Nuttall Legal, LLC
P. O. Box 741
15 North Kanawha Street
Buckhannon, WV 26201
304-473-1403
nuttall.legal@gmail.com
Nuttall Legal, LLC
West Virginia Oil and Gas Lawyer
Nuttall Legal, LLC
P. O. Box 741
15 North Kanawha Street
Buckhannon, WV 26201
304-473-1403
nuttall.legal@gmail.com
Hello. I have inherited mineral rights in Lewis County. As far as I know, no royalties have been collected for quite some time. After a records search, it shows an oil and gas well that is active on the property. Is this something you can assist with? I live in Ohio and it’s not easy to get down there to investigate myself.
Yes, we can help with this. However, the first step would be to go to the Office of Oil and Gas’ website and figure out who the current producer of the well is, and contact them. If you can do this yourself, it will save you some time and attorney’s fees. If not, we’re glad to help. 304-473-1403.
Hello Sir,
My mother has received an unexpected call from Antero about an offer to lease property in Wetzel County West Virginia. Note that to Our knowledge we didn’t have any land there. It turns out that a close family friend may have left property to my mother while said friend’s niece in the holder of the Will. The Will states that property is to be divided 50/50. My mother is curious as to if she has any claim to any property or if this is a play by Antero. Please advise and thank you. I’m putting my mother’s info below for the follow up.
Congratulations! This is kind of like winning the lottery for you! Having oil and gas rights in Wetzel County is a good thing! Antero is not playing around. They may be mistaken in thinking that you own some oil and gas, but they usually don’t reach out without at least a halfway decent reason to believe you actually do own the oil and gas. I won’t be able to make any judgment about the Will without actually reading it, but if you send it to me I can take a look and discuss it with you. 304-473-1403. We charge an initial consult fee, so it might be best to wait until you have paperwork (a lease) from Antero in hand that we can discuss. The Will won’t take much time, but the lease will.
Hello, I found your web site and I have the exact situation here. A person that buys mineral rights contacted me and wants to buy my mineral rights in Wetzel County WV. Says that I am an heir of my great uncle and have a small amount of mineral rights. Offers to pay me a one time fee of $1500. Once they send the paperwork, it shows my great uncle had mineral rights to 194 acres in the county. In the contract, they state they are conveying “no less than 0.337 acres”. As I go through the family tree, there can only be less than 10 of us in the list of heirs but I am not certain. I would like to find out more about these mineral rights and the real value but don’t know who to contact to take this to the next level. Please reach out to me if this is something that your office can help with.
I generally recommend that you don’t sell your mineral rights. They should be worth more in lease bonuses and royalties in the long run than they will be in a one-time sale. Everybody’s situation is different, though. If you do decide to sell, get double what they’re asking, or close to it. And make sure to use a Quit Claim deed. The usual deed they request is a General Warranty deed and includes promises from you to them that you own the mineral rights. You have no way of knowing that. They do. Also make sure that if you sign a Purchase and Sales Agreement that it’s not just a long-term option. Giving them some time to do title work is OK, three months at most, but they should be able to at least attempt to close within three months or less. When title issue come up, that’s different, of course. Regarding the small amount of minerals, you’d have to have title work done to be sure about that. It’s not just genealogy that determines ownership. Your ancestor could have bought a small fraction of the oil and gas under that 194 acre tract, or could have bought the tract with all the oil and gas rights and sold most of them off. Good luck, and have fun!
My sisters and I inherited some mineral rights and land from our father. We have been approached by a landman who is “ready to drill”. We have been negotiating with him for months, but my sisters and I were never interested in their offer. Last week we received a threatening letter from them, tell us that if we don’t agree to their “last and final offer”, they will drill anyway. This guy has been harassing us for quite some time now. And now, he is threatening us with this. Is this normal behavior? He sent us all very long-winded contracts that if we don’t sign in 45 days, they will force us to capitulate. It seems very shady to us, and we think we need some help.
Yes, unfortunately, this is normal behavior. They’ve been trying to get you to sign an oil and gas lease, which will give them permission to produce natural gas from the property you own. Now that they’re close to drilling, they need an oil and gas lease on your interest in the property you own. West Virginia law allows them to force a lease onto unfindable and non-consenting property owners. That’s the process they’ve started with their Best and Final Offer letter. If you do nothing, you’ll get notices in the mail as the legal process goes on. Eventually, a lease will be approved for your property, and they’ll send you a bonus payment check, and they’ll start drilling. When they start producing gas, they’ll send you royalty checks. It’s not the worst thing in the world. However, if you negotiate with them now you can get a larger bonus payment (often significantly larger) and a few things that the forced lease will not have. Don’t misunderstand, the forced lease is a reasonable lease. The royalty percentage is the largest royalty percentage paid to anyone who has an ownership interest in the property, and it doesn’t allow for post-production costs (which reduce the amount of royalty you get), and it only applies to the Marcellus Shale, and there are no promises of ownership made. Good luck, and have fun!
I’m looking for help or advice on a summons I received from Tyler County concerning land that I inherited with Mineral Rights. It is a Complaint to Quiet Title. I live in Tennessee and was told I would need a lawyer in West Virginia.
I’d need to see the actual document to give any advice. You will need a WV lawyer, however. Give the office a call at 304-473-1403.
Hi Kyle,
I have a lease language & Unit Declaration question:
Our lease has this language: “For all purposes of this lease, including determining the amount of delay rentals, royalties and shut-in royalties hereunder, said land shall be deemed to contain 129 gross acres whether it actually contains more or less.”
The Unit Declaration lists the parcel as 105 gross acres and the map in the declaration shows the unit containing the entire parcel. This is confirmed by a cross-check of the two neighboring units that share boundary lines on either side of the parcel and do not list the parcel as included in either. From my reading of the lease language statement and the unit/parcel situation I think it would require that we be credited with 129 gross acres in figuring our payment decimal.
The production company in question in their reply to my inquiry says that the “more or less” allows them to reduce the number of gross acres: “When the lease states “more or less,” this means that the acreage is subject to change.”
From my reading of the lease sentence, I don’t think it means that.
Am I right? What are your thoughts?
I was just contacted by John at Cloud Peak Minerals. They are a royalty acquisition company, and they want to send me an offer letter to purchase the mineral rights on property I own in Lewis County, West Virginia. I didn’t even know I owned it. I don’t even know where it’s at or how much I own or how I became the owner of this. Can someone help?
You probably inherited the mineral rights. It probably passed down to you from your great-great-grandparents. It’s impossible to say for sure how much you own without putting some serious research time in at the Lewis County web site, and maybe even the courthouse. My general advice with mineral rights is to not sell. However, if the money you get from selling them will be life changing for you, then sell. Just make sure you get as much money from them as possible (they always come in with a low offer the first time) and make sure the deed does not include any warranties (promises from you to them).
How long does the process take? I got notice about inheriting mineral rights in Harrison county. Had to get a lawyer involved and notarize paperwork but haven’t heard nothing in months
Did you get notice that there was an estate in probate, and that you were inheriting through that? Or did an oil and gas company reach out and tell you you had inherited oil and gas rights? Also, why is your lawyer not helping with this? They’re really the ones your should be running this by. They already know all the details I would need.
Mr Nuttall: Not sure if this falls in your area of expertise, but here’s the gist of it: Following divorce, ex-husband contacted someone in West Virginia (not sure who) and got wife’s name removed from the Affadavit that lists the owners of mineral rights on certain land in the state. Had his name added. The problems with this are (1) the divorce settlement in no way provided for this and (2) the will of the original rights owner restricted the passage of the rights to blood descendants only. In short, this is fraud. West Virginia AG’s office says there is nowhere to file a complaint about the fraud. Is this true? Does it take a lawyer to get this thief held accountable and rights relisted in the wife’s name?
This might be a reasonably simple problem to solve, depending on what all the documents say. It also may take a long time to solve. It would be really tough to say one way or another for sure without being able to see the will, the divorce decree, and the affidavit. There may be other documents that we’d have to look at as well. The nice thing about oil and gas rights is that they’re real property, and so can’t be given to someone without a paper trail.
We have about 2.5 acres of mineral rights in Pleasants County, Lafayette District. Antero had the lease until a few months ago. We have been offered $2500/15% per acre lease and $4000 per acre purchase by another company. Is that a fair offer right now? Thank you.
That’s not bad in Pleasants County, but I think you can do better. Counter with $5,000/acre and 20% and see what you can get. Don’t sell. If your lease runs out every five years (a possibility in Pleasants) you’ll get bonus payment after bonus payment, and it will equal far more than you could ever sell it for.
My siblings and I just received a letter/pkg from Antero informing us that we own mineral rights for 108 acres in Tyler County, Ellsworth District West Virginia that they would like to lease for 5 years. They are offering a flat $500 bonus and 17% royalty on any future oil and gas production. It appears they already have at least 4 horizontal wells that go under the property. A couple questions I hope you can answer for us;
– Should we ask for royalties for the past years they have had lines under the property?
– Should we negotiate for a higher bonus and royalty percentage?
– Has there been a consistent production of oil & gas in that area?
– Do we all as mineral owners need to agree on the lease terms for a deal to be complete?
– Is it normal for the landman company to include a W-9 Tax which requires our social security #? That seems a bit forward considering we have not dealt with Antero before. Thanks for any help and direction you can provide.
Where they already have lines under your property it’s surprising that they’re asking you for a lease. Usually they have force pooled or co-tenanted your property, meaning they have forced a lease on you already. Regardless, you should counter with 20% royalty without deductions and $2000 flat fee, just to see what happens. Once they have a lease in place, they’ll catch you up on any royalties that have been put into escrow. There is consistent oil and gas production in that area. Each person in the family can sign a different lease with different terms and it will not affect the others. It’s a lot like owning different condos in the same building. It is normal for Antero to ask for a W-9.
Hello! My family owns the oil and gas lease for a 600-acre property in WV. I own a 1/12 of this share. Revenues have declined rather precipitously the past two years, and I am unsure how to value my share. The 4 shares owned by my immediate family (4/12) were professionally valued about ten years ago at $1,000,000. But I am not sure how to value my share now. Is that something you can help with? I get letters from potential buyers with some regularity, one today offering $165K. That seems quite low. What are your thoughts.
I certainly can value the mineral rights, but where you have a rather large chunk of mineral rights it’s probably better to get them valued by someone who does that and only that. There’s a woman named Rachel Vass who is a mineral rights appraiser. She’s easy to find online. I suggest you use her services for this particular project. Thank you for reaching out to me, though.
Does your firm practice in the area of Business/Lease Agreement?
If you’re talking about a lease for a commercial building, no, we don’t. If it’s for an oil and gas lease, then yes, we do.
Can you do a title transfer for mineral rights in Doddrige County, WV from my deceased parents to myself?
Yes, we do that all the time. If their estate is still in probate, then it’s a matter of having the executor/personal representative sign a deed. If it’s not, we’ll have to do an ancillary probate here in West Virginia. It takes a lot longer to do an ancillary because there’s a publication requirement, but we can get it done.
Mr. Nuttall, I’ve discovered that my mother, who lives in Tyler County has signed 15 to 20 oil/gas leases that are all from heirship properties. My siblings and myself should also part of these heirships but were never contacted by anyone. She has had these leases for enough time now that they are all going to need to be resigned soon. I’m not sure why she was the only one they contacted or if she contacted someone. I’d like to know if there is anything we can do to get our names added on to the contracts or if we even have a right anything she signed on the previous contracts. Should we just get a lawyer with all the information we have such as deeds, signed leases etc. Any help would be appreciated.
