doesn’t seem like a very good deal. Could you please give me advice. I would really appreciate some advice.
I’ll need a little more detail. Is it an Antero lease that they want to modify, or an older lease that Antero bought from another company? Have they already drilled a well, or is this a situation where they were saying they would only drill one well when the started and are now saying that they want to drill more when they get started?
Hi Kyle, It seems there is some activity in Richie County these days. Do you see this moving into Wirt County anytime soon? My siblings and I own a fairly significant amount of mineral acreage there.
Thanks, Gary
It’s probably not moving in to Wirt County. Wirt doesn’t seem to be a big place for oil and gas development yet. Wirt does have the Mountaineer Xpress pipeline coming through, but that will only affect the surface owners right along the pipeline path.
My sister and I were contacted in September 2015 in regards to our heir to family rights. This process has been in affect for almost a year now. The only documents we have signed are the affidavit. I have made several phone calls with months in between to our landman. I am getting the same response every time I call which is the title work is not finished yet. I know nothing really about the process but somehow feel that it should be finished by now. Is this a normal situation?
Doing the research at the courthouse record room doesn’t take long. Finding all the heirs can and does. It can take a long time to find info on one line of the family. They have to assume that there are heirs, until they can prove there aren’t. If they’re still in the process of researching the heirs they won’t be able to make a determination regarding how much each line of the family owns. That’s probably what’s taking a long time. Oh, and they don’t have nearly as many landmen working for them now so they could be waiting on somebody to do the courthouse record room research. It’s hard to tell, honestly.
hi, we own mineral rights on a small 4 acre parcel right in the middle of many acres NNE plans to horizontally drill. we were trying to negotiate fees, percentage, post production costs etc, when all the sudden the landman said the co isn’t interested in negotiations anymore! He had said something previously about donut holing, going around ours with a map that showed 5″lakes”? some of family signed their lease. How can we make sure the don’t steal our gas? It’s in clay district and there is acerage all around ours. Since we asked for more, they dropped us! what about those who did sign the lease? we can’t afford a lawyer to handle it, and don’t even know how to find our 4acres! what can we do? thank you!
It’s time for you to get familiar with the WV DEP’s Office of Oil and Gas website. Keep an eye out on Northeast Natural Energy’s filings and look for your property. Also, keep in touch with the part of the family that did sign leases. They’ll be able to let you know if they receive royalty payments. If they put a well under or within 300 feet of your property they should owe you some money.