Mineral Rights for 45 Cousins

  My husbands great grandparents left him and 45 cousins minerals in Belmont County. We are suppose to be receiving money from the oil rights by Oct. 19. I hope it goes through. It is with Gulf oil and we have signed the papers about 3 months ago.  Bonnie

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Permalink Reply by Bonnie Crawford on October 2, 2017 at 10:45pm

 Hi Barry i am really not sure why the effective date started in Sept. 2013.  Could Gulfport been drilling on the property since then? Who knows. As far as I know all of us were found and received the papers to sign at the same time. Alright, I will put it out of my mind for now. It isn't because I want to buy things with the money. I need to pay bills and help my daughter out with her cancer bills for her husband. Bonnie

Permalink Reply by Barry D on October 1, 2017 at 1:57pm

Bonnie,

I usually attempt to accentuate the positive and deal with the negatives as they occur.

To me, the positives are this: first Gulfport is active, which may mean taht the payment will show up soon. Plus, the company may include your property in a well unit and royalties will be paid. Finally, if the company can't include you property in a well unit now, but has plans for the future, perhaps the company will extend the lease. Which means another payment.

Sit back, relax and hope for the best. What's the down side?

Permalink Reply by Bonnie Crawford on October 2, 2017 at 9:54pm

Hi Barry, Thanks for the reply. We do have in our contract to extend it 5 more years, if it is possible. But I am not sure if they are drilling now or if it will be when they pay us. But I think I will be paid from 2013 to 2018 by October 19th.I will try to relax but it is so complicated to understand. But I appreciate your help. Are you getting paid already? Bonnie 

Permalink Reply by Daryl Brown on October 10, 2017 at 9:37am

Oh boy...........   so little information and so many opinions. 

Bonnie,

Plenty of people here to help you but there needs to be some information gathering on your part so that you're getting good answers to your questions.

Knowing the legal description would be helpful

Knowing if there is an active well covered by the lease

Knowing when the well was drilled and the name of the well would also be helpful

Maybe you covered some of that information but I cannot determine from this string of correspondence if that was ever determined.  The reason that is important is that you seem to be focused on getting this lease bonus payment for the renewal of the lease but that will never happen if a well has already been drilled.  This person who is telling you that a check is eminent should be able to tell you if the payment that is forthcoming is related to a lease bonus or past production from a drilled and producing well.  Many times when companies cannot determine ownership the funds for lease bonus and or royalties are held in suspense or remitted to the state to become part of an Unclaimed Property fund.  I don't know how long an O&G company may hold on to said funds before remitting as these laws vary from State to State.

Best to you but if I were you I'd not be promising anyone that I was going to have funds to take care of their bills or assist them in any way by the 19th of October.  As I said, there seems to be a lot of missing information and or misunderstanding of what is happening here.  You may want to scroll the list of the other 44 cousins and see if you can find the name of one who has experience in such matters.  Sounds like an abundance of confusion to me.

Permalink Reply by RAYMOND bAUMAN on October 14, 2017 at 6:25am

First you need to check how the minerals were divided up in the will. Was it equally among all the heirs . or were some people named heirs. ie if it was given to 5 children equally then each children's family got 10 acres  to divide up among their heirs.  You assumed that each cousin got the same amount.  You could have the landman explain what they have and then  check it with the  wills or estates. You need to establish the mineral acres that your direct family has so you can deal with  the acreage in your estate or wills. One thing you may want to consider once the ownership of the minerals is established is how you are going to preserve the minerals in a large enough piece so that in the future it can be tracked and  generate some income.  Once the parents  mineral are settled I would suggest that as a group the family records a document transferring the minerals to each heir. Also once every 20 years it is a good practice to record a notice of ownership so future people can find you and preserve your interest so it will not revert to the surface owner.