Hello-my mother was contacted by EQT and Percheron about 84 acres in Center District, Wetzel County. This was an amendment to a lease agreement and they offered $150 dollars to sign and allow exploration and 12.5% royalties – although I’m not sure what the royalties are on (profit? sale? proceeds?) I emailed Percheron to ask about documentation of ownership and received information indicating this is oil, gas and mineral rights. We may want to enlist your firm’s help in reviewing these documents – but would like to understand your initial thoughts about what was offered. Thank you for your help and time.
When they’re offering a small flat fee like that you usually own a very small interest in the 84 acre tract, usually something you inherited from someone. We do initial consults for this kind of situation. We’ll talk about the lease, helping you understand what it is and what it does and what changes you’ll want to get made to it. We can also discuss whether it makes more sense for you to sell. We’ll send you a handbook that covers everything we talked about so that you won’t be dependent on your memory and your notes. You’ll probably want to do the negotiations yourself because it will probably cost you more to hire us than you’ll make from the bonus and royalties, but we put you in a great position to handle negotiations on your own. We do charge for the initial consult, and that price has changed over the years as we’ve become more and more busy so we can’t quote a price here.
I am the Administrator of my late stepmother’s estate. She left a small O&G interest in Lewis County, WV. I’m looking to sell her interests. I have received a few offers that I’m considering.
I’m trying to find information on the following:
1. How to independently assess the worth of these interests, so I can determine if these are reasonable offers
2. Understanding the process for selling these interests (responsibilities, costs, deed transfer, etc.).
I would appreciate speaking with you to discuss my needs.
You’ll want to give the office a call at 304-473-1403. We’ll need to find a buyer. Buyers usually do their own title work to determine how large your interest is. They’ll also want to use their purchase and sales agreement, and their own deed. We will review both to make sure you’re not signing you life away. If you would rather we do title work, we can do so.
i have a oil and gas bond that i was awarded in court to baca enterprises buy pacific nakon international it is a series a identification number 1009112100 isin :us7479558aa48 cusp number 747958 aa4 tin91-1845192 we were awared this buy utah courts lamar n jenson singed this in court when the judge told him to sing it over to us
We don’t work with this kind of oil and gas issue. You’ll have to find a law firm that works on this side of things. All of the big law firms here in West Virginia will be able to help you. Good luck.
We are lawful heir and beneficiary to The Dotson family oil and to gas royalties in Doddridge County West Virginia. Why is it that no one contacted us about the oil and gas wells on property that are producing now and have produces in the past.
The producer probably couldn’t find you. Either that or they made a mistake in doing their title work. Either way, if you are an heir to someone who owned mineral rights in Doddridge County, you can prove up your ownership by filing deeds, wills, and ancillary probates in Doddridge County and then show it to the producer and they’ll start paying you. Or, if the producer made a mistake, you can show them where their mistake was. Getting them to pay you when they’ve made a mistake is difficult, though, because they’ve usually had an attorney review the title and they will stick with what the attorney said. It literally takes a court case and a judge making a ruling in your favor to get them to change in most of these situations.
Hello, I am wondering if you draw up wills or transfer on death documents for owners of mineral rights?
Yes, we do. Call the office at 304-473-1403 and talk with either Darla or Alicia. They’ll get the process started for you.
I’m a lawyer in Ohio. I represent the estate of an Ohio resident who died recently. I am probating her estate in Ohio. In her Will she left her interest in several wells in Lewis and Jackson counties . I’ve prepared Ancillary Admintration paperwork. What to do next. There are several different companies who pay royalties. Advice? Thanks
Once you’ve finalized the Ancillary Probate you’ll just reach out to the different companies and provide them with the finalized documents. They’ll switch to paying those who inherited from the estate. They may also require a death certificate, but with finalized probate documents, you’ll have those on hand. If you have problems with getting payment switched over to the right people, give us a call and we’ll help out.
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.
Hello Mr. Nuttall,
What is the going rate for bonus per acre in Tyler County, Meade District at this time?
Hello, Mr. Nuttall —
I am glad I happened upon your website, have enjoyed reading it. I have a request and am writing to see if you would consider it. I would like to forward to you an email of a scanned letter I received (through my daughter) asking to buy a certain parcel in WV. As far as I know, I do not own land in WV, although I grew up there in New Martinsville. My gut response is that the letter is a scam, but I know so little about gas and oil interests. The letter is supposedly from a Jason Eddington of Spring Creek Energy Partners.
We’ve seen other deals from Jason Eddington and Spring Creek Energy Partners. They are a real company trying to buy oil and gas rights here in West Virginia. They probably found your ancestor’s name by doing title work on property here in West Virginia and tracked you down through genealogical research. You probably own a smallish interest in oil and gas rights. You can negotiate for more money and ask them to use a quit claim deed instead of a general warranty deed. If you feel like you need help with this, including deciding whether you want to sell or not, call the office and set up an appointment to talk with me. We do charge for initial consults, but you’ll know so much more about what’s going on when we’re done. Good luck, and have fun!
Hello, my wife her 2 brothers & an uncle have recently received O/G lease offers from what I gather is a landman for property in Wetzel County, WV. This is mineral rights inherited through their mothers family who is deceased & they had no idea these mineral rights even existed. I will not mention the company being represented but we are unsure if what they are offering is fare or not. Obviously they are offering what seems to be the minimum as well as adding all the downstream cost’s of production & delivery. Could you send us information on your fees & recommendations to go over this contract(s) & let us know any other information you would need to give us that cost?
Right now we charge $300 for an initial consultation with me in which we discuss all the aspects of the lease that you can get changed and a lot of background information that helps you understand what’s going on with the whole situation. We also send you a handbook which covers everything we talk about. Between our conversation, your notes, and the handbook, you’ll probably feel pretty well prepared to negotiate with the landman on your own if you want.
Mr. Nuttall,
Thank You for your timely response, I will pass this along to my wife so she can discuss with her brothers & uncle. We (my wife & I) feel it would be beneficial for all parties involved to work as a cohesive group as well as having someone such as yourself that is familiar with WV laws & regulations.
Thank you, and we will be glad to help you out!
Mr. Nuttall,
Other than your consultation fee could you email your specific fees for negotiating an O & G lease agreement for Mineral Rights owners? This would be a minimum for my wife with the possibility of her 2 brothers joining as well if separate agreements are needed for each of them.
Thank You
Bob
Hello,
Yesterday my husband received a letter from Country Roads – Minerals out of Williamstown, WV.
See below.
SUBJECT: OIL AND GAS PURCHASE OFFER
We have completed extensive title research and have determined that you own 0.2 net acres of oil and gas mineral interest located in Mannington of Marion County, West Virginia. We would like to offer you $500.00 to purchase your interest. This is an oil and gas mineral interest you inherited from STEP MOM’S NAME and FATHER. You would receive your payment within 90 days business days from the date your deed is notarized. Please call if you accept and/or have any questions.
Charly Swiger
Buyer and Genealogist
OF course, we had no idea. So I tried doing a little research and am unable to find the property – using a name search. I have read the comments here and your responses. I am beginning to believe that since it’s such a small ownership, countering their offer to $1000. My husband has 2 siblings and two step sisters. So, I figure we all own 1 acre – since the offer is for 0.2 net acre. Is it even worth holding on to? We are not in financial straits.
The other family members have received the same letter. The letter doesn’t state anything about the property being leased, drilled on, or if anyone had ever received any royalties.
We are shocked at this news, and have no idea how to proceed.
Thank you
I generally recommend that people hold on to their mineral rights. They should be more valuable in the long run than they are in a one time sale. However, when you have small amounts (like you do) it’s never going to pay off big time (very rough rule of thumb–$100-$500/acre/month in royalties), so selling is an option. The main thing to make sure of in this situation is that you’re not making any promises that you own the mineral rights. Tell them you want a Quit Claim deed, or at least a Special Warranty deed, but a General Warranty deed is not going to work. I’d counter with $2000 and see what you can get them up to. Good luck!
Hello Mr. Nuttall, I’ve talked with you a couple times before concerning various things. I’m researching a property in Marion County and looking at a deed from 1898. It conveys “all the following described property, oil and gas rights and privileges…all the undivided 1/16 of all the oil and 1/2 of the gas royalty in and underlying that certain tract of land…” The last line of the deed after the property description has this sentence: “It is fully understood that this deed shall not hold any of the leasing privileges as to interfere with any rental on any leases.” Does this clause mean that the leasing rights are being reserved? or that the deed is NOT reserving them?
Thanks for the clarification,
I think that last line might be trying to say that the deed is not going to interfere with who the existing delay rental payments are supposed to be made to. However, for a real opinion on it I would want to read the entire deed and see if there are any existing leases and see if either of the parties to the deed entered into another lease or modification of an existing lease (and what that new document would say) and whether either of the parties signed a deed later that might have used some language which would clarify this language. In short, that’s not enough data for me to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. Sorry about that. West Virginia title is never easy.
Hello ! Thank goodness I found this helpful blog, my mother received an offer from Anteto Resources to lease or purchase Oil and Gas interests she apparently owns in Wetzel county, district Green, gross acres 16.25000 with net acres of 0.16414. She is being offered a $300.00 flat fee bonus and 14% royalty or they will purchase her net acres for $500.00., this small amount of her share of the mineral lease was just found out about 3 weeks ago and she received the offer today with an expiration date of 2 weeks. What we would like to know is this a fare offer as she had never dealed with this kind of situation before. Any kind of advice would help. Thanks
This isn’t a bad offer, if you want to take it, whether it’s a sale or a lease. Either way, ask for more money, and for more royalty if you lease. I couldn’t blame you if you sell. The royalties aren’t going to be great. The very rough rule of thumb is that royalties will be $100-500/acre/month once all the wells on the property are producing. So with 0.16414 net acres, you’ll be seeing $16-80/month. It’s not a lot, but sometimes even a little money can be nice. Make sure that if you lease you get a No Warranty of Title clause, an Indemnification clause, Gross Proceeds, and a Formation Limit. There are other things that can make a difference, too, but it’s just too much to address in a comment online. Give us a call and we can help you figure out what will work best for you. 304-473-1403.
Hello…approximately one year ago Mark A. O’Neal & Associates contact me regarding a mineral interest (.008 net mineral acres) in Brooke County, WV that I and each of my four siblings own (You and each of your siblings own .0278%(.008 net mineral acres each) of that 29 acre tract.’). We were not aware of this land nor are we the least bit familiar with mineral rights but they have ‘upped’ their flat rate bonus payment from an original offering of $250 to $500 for each of us (I also received both a ‘Paid Up Oil & Gas Lease’ and an ‘Order of Payment’ from Southwestern Energy). I was also told we would receive royalties but an exact percentage was never divulged. Naturally we’re concerned we my be getting taken advantage of with this latest offering but it also seems as if they’re rather interested in our mineral interest.
Is there any advice you can share or would it be best for me to contact your office directly?
