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Permalink Reply by ZJ on August 21, 2013 at 3:20pm

Oh -- well -- Fang F Fang I am a new member I did not see this sample lease here at the website and despite my terse post THANK YOU very much for the link.

 

I will look it over carefully and see if I have any questions.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa McKenzie on August 21, 2013 at 4:53pm

Has anyone actually gotten this lease, or something similar in breadth, signed? 

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Permalink Reply by ZJ on August 28, 2013 at 10:12am

I did look over the ODNR lease provided in  the link.

It does give the appearance of being comprehensive.

However paragraphs 27 28 29 are missing.  What are/were these paragraphs?

Now also the following questions:

1. When an oil company presents a mineral rights owner with a  potential lease if the latter -- the potential lessor -- is dissatisfied with the terms of the proposed lease is this typically remedied by:

(a) actually changing the language/terms within the unsatisfactory lease offered by the oil company or

(b) just attaching an addendum to the unsatisfactory lease offered by the oil company with the specification that it takes precedence over the former 

(c) or is either OK?

2. Here is another way of asking the same question as (1). If one as a potential Lessor is dissatisfied with a lease offered by an oil company does one usually present them with a completely different lease or does one just attach a superseding addendum?

3. Who wants to recommend an O+G landowner-friendly attorney for Washington County Ohio. Publicly or privately.

4. How much should one reasonably pay such an attorney (a) per hour and (b) in terms of a percentage of the bonus and/or production.

5. Why should I give up 4.5% of my bonus to a lawyer? Or should I not?

6. And now -- should I lease my land in northern Washington County Ohio now or hold out for later/infrastructure/and so forth. That of course is the -- potentially literally -- million dollar question. I'm interested in what anyone thinks. Don't I want to get >$5000/acre + 20%? 

7. Should I join an attorney-managed landowners' group?

The richer one is the less compelling this all is. The poorer one is the more compelling it all is. This all falls into the category of God's Wonderful World.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Lisa McKenzie on August 28, 2013 at 11:45am

When I responded to a proposed lease, I sent the landman an email that gave a short description of the documentation changes I wanted, such as no deductions from the royalties; delete paragraph 8;  limit the extensions under paragraph 16 to two 1-year extensions when you pay $50/acre for each extension; I need a pugh clause; no extension beyond the Primary Term; I will not give general warranties, etc.  You will want to reach agreement on the terms before spending any time/money writing the specifics. 

I have also asked for their calculations.  One lease we were presented was based on faulty genealogy, so they thought my sister and I had another sibling, so were going to pay us each 1/6, rather than 1/4 to two of us.

I would want the lease completely rewritten, rather than having an addendum.  There could be confusion in the future if unacceptable terms are in the main body of the lease and it becomes separated from the addendum.

Our interests are in WV.  We pay an attorney by the hour.  I think he is about $125. (My sister is paying the bills).  Frankly, our WV attorney is swamped with work, so I had a TX O&G attorney (where I live) look at the first proposed lease and mark it up.  I am going to negotiate other leases on the basis of what I've learned from him, then have my WV attorney look at the final product before I sign.

I would not pay an attorney a percentage unless you have authorized the attorney to negotiate price and terms for you, in which case I would base a percentage off the price improvement the attorney is able to negotiate.

My opinions.  Your mileage may vary.

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