Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help mineral rights

i have been bombarded by gas companys who want a five year lease to possably drill for gas.my property is 26 acres with 3 acre pond in ny state.the response from these companies is that they are clean and do not do alot of damage(ha ha).does anyone have experience with mineral rights and drilling?

gizmo, send a PM giving me a few details -perhaps I can guide you through the process.
George Glazener

George is a geologist and I am a natural resources attorney. George check your PM and Gmo check your email.

I leased my 35 acres as well as everyone else in the county. I was told that the biggest companies are more likely to work with you to keep you happy. That along with the EPA watching every move, I am pretty confident with everything working out okay. Give me money. Looking at the wells that have been drilled around me, it looks like they take up a pretty good peice of land while working. I am waiting to see what it looks like when they are finished.
George and ewest, can you share some of the highlights of your answers with the rest of us?

BrianH, I pretty much shared my experience with gizmo, having been on both sides of the fence, as a Geologist/Geophysicist consultant to O&G companies, and as a royalty owner of producing properties.

You pretty well nailed it on dealing with reputable companies.

Being in Hico, you are looking at the Barnett shale natural gas play, which is now several years old, with established bonus and royalty interests being offered.

You know what your neighbors have leased for, and know about the companies.
Any O&G “play” will have reputable operators and always some “fly by night” operators.

A “wildcat play” with no established production in the area is another matter entirely – avoid long term, small interest offers unless significant mineral rights are held.
The larger the mineral rights held, the stronger the negotiating strength.

You take the risk however of missing bonus money if no drilling occurs.

A reputable operator will do what is right with the landowner, restoring drill sites with remaining the wellhead, pipeline connection, and tanks.

A pond owner, or any property owner, should be advised to “cap” the water well required in drilling, for future personal use

As ewest has stated, any questions in the mind of the mineral interest owner regarding payment for surface damages and restoration should be addressed by a qualified O&G, attorney.

Probably more info than you asked for….
Any details regarding operations, I will be happy to address by PM’s.

Here is some basic info in addition to what George provided.

http://www.aogc.state.ar.us/PDF/Royalty%20and%20Surface%20Owner%20Bulletin.pdf

thanks guys,the info is great.i need to find out if the ajoining propertys are going to be leased,the money would be nice (if there is gas)but if you see my property you would understand my concern. i have a photo on my other posting (beavers). gizmo

Gizmo: You should be extremely careful in leasing your property for production of oil and/or gas. Because of the small size of your tract I would suggest that you not grant any oil production rights. This is because the use of the surface of your property will be more intense if oil production is intended. A five year lease is too long. Your real incentive to grant the lease is to obtain production of the mineral and to receive your landowner's royalty in sufficient amounts to make it worthwhile to have the inconvenience on your property. If the person seeking the lease really intends to produce the minerals, they should be willing to take a much shorter lease such as 6 months or 1 year. If they obtain production then the lease will continue and be kept in force by the continuing production. Also, please use a knowledgable oil and gas attorney to advise you and to negotiate the terms of the lease, especially those terms that protect your surface rights.

Rock Creek

My firm has been conducting a large project in the north panhandle of TX where we are doing specialized inspections on the tank batteries at O&G Well sites.

The smallest size site I've seen is about 1/3 to 1/2 acre. They are bigger if there's crude coming out to which some crude wells will need a pump-jack. Sometimes if there's a pump jack, there will also be some compressors or seperators also which do create some noise.

The volume of productivity of crude from a given well will determine how often you have small tank trucks coming to the site to pump out the holding tanks. Some of these tanks only hold 200-300 barrels of crude or nat. gas condensate. There can be as many as (6) tanks (10 or 12' diameter, up to 20' high) at each well site.

So please consider what kind of traffic might be coming and going. It will be more than just tank trucks. For instance, contractors such as my firm would be coming and going also.

Attention all mineral owners – follow the excellent advise of ewest and others and seek advice from a qualified O&G professional or attorney.

Well-intended advice from well meaning sources can lead to disaster.

26 acres of mineral interest in the right place can make you a very wealthy person, whereas a thousand acre of “goat pasture” can lead to nowhere.

Again, talk to your neighbors – natural gas wells are much cleaner with less traffic than stripper oil wells with pump jacks and tank trucks, usually indicating old production, being brought back on-line due to increased O&G prices.