There’s too much to talk about in any great detail in a comment section. The bonus amount is good, the royalty is probably 12.5%, but should be higher. You’ll want to counter at 20%, and ask for gross proceeds (so they won’t take post-production costs from the royalty). Also ask for a No Warranty of Title clause and an Indemnification clause. Request a Formation Limit (Marcellus shale only) and no automatic extension. Also request a No Gas Storage clause, a No Injection wells or Disposal wells clause, and a No Coal Bed Methane clause. That will get you a good basic lease. There are other things you can do to improve the lease, but really, we ought to talk it all through. Call to set up an initial consult at 304-473-1403.
I was contacted by EQT about property in Wetzel County that I was not aware of and they are wanting to drill. They have indicated that my interest is in two tracks totaling .107 net acres. Based on texts from other family members, I believe it is not new but an existing well but their letter indicates that the well needs to be drilled. First letter offered $100 flat fee and 12.8% royalty of the net, not gross production. No hold harmless or other conditions were included. They have now offered a $500 flat fee or $1,070 to purchase mineral rights. Based on the advice that you have given others, it sounds like the best direction is to sell the mineral rights, but since their offers have been so low, I am not sure what I should counter and what should be a floor on what is a reasonable selling price. Is there anything else that I should require in a purchase sales agreement in order to protect me and my family? It looks like they will adjust the sell price for other closing costs or to pay off liens or overdue taxes. There is a buyer hold harmless and default clause that protects them in the agreement. Do I need to confirm any of the details about what EQT is saying with the county? Greatly appreciate any advice on how to navigate as I am completely inexperienced in all of this.
I actually don’t recommend that you sell, but if you don’t want to deal with mineral ownership then there’s no reason to hold on to them. $1,070 is a pretty good offer, $10K/acre. You won’t get a better price. You’ll want to make sure that the Purchase and Sales Agreement does not include a general warranty of title (a promise that you own the minerals). You shouldn’t have to pay closing costs, and it’s unlikely there are any overdue taxes, but you can ask them to remove that language. If you’d like me to review the documents in detail and talk through the decision to sell, give the office a call and set up an appointment. 304-473-1403.
My wife, Annabelle R. (Nutter) Haas had contacted you several years ago about back royalties owed to her by ANTERO but was afriad to follow thru because ANTERO said they would but a hold on all royalty’s to her family while they investigated the back royalty’s. Ann did not want that to happen but now we hear that ANTERO could not do that. We would be interested in paying you a percentage of what ever you could get. I believe we are looking at close to $40,000.00 to $50,000.00. Please let me know what your thoughts are in this matter. Thank you.
Whether they can stop payment probably depends on whether there’s language in the lease that gives them the right to do that. If not, they will probably try to do so anyways. They don’t like to make royalty payments when there’s a possibility that they are paying the wrong people. So check the lease and then try to force their hand, but frankly, they’ll probably stop payments while they investigate regardless.
I have 44 Acres of Mineral Rights in Cass District. Do you know what a going rate would be for that area and what companies are leasing or buying right now.
That’s Monongalia County, right? I think you’d probably get offers around $1,000/acre and maybe be able to negotiate up to $2,000/acre. However, there hasn’t been much activity there for months so the new offers going out could be quite different from what they were. As far as a purchase goes, it really depends on which company is interested. You’ll get offers from $500/acre up to $4,000/acre. Don’t sell for less than $3,000/acre. We were leasing for more than that a few years ago. In fact, I strongly recommend you hold your mineral rights unless you just have to have the money. The market is pretty low right now.
My parents received a letter from Diversified Gas & Oil saying they had acquired assets from EQT and my parents royalty checks would now be coming from them. The well is in wetzel county and produces very little but I’m wondering if this is an opportunity to renegotiate the lease. Also, my parents are wanting to put the mineral rights in my name. Can you tell me how to go about doing this.
The old lease is still in place. As long as there is production from the property, the lease stays. If production stops for two years you can have the lease declared abandoned. You should reply to Diversified and ask them where the property is. Get an API number for the producing well(s). Get a map for your property. Then you’ll be able to determine whether there is still production from the property. As far as transferring the rights, we can put together a deed for you. Give the office a call at 304-473-1403 and the front office staff will help you get started.
So I saw the post on Dec. 4th 2019. Very similar to my situation. I have 10.74 gross acres and 0.00959 net. Antero offered me $200 signing bonus, 5yr term and 12.5% royalties. I understand negotiating a higher signing bonus, shorter term and higher royalty. However, on the asking for a No Warranty of Title clause and Hold Harmless clause, what’s my liability risks if they don’t agree and what are my options from that point ? Do I concede the Notification of Assignment, No Automatic Extension of the primary term?
You’ll get the No Warranty of Title (or at least a Special Warranty of Title, which does the job just fine) and the Hold Harmless clauses just for asking. No need to worry about that. I would work hard to get the No Automatic Extension, if needed. They don’t always agree to that one immediately, and sometimes they simply won’t agree to it. It depends on how far along in the development process they are in your area. If they’re just barely starting to take leases, then they’ll push hard to keep the Automatic Extension. If you’re one of the last they need, then they’ll be more likely to give in to your requests. They’ll probably give you the Notification of Assignment clause, but you might have to ask a time or two.
Apparently my mother has an interest in o & g located in McElroy District as I have received offers from several companies to buy her interest. I have no idea how to even find out what my mother owns (she has dementia and has no records that I can find). How can I find out exactly what she owns? Thanks.
This requires title work. If you sell, the company that buys from you will do the title work. If you don’t sell (which I usually recommend as the royalties will be a lot more over time than the sale price) then you’ll have to do it yourself or hire someone to do it for you. It takes a lot of time, so it can be expensive. If you do it yourself you can ask the ladies who work in the record room to show you how to do the research.
Would you mind talking about whether the usual advice to hold onto mineral rights vs. sell them still applies with all that has taken place lately with the coronavirus and its resulting impact? I planned to always hold mine, though I haven’t received any royalties yet, but I got curious when I received a couple letters wanting to buy with more specific information on what they would pay. Especially with a new one that offers a fairly huge amount (in the hundreds of thousands) for 57 acres interest I have in Marshall County in West Virginia. Of course, they note that amount could be higher and lower, but, when I call, they will update it. I’m assuming this could be – oh, it’s nowhere near that now – then they hope you will be *encouraged* to sell during that call. Thanks for any information. Your site and all your answers have been a big help.
The coronavirus has kept people from using as much energy, so it’s reducing demand which reduces price. The prices offered for mineral and the amount paid in royalties has also been reduced. It’s hard to say what the long-term impact of coronavirus is going to be. I do recommend you hold on to the mineral rights unless the money from the sale would significantly impact your lifestyle. You’re right to suspect that the offers you get in the mail are on the high side. They’re often fishing for sellers by sending letters to everyone who shows up on the tax rolls. They have no idea whether you own 57 acres or 1/100 of 57 acres. They tell you what they’ll pay for the whole 57 acres, and when it turns out you own 0.57 acre they adjust the price accordingly.
Thanks so much. I looked at my original paperwork, and, indeed, it’s not 57 acres that would be my share. They also stated that Chevron is plugging wells in WV, suspending drilling, and there may be no demand for supply so you’ll never get any checks. That coupled with the alleged potential pay out makes a person want to leap at their offer! Thankful I could ask here and also knew enough to stop and think if this all made sense.
One more question, if/when you have a time: If I would decide to sell (not my plan at the moment – I’m holding just the same as I planned to unless a need/cool something arises that might make it attractive to get that lump sum), what is the best way to go about that? Would I hire you, for example, to negotiate that out? (Which I wish I would have done for my original lease agreements.)
Hello Kyle
I just received a call a few days ago about inherited gas an oil lease in Tyler County WV. This property was owned by my grandmother over 100 years ago. The Gross Acres on the offer shows 32.00 and the Net Acres shows 0.07273
What would your advise be as to this property Antero is offering $200 flat -fee 5 yrs lease signing bonus and 14% Royalty on future oil and gas production?
Doing the math, the income or royalty would be enough to fill my gas tank on my 4 runner twice a month as to my calculation. Yet I could be wrong.
A $400 bonus is offered on top of an offer to be made by Antero should I decide to sell it.
I am Real Estate Broker Owner/Certified Residential Appraiser in Santa Cruz, Ca.
To me it make more sense to sell this in the current market or sell it next year when conditions might be better.
Where is the best place to market this property should I decide to make a sale on this property?
Thanks
Tom Melville
Your instinct for the value of the minerals is right on. When you own so little it makes more sense to sell. The hassle of cashing the royalty checks won’t be worth it, especially after the first couple years of production. I have no problem with it if you decide to sell. The best offer is the one you have. You probably won’t get a better one from an investor.
Hello Mr. Nuttall,
My wife and I are in the process of serving Antero Resources Corporation with our complaint and summons but are not sure where to send it as we don’t want it kicked back for any reason. Do you know the notice of process address and the agent where it should be served?
I can’t get involved with this online. There are way too many questions I would need answers to before I could answer this questions correctly. If you want to call the office and discuss, the number is 304-473-1403.
Mr. Nuttall,
What a great resource you have provided through this message board! I hold a small percentage of a working interest in Doddridge County that my grandfather, a lawyer in San Angelo Tx, likely horse traded for legal services back in 1961. We have been offered by Antero $2000 per net mineral acre and 3.5% overriding interest. I have had some experiences in mineral rights in Texas in the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin, but never have I negotiated on a working interest. Any idea of what working interests are “assigned” for in that area per net acre and overriding interest? Assuming I could cash flow my portion of the working interest expenses could it be beneficial to stay all in and not assign my working interest to Antero, I do appreciate the risk involved.
Respectfully,
That’s the best offer I’ve seen for a working interest, but I think I’d work them up a little. They always have some room to negotiate. If they’re willing to make sure you don’t have any downside, like responsibility for drilling expenses and operating expenses, it’s something to look at. The trouble with a working interest is that you’re on the line for costs. Be careful, at the end of the life of the well, plugging costs could get bad.
My brother and I have been the lucky recipients of very, very minor quantities of acreage in West Virginia; one parcel of just a few square feet (but nonetheless an offer of $200 for the rights.)
Two questions
1) we just got our first royalty checks; $8K gross and about $5K net Significantly, 43% was “deducted.” Is that deduction the cost of transporting the energy from wellhead to market?
2) Are these mineral rights allowed to be passed on to heirs not related by blood?
By the way…. IF those are expenses from our draw then we should be able to deduct those, right?
I’m not sure what you mean by “our draw”.
Congratulations! I’m afraid I can’t even guess what the deductions were for. Even with the check stub it might be impossible to be sure what the deductions were for. There’s usually an entry for deductions, and some companies include an abbreviation that’s supposed to describe the deduction, but it’s often not clear what the abbreviation stands for. As to whether the minerals are allowed to be passed on to heirs not related by blood, yes. If your will gives the minerals to someone that’s not related by blood, or if you create a deed that transfers the rights to someone that’s not related by blood, then that’s who the mineral rights will go to. I hope that helps.
I received a “paid up oil and gas lease” for mineral rights inherited from my father who of course inherited from my grandmother. Murphy District, Ritchie County. I received 5.22266 net acres (1.5625%) of 334.25 total acres of the subject property. I’m sure the lease is in the best interest of the oil company, HG Energy. Royalty payments are “12.5% on the net amount computed at the wellhead” Of course net includes deduction of all post-production costs. The letter states “best and final lease offer” but then goes on to say that if I choose not to execute, then in accordance with the “Co-Tenancy Modernization and Majority Protection Act” I can elect for production royalty of 12.5% on the “gross proceeds received at the first point of sale” along with a lease bonus $1,044. No delay rental payment or other non-royalty mineral payment.
