Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by JR on December 29, 2012 at 7:42pm

Oh Dear, so sorry to hear that people signed contracts without knowing the full ramifications.  they were taken advantage of, but sadly signed contracts that are probably fully legal.  Think of all the HBP folks who never signed a thing but are held to similar terms...

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Permalink Reply by JR on December 29, 2012 at 7:43pm

I don't think anyone was mistreated....just sadly ignorant.

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Permalink Reply by Dan on December 30, 2012 at 4:02am

Just remember, No one held a gun to anyone's head to sign anything.

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Permalink Reply by MJ on December 30, 2012 at 6:19am

I apparently used the wrong word (mistreatment).  I simply was wondering how many folks did'nt get paid for reason's other than title defects and I acknowledge that - yes - some folks were not as knowledgeable or as informed as others.  It seems to me that BP has been better about it's dealings with landowners than some others. ie Halcon - SIF....

Thanks Fang for your knowledgable input

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Permalink Reply by D M on December 30, 2012 at 6:58am

I signed with ALOV in April when signing was limited to 5 acres or more. My plot was a little over 9 acres. We found after signing (defect letter) that it was HBP, old 70's lease. I had several discussions with 3 BP Reps during process, and they were extremely professional and straight forward. Unfortunately, I still ended up HBP. About 4 weeks ago, out of the blue, I got a call that BP was going to deliver a check to my house. Speculation went wild in our house as to what had happened. As it turned out, BP must have researched and found that a little over one acre of the property was not HBP, and BP paid us. Point is, they did not have to pay us for one acre under the terms of the lease. I know that no company is perfect, especially in the Oil and Gas business, but BP has treated us well to date.

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Permalink Reply by 0llbnp780fs53 on December 30, 2012 at 10:53am

I know of people that got hosed for the $200/acre range (one guy for $10/acre!).  At the time they all bragged about the good deal they were making and I was a fool to not throw in with them. I don't know who they signed with originally, but they got together in groups of friends with an attorney who screwed them to the wall through lack of research. 

When I tried to tell them they were getting screwed and threw out a number that I through the lease was worth back then... they all laughed that I was insane... their attorney confirmed that I was insane.  Well, I'd been approached by landmen at least once, usually twice a year for over ten years... so I'd done a bit of research into it. I gave them information to give to their attorney to research... yup... I was a fool.

I've also seen a lot of leases, they were VERY bad leases that you will never get back out of.  When I'd submit my desired changes and desired prices... landmen would laugh and say 'you're dreaming'... Yup... other people signing told me I should have just signed and was crazy to walk away from "the money"...

Now they're all crying about how they got ripped off.  NO, they didn't read what they were signing and didn't research the value of what they were leasing.  If I sell you a bag of genuine diamonds for $20 and bragging about the deal because I don't think they're even worth that...  are you ripping me off to buy them?  (ABSOLUTELY NOT COUNTING SENIOR CITIZENS... that would be a rip off!)

I finally signed through a land owner group and my lease covers just about everything that I wanted covered (there is just one exception, but I was okay with that due to negotiations, etc) and I got more than the amount that I estimated.  I am not with BP and aside from being paid the upfront fees... I haven't had any dealings with this driller to say if they're good or bad.

I think that many of these people who signed for insanely low prices were actually advised by attorneys... they should go back against those attorneys for their bad advice.  I don't see the landmen getting over on them as being mistreated... that is after all, the landmen's job... to get your lease as low as possible.

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