Permalink Reply by Bonnie Crawford on October 15, 2017 at 9:58am

 I ask the lawyer if he would look over my division order when it comes but he said that I had already signed papers with Gulfport and so he couldn't help me. But I will get him to at least look at it and advice me. I emailed the lady from the land company to see if I could get all straight and here is what she said. " You signed the oil and gas release so that payment should be to you soon at $5,000.00 / per 1.3888 an acre. With a subsequent amount of time, Gulfport will then send you division order ( showing the map and parcel in the unit). Once they are all returned, they will release any back royalty payments." So i emailed her and ask her if the only source of money we get from Gulfport will be from royalty money, as i am confused. So i guess, there is no big amount we will be getting. I do appreciate all the help you all are giving me. Bonnie

Permalink Reply by Bonnie Crawford on October 15, 2017 at 10:09am

Dott,I forgot to add that I also ask her about the well and if they are drilling. Here is what she said " There is a producing oil and gas well that has been producing since 2013 at this point once your lease is processed for payment which should be soon, you will subsequently be getting paperwork directly from Gulfport that will need to be signed to release your back royalty payments".  I thought royalty payments were small amounts you get every month and not bigger amounts. Bonnie

Permalink Reply by Dott on October 15, 2017 at 2:45pm

Bonnie,

Royalty payments can be big or small depending on your acreage, the  royalty percentage stated in your lease, what the well produces (oil, gas, gas liquids or all three) and in what amounts, and any deductions that your lease allows the Oil and Gas company to take.  Given that you have only a bit over 1 acre your checks will probably be small however now that I know the whole story what the land lady is referring to is all of the back royalties you are due.  That first check could be pretty good. But over the years I have seen people state that they get checks anywhere from $100.00 an acre up to 500.00 an acre a month. Some have even stated that they did not receive any money some months and owed the Oil and Gas company. The companies response was that because sale prices were so low it took more money to transport the liquid than they got for it. Or something like that. Whatever amount you get I look at it as something that I did not have before even if it pays the phone bill for the month.

Permalink Reply by Bonnie Crawford on October 17, 2017 at 6:53pm

Dott, thank you for the reply. I got a email back today. from the land Corporation in response to my email. they It said when I receive and return some papers that Gulfport is sending me, Gulfport will release the total of escrowed royalty from date of the first production. She said also that if the royalty is greater than $50.00 I will be paid in monthly payments. But i imagine the amount will be at least greater than $50.00. And like you said what ever amount I get is more than I had. Bonnie

Permalink Reply by RAYMOND bAUMAN on October 18, 2017 at 2:29am

Bonnie on thing even though you signed the division order that does not mean it  cannot be corrected or revised. The division order  can be revised but it will not be retroactive if payments have been made. You would then have to collect the payment from the other mineral holders. YOU SHOULD CHECK THE DIVISION ORDER AND THE INHERITANCE  PAPERS. The Attorney who handled the estate could also be helpful in this even if he is not well versed in oil & gas Law.

Permalink Reply by Bonnie Crawford on October 20, 2017 at 2:35pm

Raymond,  Thank you for your reply. It really helps me with know what to do next. I haven't received the Division Order yet. But I have signed papers with Gulfport. The Attorney that was helping me at the beginning is a oil and gas lawyer. But he said because I already signed papers with Gulfport he can't help me with the Division Orders. But I do have a good financial advisor that i am going to have help me. I will show him the Division Order ( when it comes) and the contract I signed with Gulfport and I hope he can advice me if he feels it is alright to sign the Division Order. What do you think? Bonnie

Permalink Reply by Dott on October 20, 2017 at 2:58pm

Bonnie,

I find it very odd that your O&G attorney says that he cannot help you since you have signed with Gulfport unless he has a conflict of interest and has done some work for them. My opinion is that not all financial advisors are knowledgeable about Oil and Gas stuff. Be sure that he is before you go to see him and then have to pay him. Does he know how to read Oil and Gas leases and can he interpret and confirm that what is in your Division Order coincides with your lease?  If not get another lawyer or Certified Public Account that works with Oil and Gas and be prepared to pay for a few hours of their time. It should not take them too long if you explain that you only need for them to confirm your Division order with your lease. You can tell them that  you no longer have an Oil and Gas attorney who is willing to work with you. You could be a potential future client for this Lawyer you never know.

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