Is there a benefit to signing the lease or not, and/or selecting the cotenancy election for production royalty instead? Clearly, I know nothing about oil and mineral rights. Is it worth having a lawyer review for such a small percentage? Thanks!
I just have to point out that your last question, to a lawyer, was whether it is worth having a lawyer look at it. Of course the answer is going to be yes! But, here’s what I can tell you based off what you’ve told me. First, if you have 5+ acres in Ritchie County you should be getting more than $1000 to sign the lease. However, since you mentioned that it’s HG Energy that you’re dealing with I suspect that what you’re being asked to sign is not a new lease but a modification of an old lease. That’s mainly what HG has been doing for the last couple of years. In that case, $1000 to sign is a good deal. Modifications of old leases don’t pay the same amount that new leases do. Let’s proceed on the assumption that this is a modification. In that case, the 12.5% royalty is reasonable. You should try to ask for more (always ask for more) but don’t expect much change, if any, on the royalty. You can probably get them to agree to gross proceeds instead of net. Try hard for that. Also ask them to give you a No Warranty of Title clause and an Indemnification clause (a/k/a a Hold Harmless clause). Since they’re threatening to take you to co-tenancy, you could just let them do that. A co-tenancy modification should include gross proceeds, no warranty, and indemnification. Now, this is based of what you’ve told me and my experience with HG. I’d want to take a look at the actual documents you’ve received before I gave you any more advice, and I can’t promise that what I’ve told you is actually the best thing for your situation without getting eyes on the documents. If you want to get this looked at closely, call the office and set up an appointment. Good luck whatever you do, and as always, have fun!
Mr. Nuttall,
I am a mineral owner of 55 net acres in Grant District,Harrison County. The property was leased long ago and held by storage and a little production. I have been asked to sign a lease amendment and ratification. Are there any changes to the existing terms that I might reasonably be able to improve before signing? The royalty% is the minimum 1/8th,there is no term stated and no pooling protection for examples.
I have recently been receiving offers to buy the rights which leads me to think that a driller may be considering this area sooner rather than later. The offers are $2,000 to $2,500 per acre. Thank you for whatever insight you can offer.
You can sometimes get more bonus money out of them, and sometimes get a higher royalty. You can always get a No Warranty of Title clause and a Hold Harmless clause, both of which I recommend for liability purposes. There won’t be a term stated in the modification because the term is defined in the old lease. I would check the old lease and make sure it allows storage (it probably does, but it’s worth checking). There may be some other language in the modification that should be changed (EQT likes to say they’ll pay royalties using any method they want to calculate them, for example) but without reading the document I wouldn’t be able to say for sure. Those are decent offers to sell, but you can do better. If you’d like to sell you can negotiate for probably double what you’ve been offered. I recommend that if you’re in a stable financial situation you hold on to your minerals. Good luck and give us a call if you want any more help!
Thank you for the reply and good advice.
My brother and me are looking for property in WV. All the property we have been interested in the mineral rights are not available. How can we find out who owns the mineral rights and what is the likelihood of buying them back?
One parcel we are currently interested in is in West Union.
The mineral rights may not be available. If you go the the Office of Oil and Gas’ web site and look at the map you can see where many of the horizontal wells have been drilled. Compare where your property is to where the wells are. If there’s a well on or very near your property then the mineral rights have probably been leased up. Some of those people are willing to sell, but most probably aren’t. If there’s not a well then the mineral rights may be available. More of these people are likely to be interested in selling. You would have to do a title search specifically for the minerals, which would probably include some genealogical work. You’d then have to contact the owner(s) and convince them to sell. It’s going to be a lot of work.
We have 100% mineral rights on our land in Wirt County. Not in West Union. But there doesn’t seem to be much going on even though we are literally on the border of Wirt and Ritchie.
We are pretty much giving up on oil and gas. Probably sell property and rights.
Good luck on your search.
Yep. Not much going on in Wirt. If you can afford to hold on to the mineral rights I would do that. It’s a long term investment, and it’s speculative because you don’t know if anybody will ever actually develop the property, but if they do it’s definitely worth it.
My brother and myself have a very small plots of property in Wetzel County. At present, the rights are leased with http://www.tribuneresources.com/. My Aunt passed away in 2017. She was also leasing her rights through them. She had a will but apparently that did not satisfy Tribune Resources. They will not transfer the rights to my brother and I (we are the only surviving relatives) they are holding a pittance of money ($80) in suspense due to my Aunt’s passing. I’m done messing with Tribune. They have a copy of the will and my Aunt’s death certificate. I also offered to submit a notarized affidavit (from their web site) attesting to all of these facts. I just can’t see this dying on the vine and being that my brother and myself are the last members of the Parrish family, it’s a matter of principle that this property be passed onto us.
That’s unusual. Has Tribune given you a reason why they won’t accept you as her heirs and release funds to you?
This is what my contact wrote:
We are asking that the will be probated only for clarification purposes. We are unable to accept an Affidavit of Heirship to transfer the interest since we 1) know that the will exists, 2) know that it does not name you or your brother as a beneficiary and 3) know that it states that anyone contesting the will is automatically disinherited.
I did have a conversation with one of my colleagues about Roxie’s interest. We are both in agreement that this is the correct action to take and that the interest will remain in suspense until this issue is resolved.
Thanks,
Rachael Lopez
Division Order Analyst
Tribune Resources, LLC
3861 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, Suite 600
Lafayette, LA 70503
Owner Relations Phone: 337-769-4061
Owner Relations Fax: 337-769-4342
Owner Relations Email: ownerrelations@tribuneresources.com
A couple years ago my father passed away…in his will in (part A) it leaves to my sister any remaining real estate…(in part C) it leaves any intangible property to my brother, myself and my sister…recently we found out that my sister had signed leases with 2 different companies for the gas rights…but she also signed a statement saying she was sole heir to those gas rights…those gas rights are located in Doddridge County, WV…my question is…are the gas rights considered tangible or intangible property and if so then why in one district of Doddridge county was my brother and I listed as heirs to the gas rights as well as my sister…we have paid our taxes on that part but not listed as heirs in another district of Doddridge county nor have we ever been assessed taxes and neither has she…the first gas lease we are listed as heirs to…is 250 acres (more or less) in Grant District…the other 2 gas leases are for 21 acres and 93 acres (more or less) in McCllean District…
My brother and I are at a lose…we knew what my dad wanted…all three of us did…as well as a few other family members…we just want to get some perspective on this because we have several other family members who are involved in a couple of those leases and they have went back and did research on how the property was divided and who was heirs…
Thanks for any input you might have on this…
I don’t want to make a definitive statement about what you inherited without reading the will. I can say that oil and gas rights are real property, but a royalty-only rights personal property. As to why you have rights in one district and not another, you may have inherited rights from some other source. Again, it’s hard to say for sure without really digging in to the details. I’m sorry to not be able to be of more help in this situation, but your questions don’t have quick simple answers. It will probably take some title work to determine the source of your ownership and that’s a time consuming project (translate: expensive). If you’d like us to look into it, give the office a call and set up a time to talk with me. 304-473-1403.
Hello Mr Nuttall,
A year ago May my stepmother passed away in Oklahoma. My father died 11 years earlier and had left everything to my stepmom, which included oil and gas leases in Arkansas that dated back to my great mother. A few years before she died she suffered a stroke and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She ended up changing the will she and my dad had drawn up, removing me as executor and naming her great niece instead. Everything was now left to her except the leases , leaving them to myself and my sisters. I know this can take awhile to finalize, but we have been given the run around and multiple scenarios by both the paralegal and the niece as to what is being done with all the checks that have been coming in. My question is this, as executor does the niece have a legal right to this money after my step mother’s death, or can we take legal action if she has cashed any of the checks. We were told by the paralegal she could do 1 of 2 things:
1. Send back the checks with a letter to hold them until all was finalized.
2. Set up an account and deposit them , turning all money over to us after all was finalized.
I won’t be able to help you with that. It’s all going to depend on state law, either Oklahoma or Arkansas. I’m not licensed in either state. I hate to be of no help. Sorry, and good luck!
Hey , Good Morning. My sister and I inherited about 500 acres in Randolph County about 6 years ago, over around the Harman WV area from our grandparents. There had been a well drilled 30+ years ago which produced very well but was then capped. The property was still leased out for many years after that by other companies. The most recent one ended in 2011 I believe. Is there anyway for us to lease out the mineral rights again? Should we be making phone calls and if so to who, or should we get your office involved? Thanks for any insight you might provide.
I haven’t heard of any company doing any serious drilling in Randolph County for about ten years. My how time flies. You should make sure to get a release of that old lease that you can file at the courthouse so that if Randolph County property becomes interesting again you can quickly show that your property is free and clear of oil and gas leases. Call the last company you know of that had a lease on your property and ask them for it. If they hem and haw about it, then you can get us involved.
My sister and I are now the last of 7 siblings in our family. In 2008, the living siblings signed a lease with Jay Bee Production Co. for them to access 62 4/11 Ac tract in McElroy District, Tyler County, West Virginia.
We received a few small annual payments ($15 was the most) and the last payment I have record of is 2016.
I live in Ohio and go to WV for a family reunion in May and to visit a few times a year. We stopped at the Courthouse In Cairo a couple of years ago and asked about Jay Bee and where it was located. My sister was reluctant to go any farther.
I am aware that quite a few people in Nelsonville, OH, were cheated out of a lot of money several years ago until a young attorney from the area decided to look into it. After that was fully investigated, several people that were barely making it, on Medicaid, etc. were suddenly much wealthier than they ever dreamed they would be. I was told in confidence about a family in WV that received several hundred thousand dollars after a similar situation occurred. That family is now receiving a substantial annual payment and they have an attorney and appointed family member taking care of that.
Would you look into our family situation if I sent you a copy of the lease we signed? Our family has gone through some rough personal issues the past few years as we have lost two sisters and three brothers.
Any consideration of this request would be appreciated.
I have just been approached by Mar-Key. They are interested in leasing 3.14 acre lot for pooled marcellus well. They offered 1000.00 an acre lease and royalty of 12%. They also want a 10 year lease with right to extend. I asked for more royalty, one-man said the could possibly go to 15%. I also asked for lease to specify Marcellus only and no surface rights. I have no experience with these, any help would be appreciated
Hi Tina. Depending on where your property is, you can probably get them up to $1500/acre and 15% royalty. However, Mar-Key is pretty stingy. They might do funky things like say they’ll pay $1000/acre and 15% or $1500/acre and 12.5%. Push them hard for $1500/acre and 15%. Also make sure they give you gross proceeds. Also make sure to limit your liability by getting No Warranty of Title clause and an Indemnification clause. If you’d like some specific help with your lease, give the office a call and set up an appointment with an associate.
My deceased husband has a very, very small parcel the f oil and gas rights I Kanawha county. I live in Fl., how to I go about changing them into my name.
The simplest method is to have the County do a land book transfer. Call them up and they’ll help you out. If they don’t think that’s appropriate for your situation, you may have to get his will recorded, or open an ancillary probate. An affidavit of heirship may also be appropriate. Good luck, and if you need our help give us a call.
