Dissappearing Landmen

I have a question about Landmen......could one of you landmen perhaps be honest for a change and answer this also?  Love to hear your input!

 

Is it typical for a landman to come out and express great interest in your property....drop off a crappy lease and then dissappear for weeks/months?

 

We had a guy stop by in the beginning of June....dropped of their "standard" lease, said he would happily come back when my husband was home and talk about addendums.  After missing two appointments with us (the first he never called after, we called him to find out what happened)...he finally came and listened to our requests.....then he went away to add addendums to the lease (oh and we still had not discussed price)....over a month later, Rob called him and he said he had something for us, would stop by that afternoon.....he never did...then a few weeks later, Rob called  the main office in Western PA and finally yesterday, he stopped at my door....quickly handed me a lease and said that although they did not want to pay the $3,000 an acre he promised us, they would honor it ... for the next week only!  Then he rushed out the driveway....

 

Now, we had never discussed price...

we would have told him $3000 was not what we were looking for. And if they wanted this land...why do they then avoid us?

 

I'm curious....is this landmen strategy to see if we are desperate for the money?

Is this their way of low balling us to try and get in at 3 instead of 5?

 

We dont really know other people who have had to do dealings like this... a couple of our neighbors have taken $1500 recently...but they own under 50 acres and 1.5 acres.  we have 120.  It would be nice to talk to people who have approached the gas companies themselves and how the process worked for them. 

 

thanks!

Sue T

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tyler Courtney on July 26, 2010 at 2:19pm
Landmen don't like to face an educated landowner. If they think you are going to make it harder on them they go on to a less informed landownere that will sign easier. Best of luck.
Permalink Reply by Jim Hayes on July 27, 2010 at 6:46pm
Rob, The answer to you question is No. Unfortunately you were dealing with someone who is just putting in their time. I have seen projects end overnight, with no warning. Once a company has leased the Acreage they were interested in, they shut it down.

Ask questions, remember that the Lease in most cases are Negotiable, So negotiate
Best of Luck to you.
Permalink Reply by Rob Thompson on July 28, 2010 at 4:16am
the answer to which question?
Permalink Reply by MJM on August 1, 2010 at 12:37am
If you don't need the money now, it would be worth your while to wait. Gas companies have more leashold than they can drill, and with low gas prices they are going to try to hold as much land in production as they can with the least number of wells. As the price of gas rises due to foreign interest, economic recovery, decreased production,...... companies will become more interested in better lease deals. In Texas the bonus ranges from $18k-25K per acre. Our area is now being "proven by production" so after a few years of high output wells the value will also rise.
Permalink Reply by b bz on August 4, 2010 at 1:56pm
no one is currently paying 18 k an acre in Texas for Barnett Shale leases ? much less 25 k...
Under Alliance airport in July 2008, yeah ... but thats all declined like the Marcellus prices have, for what its worth.
There is always the chance that the thin shale zones versus the eastern Thick shales zones will prove marginal.
Permalink Reply by Joy E Prettyman on August 9, 2010 at 9:27am
I totally agree to wait on signing a gas lease. We were notified by Kenyon Energy about three weeks
ago. Being unfamiliar with this type of lease, I contacted a gas and oil lease attorney. This has
turned out to be an excellent investment. He said the lease that Kenyon proposed was very vague
and needed clarifying. We all met with the attorney and the representative from Kenyon about
two weeks ago and have not heard anything since. Time will tell.

Joy P.
Permalink Reply by Rob Thompson on August 1, 2010 at 4:07am
Thank you for your comments! =)
Permalink Reply by Jim Hayes on August 1, 2010 at 8:03am
Your question was, Is it typical for a landman to come out and express great interest in your property....drop off a crappy lease and then dissappear for weeks/months?

My Answer...The answer to you question is No. Unfortunately you were dealing with someone who is just putting in their time. I have seen projects end overnight, with no warning. Once a company has leased the Acreage they were interested in, they shut it down.
Permalink Reply by Rob Thompson on August 1, 2010 at 9:49am
Ah, thanks for the clarification....
they did not lease the acreage....we told him that we would not take his offer...
when he came to our house, he said 3 to 6 for this area....then he offered us 3....sorry....if a salesman tells me 3-6 I figure he is lowballing and he is an idiot if he thinks I'm gonna go for the low end of the spectrum!!!
Permalink Reply by Lease Expert on August 2, 2010 at 10:16am
Guys, some landmen are good, some bad... just like at Walmart, some workers are good and some are not. If you don't like a landman ask for his or her bosses number and state your issues... Most landman are real busy and when tons of people are tripping all over themselves for the money and to sign, they will take priority over the "negotiators"

Some Landman are good, experienced, and work hard for the land owners , I am just afraid they are rare.. :-)

With that said tons of projects ended last week and we will have to see what happens..
Permalink Reply by Dave Beddow on August 4, 2010 at 1:49am
could you explain what you mean by (tons of projects ended last week)
Permalink Reply by Dee Hertig on August 4, 2010 at 7:18am
I'm a landman but in TEXAS. Landmen are NOT afraid of an educated landowner as Tyler Courtney states. I don't disappear - listen to the concerns of the mineral owner(s) AND surface owner(s) and make an agreement. This is done as expeditiously as possible for ALL parties. If the delay happens - let the delay be on the side of the Mineral Owner(s) as they consult with their attorney or "resident family expert" :))). If the Mineral Owner requests are too outlandish to meet the goals of the "prospect" - we still thank them for their time. I strongly suspect that there are a LOT OF ROOKIES out there during the Marcellus boom ... this happened during our Barnett Shale Boom. Lots of rookies not knowing what they were doing and being unprofessional during the heydeys of the Boom... GLAD THEY ARE OUT OF OUR COURTHOUSES NOW!!!! Its like anything else - one bad apple can make it tough on those coming behind. I forgot to ask -- was this dude a "speculator" trying to lease you and flip it to a company for profit, or did he/she provide a business card with a reputable company?

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