Can a perpetual, non-participating royalty interest be abandoned?

My wife and I have a lease with Gulfport, which from this point in time seems like good fortune due to their success in Belmont County, Ohio, in which her and I live. We have a minor issue with language in an earlier oil lease a previous property owner assigned to their heirs back in 1903. I would safely assume that 110 years ago there probably was a shallow oil/gas well sitting on our current property. Originally, I was only aware of the amount- 1/16th royalty interest. After reaching Gulfport, my wife learned that the 1/16th only applies to royalties generated from oil production. 

The Gulfport PR contact told us that even though they have no idea where the heirs to this aforementioned royalty reservation are in 2013, we cannot do anything about it and just have to eat crow. My knee-jerk reaction was that if they, being Gulfport, don't know where these heirs live (or who they even are) and are telling us that we can't do anything about it, then Gulfport stands to "inherit" this 1/16th royalty interest off of oil production. 

This is an important issue to my wife and I- we have a pad ready to be fracked ~4300 feet from our house, of which we are part of the drilling unit. Seems to me this sounds like a perpetual non-participating royalty interest....only the heirs are nowhere to be found. Is there anything that I can do to get this 1/16th back? Am I screwed, as G-Port told us? Thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by James Foster on October 2, 2013 at 11:34am

If you need to know if there was a well ever that is something ODNR website could help with.  http://oilandgas.ohiodnr.gov/  Search for your county twp and section and that will narrow down the wells.  Also on the well finder map you would be able to see the streets ect and zoom in and see any wells near your property.  Keep in mind the well may not be on your property now if the original property was broken up at all.  I know they have the records from Ohio Geological Survey that used to regulate oil and gas drilling in Ohio.  I know the records go back online 50 years or more.

Permalink Reply by M Thomas on October 2, 2013 at 9:11am
Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on January 25, 2014 at 2:42am
Read about (on these pages) of instances where other landowners have been awarded ownership of 'abandoned mineral rights' but never about who is owed any royalty money.

My guess is that would probably have to be separately decided in another court - but, not being a lawyer, I don't even know that !

Maybe there's something in the original lease discussing details ?

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