I am interested in leaseing my mineral rights in taylor county wv
I think Arsenal is taking a few leases in that area. EQT also was taking leases there for a while, but it’s been a long time since I’ve talked with anybody about a lease in Taylor County. Good luck.
Hello Mr. Nuttall, I spoke with your office earlier in the week, and they noted some information. We have a ongoing situation with a recent lease, 2018, encompassing 49 acres in Grant District, Wetzel County, West Virginia, and a part of Marion County. This lease is between a number of my family members and this EQT, who, I am sure you are aware of their deception, and a Class Action lawsuit has been recently filed for not paying royalties. This “Amendment” to a lease was dated from 1970, and this lease has been recently recorded in the Lease Book. I feel that we need a review of this lease, as there are a number of questions. It appears that, “they are no longer able to deduct these extraneous fees”, with the onset of this July suit I understand that we will only receive one-eighth of the net proceeds, etc., and unfortunately we do not have access to their API number, where information could be tracked through the Environmental Protection Agency, etc. They pushed a number of us to sign this lease, and I am wondering if you are aware of the “actual minerals found there” or if in fact, we occupy the Manshella Shale, all of this is very questionable?!! Could you please respond to the above. I have also requested a copy of the 1970 lease. They apparently have mailed “my bonus check”, and I don’t know if I should cash this check, as we may wish to “re-negotiate” this lease. Would that still be possible, although all the heirs have previously signed? I am very concerned as to the content of this lease, and would be happy to hear from you! Thank you for your assistance and expertise! P.
Without looking at the actual lease I won’t be able to give an accurate opinion about most of this. I am aware of the lawsuit with EQT. I’ve reviewed the settlement papers for another client. Which option to pick really depends on your particular situation. You are correct to think that knowing the production numbers from the well(s) on your property would be useful. Your mineral rights should include the Marcellus Shale. It would be unusual for the Marcellus to be excluded from your ownership. Once you have a copy of the lease you can email a copy to the office and we can review it and the entire situation together.
I sold mineral rights in Tyler County in 2017 which I acquired through inheritance in 1996. I am trying to establish the value of a net mineral acre in 1996. The difference in my taxes will not be enough to pay a legal fee but would like to get it right. Any advice?
The value of minerals is a pretty difficult thing to determine. However, there are at least two acceptable methods that I’m aware of. One is to determine what the royalty payments over two to three years would have been. The other is to determine what the mineral acre would have sold for in 1996. I wasn’t working in oil and gas in 1996, so I won’t be a whole lot of help there. To determine the possible royalty revenue that year you could spend some time looking at historic numbers for gas prices, and at historic numbers for production from wells in the area. Historic gas prices will be easy to Google. Historic well production in the area can be found at the West Virginia Office of Oil and Gas’ web site, and the WVGES website. Good luck, and call the office if you decide you need help.
Thank you – exactly what I needed!
My family has had 3 such “transactions” regarding mineral rights from both Antero and EQT. Our immediate problem is EQT. Almost two years ago we were notified that drilling had been taking place on 4 tracts. “please provide SSN, sign forms..etc..etc.”. Other statements included “Royalty Checks will be dispersed in June (2017)”, “just waiting for this one other person to sign…”, “the first check will be bigger than the rest”… We have LITERALLY been promised royalties for over a year now. Even to this date – 16 months after being promised royalties..we not received a nickel.
When I reach out to EQT and they don’t have an answer as to “when” dispersements will be made. Is it normal to take this long? Calls to EQT go to associates who just say “we don’t know”. I know something is rotten in Denmark. Have you ever heard of such a problem? What do you think?
I’ve heard similar stories before. The company is waiting for one person to fill out and send back the paperwork that you already sent back. It’s not right for the company to make you wait for your money, especially since they won’t be including interest payments. You’ve done everything you need to, your contract is good, but the company is making you wait because someone else isn’t working with them. It’s not right, and not fair. The only real consideration for you is whether you have a large enough interest in the mineral rights to make it worth your time to hire a lawyer. Of course you should send them a couple of certified letters first, demanding payment, that way you can show bad faith on their part.
Hello, I was contacted about a mineral lease that has been passed down in my family. We had been leasing the mineral rights and a few years ago I was one of the heirs when my grandmother passed. A few years ago we thought we sold these acres but have now been contacted about 12 acres that somehow were not part of that sale. We were offered something that came down to about $600 an acre. It looks like some of the family wants to sell but I am curious to the value of the land now. It is in Taylor County. Would it be better to hold onto it. I would even be interested in if I should by them out for their portion since they wish to sell. Any advice would be appreciated.
We have both a Taylor and a Tyler county here in WV. If that property is in Taylor, there’s not a whole lot going on in the way of development and getting an offer for property there is a good thing. You can always negotiate for more, though. If it’s in Tyler, that’s a serious low ball offer. You could lease for $3K-$4K per acre in Tyler, and a sale should be considerably more.
My husband and I have property in Eastern Kentucky in Perry County. We have three oil wells and one natural gas.It was previously owned by Journey Operating Company but was acquired by Jetta Company. When a new company takes over should the contract be renegotiated? My Grandmother-in-law signed a 100 year contract about 50 years with an X as her signature and new very little about what she was signing. We get very little royalties and are looking for a way to renegotiate.
Hi Shari. I don’t work in Kentucky, unfortunately. There may be some law about production in paying quantities over in Kentucky, or there may not. I just don’t know. There may be some other ways of getting out of a lease. If you’ll call the office we can try to track down some lawyers over there who help out mineral owners and put you in touch. 304-473-1403.
My family recently was contacted by a representative of an oil company to lease 109 ac. in the Marcellus/Utica in Wetzel County, WV. How long does the oil company have to get all family members to sign the lease and when is the lease bonus paid?
Good question. They could take years to get everyone to sign. They could even have some of the first leases expire before they get everybody signed up. Every person’s interest is a separate real property interest, and has to be dealt with as a separate interest. The bonus for any given lease will be paid according to the terms of that lease. One person could agree to wait until everyone has been signed (bad idea, by the way) and another person could push the company to pay within a couple weeks of signing.
Hello. I have received an oil and gas lease from Northeast Natural Energy for mineral rights owned by my great grandmother. There are several heirs involved. Gross acreage is 21.285. My net acreage is 0.09. The offer is for 1000.00 flat. Interest is 0.004. This is in Monongalua County. Is this a good offer? Any advice is appreciated.
That’s a good offer. If they started out offering $1000 they’ll probably go up. Ask them for $2000. Make sure you get an 18% royalty, gross proceeds. Good luck!
Kyle – I practiced oil & gas law in Mississippi for many years before leaving law practice years ago to pursue other things. My father-in-law and his siblings own a substantial interest in 2 or 3 different tracts in Marshall County, West Virginia. As to one of those tracts, there have been questions raised about the language used to reserve minerals in a 1907 deed which could affect the amount and nature of that interest. I have recommended they talk with you about that title issue because it has the potential to increase the amount of their interest and change their gas royalty interest from non-participating to participating. Suffice it to say, for now, that those questions have apparently been resolved in the family’s favor – at least partially – as they are being paid on a lease originally granted to Tug Hill on the tract that has the title concerns. That lease was apparently assigned by Tug Hill because the operator and payor is now EQT. The Tug Hill lease had a gross proceeds clause. EQT is deducting post-production costs. I have tried to interpret the WV Supreme Court’s opinions in the Leggett case to determine if EQT is justified in making the deductions, but I can’t glean anything definitive from the latest opinion. Where do you think this issue stands? By the way, EQT has deducted these expenses from the beginning of their operatorship back in 2016, so it does not appear that the previous Leggett decision or the latest one had any bearing on their decision to make the deduction. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
EQT will deduct post-production costs until they are forced not to. The Leggett decision applies to old flat rate royalty leases only. If the lease with Tug Hill is as you say then EQT shouldn’t be taking deductions. However, the Leggett decision seems to indicate that the West Virginia Supreme Court might look favorably on a challenge from the companies on the questions of whether a lease allows a company to deduct post-production costs. It might be wise to wait for a change in the judges before taking a case like that to court.
Kyle,
We supposedly are going to be offered $5,500-$6,000 p/a and 20%-no post for a Marcellus lease. This lease would also lock in the company to drill in the Utica within 5 years of tapping the Marcellus. Personally I would like to sell the rights of both plays instead of leasing. Lower taxes-no wait-gas markets. Why are companies reluctant to purchase instead of leasing?
I’m surprised that the company you are dealing with won’t buy. I’ve sold mineral rights to most of the companies that are leasing in the area. Those are excellent prices, by the way. And good job getting them to promise to drill to the Utica after drilling the Marcellus. Let us know if you’d like some help making sure the lease terms are as favorable as the prices you’ve negotiated.
Re: selling
Do you think it is reasonable to ask $6,000 per acre for each individual play? As I stated earlier, I would rather sell than take the risk…I’m not 25 anymore 😉
We received a lease offer from EQT for approximately 59 acres in Wetzel county about a month ago. I felt the offer was incredibly low. My mom presented everything to our attorney to review. He’s still looking over everything. They are offering just over $440 per acre and 1/8th for royalties. That just seems like a ridiculously low offer. What advice should I give to my mom? Should she accept that if the attorney says it’s good? She’s been asking for my help with this. Thanks so much for any advice.
$440/acre is exceptionally low for a lease offer in Wetzel County right now. That’s also a very unusual number for a lease offer. It’s possible that you’ve been offered a modification, amendment, or ratification of an old lease. If it’s for a lease, those numbers are really low. If it’s for a modification, those are reasonable. It’s also possible that you have a very small net mineral interest and that’s what the bonus amount is going to be based off a calculation at several thousand dollars per acre. Good luck, and call the office if you decide you want more help. 304-473-1403.
We were just contacted this week that my great great grandparents have 103 acre tracts in Monongalia County, WV that we will be inheriting. I know NOTHING about this stuff so I have been researching. I have no clue what the word “tracts” even mean??? I have read your above questions and answers and am seeing that we could possibly “lease” them for $6,000 an acre with 18% royalty? Is this true? So is that like they are renting the tracts to drill on and if they find anything we get 18% of the money they get from it? Is leasing much better than selling? This is all so confusing and frustrating trying to figure all this out. I do not want to make any hasty decisions and get screwed in the process! Please Help! Thanks so much in advance!
You have a lot to learn at this point, and I can’t possibly cover it all in a response to your comment. However, a tract is just a portion of land. You probably only are inheriting a small share of the 103 acre tract, but that’s better than nothing. Leasing is usually preferable to selling as you’ll usually get more money out of it in the long run, but you might decide to sell after thinking all the factors over. $6000/acre in Monongalia County is high, but could happen in a best case scenario. 18% royalty is pretty common for a negotiated lease; most offers start at 12.5%. Good luck. Keep reading and studying. Mineral ownership can be a lot of fun, and a lot of work. When you get a lease offer or if you just want to talk your situation over with someone that can give you answers to your specific questions, give the office a call at 304-473-1403.
I signed a five year lease with Antero Resources Appalachian Corporation in May 2012 for a $2500/acre bonus and an 18% royalty on 8.368 acres of land in the Tenmile District of Harrison County, WV.
Antero recently contacted me regarding their wish to renew the lease for an additional five year term with a $1000/acre bonus and a 16% royalty.
