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Permalink Reply by Darrell Weaver on January 3, 2015 at 4:47am

dependant upon who the lessee is (read your lease for terms) some leases have a u must notify us in writing 60 days prior to expiration statement.

Send a certified return receipt letter informing them they are in default of said lease and ask them to send u the renewal bonus $$$ within a certain timeframe or Demand a Letter of Surrender to be sent to you and one to be recorded in your local county courthouse.

I will guarantee you that u will get their attention. They may come back with a lowball offer with more oil company friendly terms and rest assured they will and that is up to you, however we have what they want if u r in a good area....................!

I will tell you this if u dig your heels in IT WILL be the highest stake poker game u EVER played. I know firsthand.

GOOD LUCK

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Permalink Reply by william george allison on January 3, 2015 at 5:20am

everyone on my road sighned with these people nobody got any money, while my neighbor was in the courthouse he saw that his land looked like it was still leased by these people when it is not .

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Permalink Reply by Philip Brutz on January 3, 2015 at 5:37am

http://w***********/oil-and-gas-leases?utm_source=Utica+Journal+%23...

1. Sixth Circuit reverses ruling that oil and gas leases terminated following initial five-year primary term

http://w***********/oil-and-gas-leases

Krugliak, Wilkins, Griffiths & Dougherty Co., L.P.A.

written by Gregory W. Watts, Ryan W. Reaves

practice areas Oil, Gas & Mineral Law

Dec 29, 2014

In Kelich v. Hess and Griffith v. Hess, two related cases consolidated upon appeal, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed decisions from two district court judges finding the subject oil and gas leases to have expired by their own terms.  At issue in both cases was the interplay between the annual delay rental provision and the primary term; specifically, whether the delay rental provision permitted the lessee to make delay rental provisions in the optional five-year extension of the primary term and if such payments were permitted under the lease, whether the lessee must make a delay rental payment in order to delay drilling during the sixth year of the lease in addition to the extension payment.

The Sixth Circuit found the lessee may continue to delay drilling during the second five-year period of the primary term by making annual delay rental payments and found that a delay rental payment was to be paid at the end of the fifth year (to delay the drilling during the sixth year) in addition to the amount lessee must pay in order to extend the primary term of the lease for a second five-year period (in this instance, equal to the original signing bonus).  In its analysis of the apparent failure of the lessee to tender a delay-rental at the end of the fifth year of the primary term, the Sixth Circuit found such failure to be insufficient to terminate the lease, however stating “this apparent ‘error in paying’ cannot result in ‘forfeiture’ until [the lessee] receives notice and has an opportunity to correct the error,” based on the 30-day savings clause included in the subject lease. 

In a separate opinion, concurring in part, dissenting in part, Judge White agreed with the majority’s reversal of the district court’s ruling, however, she asserted the majority opinion was broader than necessary given the procedural history of the two cases.  Judge White wrote that she believes “that the majority has ruled on the meaning of the contract provisions prematurely,” and further believes “the majority also gives more life to the notice provision than the parties may have intended.” 

Given the holdings in the above case, it is encouraged that those with interests in oil and gas leases carefully examine any and all delay rental or additional bonus payments tendered to ensure the same comports with the terms of the oil and gas lease and the Sixth Circuit’s holdings. 

Kelich, et al., v. Hess Corporation, et al., 2:13-cv-00140, 2014 WL 7331014 (Dec. 23, 2014)

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Permalink Reply by 0ym9x5ag7ury2 on January 4, 2015 at 7:07am

William,

    If your courthouse has electronic records, enter your name and select Lease as the subject of your search.

If you go in person, the Recorders office will use their computer and enter the same to find the Book and Page number of any leases.

If they find a Release under your name, take a look to see if it's the lease you signed that was released.

If you didn't receive the signing bonus for the Primary Term of your lease, I would think the lease was invalid if the terms of the lease were never met by the O&G company that leased your property.

Good Luck.

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Permalink Reply by william george allison on January 4, 2015 at 1:21pm

THANK YOU RON YOU WERE VERY HELPFUL      BILL

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