Nobody called
The neighbors are drilling. Nobody has called you. Here are the five reasons.
Permits on the next farm, landmen at every door but yours, and a feeling that something is being missed. Usually it is one of five things, and four of them can be checked from public records before you call anyone.
- Most often
- An old lease, held by a well from decades ago, already covers your minerals. The operator is dealing with that lessee, not you.
- Second
- The operator cannot find you. Letters went to the address on the tax ticket, which is a relative’s from 1985.
- Least often
- A title gap means the records do not show you as an owner at all, so no one knows to write.
Check them in this order
An old lease still holds the minerals
A well drilled in 1975 that still produces a little gas can hold every depth under your tract under a broad old lease. The operator of the new wells deals with whoever holds that lease, not with you, and the bonus went to them. Check: look up wells under your tract and the records on each well page; an active old well with your family’s name on the lease is the sign. The county clerk’s records show the lease and any assignments. If so: the better-offer section explains top leases, releases, and checking whether the old lease is really alive.
The operator cannot find you
Landmen write to the name and address on the county’s tax books and in the deed records. If those still show a grandparent, or an address nobody lives at, the letters have been going there, or into a file marked unlocatable, and the money with them. Check: ask the county assessor what name and address the mineral ticket carries. If so: update the address today, record the paper that connects you to the previous owner, and search unclaimed property, because suspended money may already have moved there.
Your tract is outside the unit
A horizontal well drains a long, narrow unit. Tracts just outside it are not in this well, and may not be in the next one for years. Check: the map shows the permitted and completed wells around your tract and their operator; the well pages show the district and the formation. Permits in your district are the sign the next unit may reach you. If so: there is nothing to do but follow the county report, and decide in advance what terms you would accept.
The title has a gap
If an estate two generations back was never probated in this county, or a deed was never recorded, the records do not show you as an owner, and nobody knows to write. Check: a free screening follows the chain of title and names the missing document. If so: record it. Operators and buyers can only deal with owners the records show.
The activity is further away than it looks
A pad two miles away is not under your tract, and a company assembling acreage in one district does not need the next one yet. Check: the drilling pipeline shows permits and completions by county and district over time. If so: you are early, not forgotten. Follow the county and watch the permits.
Questions owners ask
The well page shows an old well with my family’s name on it. Does that mean I am leased?
It is a strong sign that a lease from that era covers the tract and may still be in force if the well produces. Whether it holds all depths depends on the lease’s words. The county clerk’s records and a screening confirm it.
Can I call the operator myself?
Yes. Every operator has a land or owner relations department. Give the county, district, and tract, and ask whether your minerals are in a unit, leased, or on their unlocatable list. Have the deed or tax ticket in front of you.
If I update the address, will the offers start coming?
If the operator was looking for you, yes, and so will the buyers’ letters. Decide in advance what you want before answering any of them; the lease and sale walk-throughs are for that.
Would you make an offer on an unleased tract next to a unit?
An unleased interest near activity is one we research and can make a written offer on, with the chance of a future unit as one stated assumption rather than a promise. The screening comes first and is free whether or not we go further.