They are willing to honor an 18% royalty if that’s the only way I will sign, but they are not flexible on the bonus.
I understand oil and gas industry activity has been slow to non-existent in the area for quite some time. I’m unsure if I should proceed with signing a new lease under the proposed terms.
I think I would hold out by just not contacting them back for a while. $1000/acre is ridiculously low for that part of Harrison County. The numbers you signed for in 2012 are actually the same numbers I would push for in 2017. In fact, I think I would push for $3000/acre. If the property isn’t worth it, let them give you a good explanation as to why. It’s not the market right now. The market is healthy. The price of gas is a just a touch lower than it was in 2012, but more along the lines of 5% to 10%, not 60%.
I requested a $3000/acre bonus with an 18% royalty on 05/08/2017.
A representative from Antero replied today with the same offer as first made earlier this year, $1000/acre bonus with a 16% royalty.
I asked why the offer was so low for the area. She said the industry isn’t doing the business it did in 2012; she mentioned nothing about the property. (Exxon drilled on the property years ago).
I also asked why the royalty percentage wasn’t higher. I told her I don’t have a lot of incentive to sign at this point. She placed the call on hold to check with a higher authority.
When the call resumed, she reiterated the 16% royalty as their best offer.
She asked me if I was interested or if she should take my name off the “calling list”. I told her I would not make a decision without consulting others.
It seems strange. She left a voicemail message in late April/early May with an offer to negotiate the bonus.
Hi kyle, We are trying to work out oil and gas lease county. Getting a lot of pressure to hurry of course. They would not rewrite the lease, we now have a new addendum and payment page 2000.00 bonus with the following 1. No coalbed methane, only oil and gas. Can they take other minerals with the above language? he says no. 2. Royalty Payment Without Deduction: for all volumes of oil and natural gas and natural gas constituents produced and sold 18% royalty of the first of the month index price for natural gas applicable to the interstate pipelines. Lessor will not be charged for any production or post-production charges by lessee. We ask for gross proceeds and he said that is what “All Volumes” means, is this true? They did not sign lease yet so is the addendum legal when it says Conflict of terms- addendum shall be controlling? or should we write on the lease(is legal to write on the lease) where they sign ” Contract is subject to the terms of the addendum” or is this the same thing? We also have the Indemnity, audit and No warranty clause.
You’ve done a good job of getting some good language in your lease. The royalty language should do the trick of getting you gross proceeds. A typical oil and gas lease will not allow for the production of other minerals, such as coal. With the coal bed methane exception the lease should be limited the way you describe it. Good job getting the Indemnity, No Warranty, and Audit clauses. Obviously I’m not going to tell you that you have a great lease, I’d want to actually read the whole thing first. But it looks like you’ve gotten some good improvements made to it on your own.
Hi
I was wondering if anyone is leasing in Lincoln County WV and if so what the leasing fees/bonus might be per acre.
Companies that lease back in 2007-2008 have mostly left the area when they paid 1,000$/acre or more. Marcellus shale production in the area isnt so good.
There’s a little bit going on in Lincoln County. It’s been months since I last talked with someone who had a lease offer there, and it had been years before that. Frankly, I don’t remember any of the names at this point. I’d be surprised if you got an offer for more than $100-$250/acre right now. Anyone I talk to in that area I recommend they wait until the Rogersville shale becomes a hot play. That could be years.
Yes I received a letter out of the blue. I had no idea about mineral rights.
Antero says 99.421 gross acreage, .00863 net mineral acres in Mountain, Ritchie Co.. They want to give me a $100.00 sign in bonus then if Antero places the property into a pooled unit I then will receive royalty of15%. I live in Ohio and have no idea what to do. There are other family members involved but I dont know them.
That’s an awfully small net mineral interest. However, you still have some negotiating leverage because the company has to get a lease from all the mineral owners it can find before it can get a drilling permit. Ask them for $500 and 18% with no post-production costs. Also as for a No Warranty of Title clause and for an Indemnification clause. Just as a heads up, you probably will never receive much of anything in the way of royalties because your interest is so small. The signing bonus should be the main focus of any negotiating you do.
Thank you sooo much! See what I can do with my pea size of my NMI.
Sandra Fugett
Hello, any idea on what is current value for minerals in Ritchie County, Murphy District these days? Have 20 acres to play with.
You can probably negotiate the bonus up north of $3000/acre and the royalty up to 18%. If you’re good, maybe even a little better. Don’t forget about post-production costs, indemnification, no warranty, a Pugh clause, and other such things. Good luck, and let us know if we can help you negotiate for a better deal.
Mr. Nuttall,
I have been contacted by Antero regarding a WI that I inherited. The property is located in Ritchie Co and is held by shallow production dating back to the 60’s. I spoke with a landman at Antero and inquired about force pooling statutes in West Virginia. He told me that there were no such laws in the state. I just saw some reference to force pooling on your blog posts, but could not tell if it was state wide or still under litigation. Can you clarify?
I have 25 years of oil and gas exploration experience, but all in OK, TX, and AR.
Thanks!
There is forced pooling in West Virginia, but only for deep formations. Deep is defined in West Virginia as anything below the Marcellus, essentially. For Marcellus and up, there is no forced pooling. That could change during the next legislative session.
There are some other legal ways of acquiring your working interest, but don’t worry about them until they actually start threatening. In the meantime you can negotiate with them and see if you can get some decent money for your interest. The other option is to keep the working interest and either invest in the well(s) they’re going to build or become a carried working interest owner.
Hello, my sister and I own about one acre in Doddridge Co. WV. wells on the lease have been producing since 2014 and maybe some 2013..we have not received Division Orders from Antero..called a few times..not a lot..emailed a few times..hard to get a response..we were wondering if it is time to get an attorney involved..Thank you..
Yes, getting an attorney involved can definitely make a difference. Something about those letters J.D. behind your name really get companies to pay attention. Give the office a call and let’s see if there’s something we can do to help.
Mr. Nuttall
I have some property in Harrison County and have been in dispute over pipeline and roadway. The agreements were signed by my dad and siblings, he then passed and throughout a few years I bought and inherited some of the land and minerals. I have a right of way agreement and temporary roadway agreement signed to all original owners. The company states the temporary road agreement is now permanent. No documents exist or can be produced by company. Their lawyers claim it was used in the beginning of construction and remains the same even though the right of way agreement states an exhibit showing proposed road and pipeline. Temporary agreement clearly states until work is complete. This work was done in 2010 and they had to come back several times, once because 20inch live pipe only had 2 inches of dirt over it. I want them to stop using road and fix/compensate for problems. What do I do and do I have something legitimate.
That sounds like a legitimate complaint. It actually surprises me how often companies lose the documents they rely on the operate legally. Give the office a call at 304-473-1403 and set up an appointment to talk with someone about the details. Without the documents they claim to be working under, it will be necessary to rely on what you have. If it isn’t written down, it never happened.
My sister and I are the only living siblings / descendants of our father who was the heir to 62 4/11 acres, more or less in Tyler County WV. We each signed a lease with Jay-Bee Production Company in September 2008. We have received $15 checks annually and one year we received two small checks.
I have recently met and spoken with a person whose family also owns property in Tyler County and their family has received several large checks annually and their attorney is now advising them to renegotiate the agreement. I’ve read and heard that sometimes people are not receiving what they actually have coming to them, or can hire an attorney to look into their situation to see if any changes are feasible whereby the deal can be renegotiated or a buy out would be advisable, etc.. You name was mentioned and I decided to use the internet and found this informative thread. I live in OH and my sister lives in WV.
Whether a lease can be renegotiated is really dependent on what’s already in the lease and whether payments have been made. Send us a copy and we’ll let you know if it’s something that’s possible. Just as a word of warning, in most situations you won’t be able to renegotiate the lease. As long as the company is keeping up their end of the bargain, the lease is going to stay the way it is.
I have inherited 155 acres in Wood County WV near Williamstown, just across the Ohio River from Marietta, Oh. I am looking to sell the mineral rights. Who should I call for an estimate?
If you decide that you do want to sell, a quick Google search for “sell oil and gas” or “sell marcellus shale” or “sell utica shale” or “sell west virginia oil and gas” will help you find someone. I hate to recommend any one company because they vary wildly in the price they will give, and that price varies from location to location. Some companies won’t even be interested in Wood County, some companies may be focused on Wood County. Their focus changes periodically, too. Once you have decided which company you want to work with, give us a call and we’ll help you with the Purchase and Sales agreement, the deed, and act as the escrow agent.
Mr. Nuttall,
If I don’t know how I inherited the mineral rights in Ritchie and Tyler, can I still effectively request a quit claim deed to transfer my ownership into my newly set up living trust? I’ve never seen any royalty deeds or division orders, but one day we found out an affadavit of heirship was filed, lease agreements showed up, asked questions, sought advice, felt comfortable signing them, bonus checks arrived. But I don’t have any instruments to show I own anything. Does this all mean, someone else did all this so they could file a QCD?
If there is an Affidavit of Heirship and you’ve signed leases then the most difficult parts of putting together a deed have already been taken care of. You can use the Affidavit as a back reference, and the lease will list the Tax Map and Parcel Number. Now you just need someone to draft up a deed for you. Call the office at 304-473-1403 if you would like one done for you.
My family has a lot of mineral rights scattered across Ritchie and Tyler counties. Many are leased by Antero. A few new wells have been drilled in 2014. In mid 2015 we received a letter from Nobel and CNX that a title was being challenged. No details were shared with us. The royalties have been suspended and held by them until it is researched and settled. Do we need a lawyer to protect our interests? My uncle says Noble has all the lawyers to do the research. I am not so sure.
Noble does have the lawyers and the landmen to do the research. However, if the title is being challenged you should try to find out if they are challenging it in court. While you should get served with notice if a court proceeding is filed, it’s quite possible that mistakes could be made and you could not receive service. If you are not served you won’t be able to show up for court and that will result in a summary judgment against you, you’ll lose your ownership in the minerals. If it’s only being reviewed by the company you should find out who’s in charge of the research and keep in contact with them periodically. Be nice to that person and if there’s a close call on the interpretation of a document, they may interpret it in your favor. If they give you a hard time through the process we’ll be glad to help out. Give the office a call at 304-473-1403.
Mr. Nuttall: My parents own mineral rights to 251 acres in Monongalia County. It was originally leased by Cheseapeake. The lease expires in May 2916. My parents have been contacted and asked to sell. The gentleman that they have spoken with said they only pay for net acres. What exactly does that mean and why?
Thank you.
I meant to say May 2016….sorry for the error.
In regard to calling and asking my parents if they want to sell they are offering $4000 per net acre – is this a fair offer?
Thank you.
Mr. Eddy, net acres means how much you actually own. Gross acres is the size of the tract. For some situations this number will be the same, but for many situations in WV this number is not the same. Many people own a share of a tract that they inherited from great-grandpa. His 78 acre farm was divided up among his heirs, and then each of their heirs, and so on down the line to the present day. The result is that the 78 acre tract (gross acres) is owned by people who have a 1/78 (1 acre, their net acreage) interest. You mentioned that you’ve been offered $4000/acre. I don’t think that’s a good offer, but it depends on your situation. I think over time the amount of gas that comes out of the ground will pay back a lot more than $4000/acre. I think people should be asking $8,000-$10,000 per acre and more, but it’s hard to find a company that will pay that. So the real question to ask is, “do I need this money now or should I wait?” I wrote a post a while back that goes into some depth about making the decision whether to sell or not. Enjoy! If you do decide to sell, call the office and we’ll act as the broker to make sure you don’t get taken advantage of. 304-473-1403.
My siblings and I hold mineral rights to about 25% of a 148 acre property in Wetzel County. We recently negotiated a lease that included an upfront $3500/acre payment, withholding rights to Utica. The drilling company is offering an additional $1000/ acre for access to Utica. They tell us that the rights holders of the other 75% did not reserve Utica. Is this a reasonable offer? Also, if we decline, would they likely have any recourse to force action?
That’s an OK offer, but I’d definitely try to get more. The Utica is far more interesting than the Marcellus to the oil and gas companies right now. Tell them you want more for the Utica than you got for the Marcellus and see what they say. They can force pool you for the Utica, so that’s something to consider. If you are pushing them too hard they may just decide to go the force pool route. You’ll have to feel out the landman to know that one. If you already have a good relationship with the landman you’ll be able to tell when they start to change their minds about leasing. Good luck, and if you’d like us to help with negotiations or to negotiate for you, we can do that. It is what we do, after all. You might just want to have us go over the lease for you to make sure there isn’t anything you missed in the first negotiation. Have fun, whatever you do!
Forced pooling? Are you referencing Judge David W. Hummel, Jr.’s ruling on American Energy v. Mary Jane Templeton Poling and only in his jurisdiction? If so, Is this case being appealed?
Is this the reason lessees don’t seem to be so reluctant to provide depth clauses?.. Cause they beleive this stance will be upheld? Interesting topic.. Thanks
Yes, this is American Energy v. Poling. It’s binding in Judge Hummel’s jurisdiction, and persuasive in other WV jurisdictions. It hasn’t been looked at by the WV Supreme Court yet. I haven’t heard whether it has been appealed yet, but I’d be shocked if it wasn’t. I haven’t seen less reluctance on the part of lessees to provide depth clauses yet. I fully expect some companies to stop taking modifications for pooling because of this. Hasn’t stopped EQT, as they are aware of the ruling and are still taking modifications for pooling purposes. I’ll let everyone know what I find out as information makes it to me.
Thanks. I enjoy reading your blog.
The depth clause – could it also be the deep well force pool in WV? And of course even it becomes mute, lessors don’t want to give up anything. Status of these issues seem to very dynamic. Hopefully these new rullings are not retroactive. .
Mr. Nuttall,
Are there any legal filings required as a royalty owner as a result of Magnum Hunter’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy? I have been receiving legal paperwork, but it doesn’t appear anything is required. It looks as though the Judge has allowed them to continue making royalty payments while in BK proceedings, and we have in fact received a small royalty in January for land in Ritchie/Tyler Counties (which we have not cashed). Is representation necessary, or will this play out that Magnum Hunter will either make royalty payments as required or forfeit their right to the lease agreement? Thanks
I’ve taken the time to talk with an attorney who does bankruptcy law and while I can’t say I’m an expert in bankruptcy it appears that there’s not much you can or need to do. If they stop making payments to you then you can have the lease declared forfeit. If there’s language in the lease that deals with that then follow the lease. If not, WV law says that after two years of no production and no payments the lease is presumed to be forfeit.
Mr. Nuttall:
My mother is heir to a 1/16 working interest in an oil and gas lease on 247 acres in Doddridge County, WV. An attorney representing Antero Resources Corp. forwarded to her an “Agreement and Assignment” which they are requesting she sign and return to them. They have offered to send her a one-time payment of $250 for signing and returning the document by 2/9/16 (a deadline date which has passed.) The “Agreement and Assignment” appears to provide that my mother would essentially quitclaim any interest she has in the lease for $1.00. Their cover letter states that her failure to accept their one-time offer will result in Antero filing a civil action to have the working interest deemed abandoned or terminated. My mother is elderly, so I am making this inquiry on her behalf. We are in the state of Tennessee and have zero knowledge of the oil and gas industry. I would like to find out if it would be in her best interest to hire an attorney. Any information or advice you have would be greatly appreciated.
Where working interests are involved I tend to recommend that people just go ahead and sell. Of course, always ask for more than they are offering. In this case I’d ask them for $5000 and see if they laugh in your face. The reason I recommend that you sell is that when you have a working interest you are a partner in the well. You don’t own the typical 1/8 royalty, you own the 7/8 of the oil and gas that was transferred by the lease in exchange for a bonus payment, some royalties down the line, and your promise to drill a well. As a partner you’ll be expected to pony up your share of the drilling costs, which could be considerable. A typical Marcellus shale horizontal costs between $6 million and $10 million to drill. Even a 1/640th interest in that lease could be a large dollar figure. On the other hand, you could become a carried working interest, in which case the driller ponies up for all the drilling costs and once those costs have been recouped times two (I think that’s the law in WV, but don’t quote me on that — I don’t see these terribly often, call me if you want me to do some research for you on it) then they’ll start paying you your share of the royalties. Depending on the size of your interest it could be pretty nice. However, as a partner, things become more complicated. I recommend that unless you are already extremely familiar with the oil patch or you badly want to spend the next year of your life getting a really good education into it, just sell. Call the office if you’d like to discuss it some more.
I have what I believe to be a unique situation regarding property in Ritchie County WV. The will reads: 2. “the right to receive a certain gas rental check on xxxx from the xxx Company, and I also give, devise and bequeath unto xxxxx whatever mineral rights said check represents.” 3. “all of my interest in a certain oil and gas lease on xxxx subject to the bequest to xxx(person named in 2.). hereinabove set out in Paragraph Second”. The persons named in 2 and 3 are different people. The property named in both 2 and 3 is the same. Who owns the mineral rights?
Wow. You’re correct that you have a unique situation. Somebody got way too complicated and didn’t explain themselves well.
My initial thought is that both 2. and 3. only transfer an interest in the royalties, but I’d want to take a look at the full deed, the lease, any subsequent deeds and leases, maybe some previous deeds and leases in the chain of title, and do some research to see if courts had dealt with similar language in the past.
The person that wrote this deed, or that had the deed written, wouldn’t just happen to be alive would they?
Of course not! Son owns the practice but is not willing to search for information with being paid, which I do understand.
You probably ought to have your son take a long look at that will and any notes that might still exist from the file. That could go a long way toward figuring out what the will intended.
I have a 1/6th interest in mineral rights on 54 acres in Marshall County. I have received a 5 year lease bonus offer $3,000 per acre with 16% royalty on oil and gas, after post production costs. In light of declining oil and gas prices, is this a reasonable offer.
That’s not a bad offer, but keep in mind that their first offer is never the best they can do. Always ask for more. Also, make sure that you get a couple of protections built in to the lease. No Warranty of Title and an Indemnification clause are two absolute basic things you should request. If you’d like a little more in-depth help, call the office and set up an appointment. We can help you know what you’re getting into. 304-473-1403.
my father has 1/14 minerals on 302 acres in Tyler county. He currently has a lease in effect and signed what I believe was a division order, but has not seen a royalty check yet. He was recently contact by Appalachian Resources to buy “one hundred percent (100%) of Seller’s right, title, and interest, in the Property” for $75,000. Further down in the contract it reads…”undivided one fourteenth (1/14) interest in 302.74 gross acres…”. I’m confused about what this company is wanting to buy, and should we be selling?
First, a little math. Your father owns 1/14 of 302 acres, or about 21.5 acres. The 302 acres is what’s called the “gross acreage” and the 21.5 acres is what’s called the “net acreage”. He’s been offered about $3,500 per acre to sell. That’s not too bad for a property that’s already leased. However, the more important consideration is whether you need money now or not. If not, I generally recommend you hold onto the property. Here are two articles you should read before making the decision. If you decide to sell, call the office at 304-473-1403 and we can help you negotiate with and close the deal with the company.
My brother and I own a 1/60th interest in the mineral rights under 50.25 acres of land in Doddridge Co., along with several other tracts this being the smallest. Every so often we received checks from different O&G companies for production from various vertical wells that are on these leases. In 2013, we signed a lease modification on this tract. Lately, I have been locating and mapping out these various mineral tracts and a company that we have been receiving payments from does have a well on this tract. The problem is they have never paid any royalties to us or our family on this interest since the well was drilled in 1980, thus invalidating the lease we had on this tract. The monies they have been paying us was for a well on another tract.
The company we signed the modification with has drilled 6 wells covering 3 units through this tract. The modification clearly states that it is to amend and include certain additional terms to the original lease and that all of its provisions are binding.
So now we have 7 wells on this tract an no valid lease agreement on any of them.
What do you suggest we do?
That’s an interesting situation you have. Without looking at the modification I wouldn’t be able to say for sure that the old lease has expired. If the old lease has expired there are certainly some royalties due to you, however, those royalties may not amount to much. I’d have to see the production numbers from the vertical wells to know for sure. Give the office a call at 304-473-1403 and we’ll take a look at it.
My sister and I are waiting for a $6,000 check from Plains Marketing. At the same time. The company that has been in charge of the oil well wants $6,665 for operation costs. When we asked for a certified accounting of expenses associated with our oil well. We received what looks like an Office Depot carbonless hand written invoice. Just a few months ago. The operations company said we owed $800 and once we paid that. Plains Marketing would send us the remaining funds. During that time. Plains Marketing mistakenly sent our check to the operations company. Two weeks later, we receive a bill for $6665. We are one of thirty-two owners. My deceased dad owned this interest since the 80’s. As his heirs seems like just another oil well interest scam. Thanks for any help Mr. Nuttall.
It sounds like you own a working interest in the well. You probably will be in this situation until gas prices increase. However, if you own a royalty interest then there is something really strange going on.
We have been approached by Statoil to purchase 2 1/2 acres of our property for a drilling pad. We are just the surface owners. They have offered 5,000 per acre. Is this a reasonable price, and what happened if we just decide not to sign a lease agreement, would they still be allowed to use our property?
That’s not a bad offer, but it’s certainly not a good one. I wouldn’t settle for less than $10,000 per acre, and I’d want it to be a temporary easement instead of a sale. I would also want some detailed restrictions regarding dust, noise, and water. I would also want them to spell out exactly what they will do if they breach the contract in some way. If you have fences or gates that will be affected, make sure they explain in the contract what they are going to do to repair/replace them if they even touch them. If there is good timber, set a price for it and mark a location on a plat where they can put the timber. If you have fishing or hunting on the property, make sure the agreement shows that they will not be hunting or fishing. Basically, if there’s something that can go wrong it will, and it needs to be dealt with in the contract.
I own 25% of the royalty on a 77 acre tract in Rithie Co. on the Gilmer Co. line. I was recently offered 62,000. to sell what he called my 19 acre share of the rights. Just wondered if this is a fair price?
That’s a total of $3,200/acre to sell in Ritchie. That’s not bad, but it’s not great either. I think you can do a lot better than that if you’re willing to wait a while. The usual decision to be made here is whether you really need money now or whether you can afford to hold on to a long-term speculative investment. If you’re not sure about what would work best for you, give the office a call at 304-473-1403 and we’ll discuss it with you at no charge.
My father is deceased and so isn’t my mother. My father remarried
and had mineral rights in tyler county wv. Evidently my stepmother has
been receiving royalties and has not informed the gas company of his
death. In addition I learned the taxes for the mineral rights still in my
mother and fathers name had gone unpaid by her for years. I redeemed
the rights, does she still have legal rights to the mineral rights.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
Redeeming the rights just reinstates the ownership to the person who was not paying the minerals. You haven’t bought the minerals for yourself. It seems from the way you worded your question that you suspected that might be the case. As to receiving the royalties, your step-mother may have a right to that. It would depend on what your father’s will said (if he had one) and if he didn’t, what intestate law was applicable at the time of his death. In WV after 1992, the surviving spouse will get at least some of the minerals, depending on surviving children.
thank you for your reply. He did die without a will or
at least we can not locate his will. He passed away in 1997.
In that case you should have some right to the minerals, as a surviving child. So should all of your siblings. I think you should talk with your step-mother about it, and if she doesn’t agree to inform the oil and gas company, you should do it yourself.
Mr. Nuttall,
I was contacted by Antero Resources about being an heir to some mineral rights in WV. I recieved a lease in the mail with a “time sensitive” notification on it. It says I hae a net mineral ineterest of .00093 acres and they are offering a $200 flat rate to lease for 5 years and if they place it in a pooled unit and a wel is drilled, I’ll get % royalty. Is this fair? What information should I be looking for in the lease agreement? I live in Washington state and could really use some advice on how to proceed.
Thank you,
Wendy Brown
You have a tiny net mineral interest, but it’s still worth something because the company has to have a lease from you before they can drill. Ask for a larger bonus, ask for a higher royalty, ask for gross proceeds (so they can’t deduct post-production costs from your royalty), ask for a no warranty of title clause, ask for an indemnification clause, and remove anything from the lease that says you warrant that there are no wells or leases on the property. If you’d like us to take a look at the paperwork anyways, give us a call at 304-473-1403 and we’ll discuss whether hiring us makes any sense with such a small mineral interest.
I have received a letter from Antero Resources regarding an oil & gas lease in Centerville District, Tyler County, WV. They believe that I may be an heir of a relative. Obviously, this will end up being divided among hundreds of heirs so I do not know what a reasonable offer is. They have offered me and several other family members a lease bonus of $250 and in the event that they place the property into a pooled unit for the purpose of production of oil and gas, they say I will receive a royalty of 15.00% (3/20th.). Is this reasonable and should I hire an attorney? I am clueless. Any help would be very much appreciated.
The bonus may or may not be reasonable, depending on how large an interest you hold. A pretty normal negotiated bonus amount in Tyler County is $4,000/acre. Ask the landman how many net mineral acres you own, and then you can do the math to determine if $250 is in the ballpark. Of course, even if it is, you should always ask for more. They won’t withdraw their offer; the worst they’ll do is say no to your counter-offer. The 15% is a pretty normal first offer in Tyler. You can negotiate up to 18%, and maybe more. I’ve heard rumors…..
As to hiring an attorney, well, you’re asking an attorney whether you should hire an attorney. I would be thrilled if you hired me! I love doing this kind of work, and won’t turn down the chance to negotiate an oil and gas lease. Whether it’s worth it to you is entirely up to you. We should talk on the phone about it. For most of the people that I talk to it’s a purely financial decision, and I can help you determine in a shockingly short period of time whether it makes financial sense to hire me. For some people it’s more important to have an expert help them through a process that they know nothing about. I work for both, and I’m valuable to both. Give the office a call and set up a time when we can discuss it. 304-473-1403.
I am just now finding out about oil and gas ownership in my family. I have signed a few leases and now one company wants me to sign papers for “pooling” and two other companies want to buy my interest in the mineral rights for $3000/acre. The properties are in Tyler and Jackson counties. Total acreage is around 450 acres. I don’t want to get taken on this deal. Thank you.
The price isn’t right. Definitely take some time to do your research on this. Tyler County is the best place in West Virginia to own minerals right now, and you can sign a lease for $3,000 per acre without hardly negotiating at all. I wouldn’t settle for less than $8,000 per acre to sell, and I would consider that to be bottom basement price. Jackson County property isn’t hot at all right now, but I think it has excellent potential. Once the price of natural gas gets up around $4.00/MCF the companies are going to start exploring new areas, and Jackson County should be a good one. It has potential for the Marcellus/Burket, the Utica, and a number of formations in the Rome Trough. Nothing over there has been well explored yet, though. I recommend you don’t sell, as the minerals will be more valuable over time if they get developed. It’s a long term, speculative investment, but the payoff is awfully good. If you do need to sell, we can help you with that. We have a list of buyers and can guide you through the sales process.
On the pooling agreement, you’ll want to look that over very closely. Some are written to only include pooling, but some include a lot of other things, and you need to study it to be sure it’s not going to hurt you in any way. I recommend you give the office a call and set up a short appointment to discuss it with me, just to be safe.
What’s the going rate per acre in Roane County for a gas and oil lease right now?
There’s not a huge amount of development in Roane County right now, but I would try for $2,000 per acre on the bonus. The thing about Roane County is that it could possibly have a large number of producible formations under it, or it could just have the Marcellus and Burket. I think time will tell, because the oil and gas companies aren’t. If you’ve been offered a lease by someone you should just make sure to ask for more. If you triple the number they offered you, you probably won’t do too badly on the bonus.
I was offered $20.00 per acre with no bonus and 1/8 of the royalities and free gas. I thought that was low. When the exploration company called me back he said the best they can do is $30.00 per acre. I’m orginally from NJ, I really don’t know much about mineral rights. Is there a way I can market them to have other energy or exploration companies contact me. Thanks, I appreciate your prompt response on the above matter. Tom.
That seems low to me, too. What county is the property in?
Roane district of Reedy. 50.6 acres
Mr. Nuttall, you have been a huge help to me and I want to thank you for your time.
If a storage well is pumping into storage,and then set up to use gas in production line and left in the production line for 2 years is it stile a storage well,
I think a little more information would be helpful. Can you explain what you mean by “set up to use gas in production line”? Do you mean the well is now pulling gas out of the storage field and putting it into a production line? Or is the well being used for something else?
If I find a mineral rights lease agreement from 1965 in some of my mothers old papers is it worth researching. The lease was for 10 years to research/setup. Then 45 years to as long as commencement of operations by the oil company. This is for my father’s family and his name is on the lease. Just asking that side of the family would be a waste of time as my father was out of the picture most of my life and is now deceased. Any documents he may have had are now in the hands of his step-children. Thank you
45 years, huh? Yeah, this could be worth tracking down. It’s probably been assigned from company to company. Call up the courthouse and see if they can send you their copy. It may have notes in the margins that show who it was assigned to. If not, it’s probably a dead lease. If it’s in the right county, it could be worth a lot. There’s a lot to be found out, first.
Is it reasonable for an OG company to offer a signing bonus, then a clause to offset this signing bonus $ for $ against future royalties?
You’ll find this kind of language in some modern leases, but won’t find it in other modern leases. I would have it removed before signing a lease.
I waa sent a Lease (myself and 10 cousins) for mineral rights to.16.23 acres in the wv Appalations! We are being offered $250.00 each to sign. We are all uneducated in.this area and most of us are poor! Are we being mislead? The lease inducates MAP 9 Parcel 7.1. Any suggestions you can offer would be appreciated
The bonus offered you may be appropriate, but most likely is not. If the 10 of you own equal shares, and nobody else owns any of the 16.23 acres, then you each hold 1.623 net mineral acres. In some counties in the state, $250 is a good price for 1.623 acres. In other counties, that’s an absurdly low amount.
If you only have a tiny net mineral acreage (say 0.01623 acres) then you’re getting a great deal. But ask for an Indemnification Clause and a No Warranty of Title clause. Also, ask for Gross Proceeds. Also, see if you can negotiate the royalty amount up. Get what you can, then sign it.
I have a particular situation regarding some minerals in Raleigh County, WV where CNX gas in claiming the Non-apportionment rule on up to four wells that are drilled closer to my property than the original well drilled that is holding my minerals. I am interested in having an attorney look into this situation to determine whether I have the ability to claim the apportionment rule base on a proportionate reduction clause in my lease and the duty of fair dealing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Well, you learn something new every day. That’s one of the things I love about being an attorney, especially in oil and gas. I hadn’t heard about the apportionment rule until I read your post. Here’s what I’ve found out about it. If you sell part of your property while there’s an oil and gas lease in place, and a well is drilled on the part you sold, all the royalty goes to the owner of the part you sold. I don’t think it applies in WV, but feel free to correct me as I haven’t dug deep into the research. From what I know about West Virginia law, if you keep back the minerals when you sell the property, you’ll get all the royalties, and if you sell the minerals when you sell the property, the buyer will get all the royalties. You could contract around this by saying that as long as the existing lease is effective, you get all the royalties.
The oil company is holding our” feet to the fire” about drilling on our land Ritchie County. They are using a five dollars bonus we agreed to in 1990 and the 12.5% royalty as the reason for us not getting any additional offering. But at the same time they are offering our neighbors 3000 dollars an acre and 15% royality stating that theirs is a new lease. The lease they have that I signed in 1990 has only two of the mineral right owners signatures, that would be mine and one of the other owners. My question is what about all the other mineral owners? We are not their agent,. Is this a valid contract without all of the parties involved names on the Contract? To my knowledge, they were never contacted or involved in the contract established in 1990. Thanks for your thoughts or comment about the 1990 agreement. Terry Kiessling
I feel for you. Yours is not a fun situation. I hate to have to tell you this, but your lease is valid, but only as to the interests of those people that signed it. Anyone else who has an interest in the lease who didn’t sign it has not been leased. The company is not supposed to be able to develop the property without signing all the interests. There are ways around that rule, of course. I’m not sure why they are holding your feet to the fire. You’ve already signed, so they shouldn’t have to deal with you. If you still want some help with this, give me a call and I’ll see if there’s anything I can do for you. 304-473-1403.
Hello, Kyle,
Just reading your history, and I see your from Oregon, my daughter lives in Sherwood Oregon both she and her husband are geologists. I have property in Doddrige, Lewis, and Gilmer Counties. My question is about leases signed in the 1906 range that are still enforced, the lease is with Dominion. I receive a small check every month for .50c, why are they waisting the stamp cost and check processing on a .50c transaction? My conclusion is they want me to cash the checks so any previous agreement/lease will be enforced without negotiating a new lease. Is this a probable cenerio?
Oregon is a beautiful state! I’ve driven through Sherwood many a time. West Virginia and Oregon have a lot of similarities, but I still miss my childhood home.
You are exactly right. As long as they’re making payments as required by the old lease, it will still be in effect. Those old wells can produce small amounts of gas forever, it seems. It also seems ridiculous and unfair. One of these days I’ll figure out a way of getting these old pointless leases voided, but for now it seems they’re going to stick around.
Hi Kyle,
I was interested to know if you have talked to my sister-in-law DK Huneycutt about our oil and gas lease in Harrison County, I have been unable to reach her and not sure if she planned to move forward with hiring you to help us in this matter? Please call me today to update me I have received another confusing lease in the mail yesterday and would like info before I contact Percheron about this matter.
Mr Nuttall: Would like to talk with you regarding a Title search for mineral rights in Tyler County. I started a discussion “James Ireland Estate” several days ago.
Tried your E-mail address but message was returned!