AboutJames H. McConnell, CPL Expertise READ CAREFULLY BEFORE ASKING ME A QUESTION
I will try to answer questions about oil & gas leases, minerals, royalties, and servitudes, if the questioner has provided a good description of the lands. I require a section, township and range for any land not it Texas. I require a survey name and an abstract number if the lands are in Texas. I will answer questions about offers to lease or purchase mineral interests only if all terms of the offer are in the question, including the term, the royalty and the amount offered. Failure to provide this information will result in the question being rejected.
I have answered more than 2300 questions on this site and get as many as fifty in one day. I do not have the time nor am I inclined to deal with detailed questions requiring an attorney. I am not a substitute for an attorney. If you do not write in a cognizant form, I will reject your question. If you have done real research and have a question I find interesting, I will answer it. If you haven't done any research on your own, I will not do it for you.
If you do not rate the first answer, do not send a follow up, because I will reject it. If my time means so little to you that you feel that you cannot take your time to rate an answer, I do not have time to answer another question.
Experience I have been a Professional Landman for more than thirty five years. I have drilled and operated oil & gas wells in Louisiana and Texas and an familiar with the rules and Regulations of the Texas Railroad Commission and the Louisiana Department of Conservation. I have testified in court as an expert witness.
I leased 42 acres in North Louisiana 2 years ago to Empressa. It is for 3 years at 250 per acre + 1/4. Additional payments to be made for surface rights, and no work during hunting season.
My questions are:
Is the 3 year term for only if a well is drilled from the surface of my property?
Are royalty payments calulated only my 42 acres or anywhere in the unit --640 acres.
Does the well have to actually on my property or anywhere on the section for me to share royalty payments and vice versa--if the well is on my property would I have to share with the remaining owners of the unit...640 acres?
I dont think they will have time to drill on my land before the lease is out, should I call them to try and renegotiate now, or wait and hope. Some leases are up to 5k per acre now.
Thanks so much for you time.
Larry Todd
Answer Without knowing where you are I can't tell you anything about your lease. It may have an automatic two year extension option, most do.
If a well is drilled in a Conservation Dept. designated unit, everyone shares in the royalty stream in the unit proportionately. A well drilled anywhere in the unit is a unit well.
A year is plenty of time for them to drill a well. Empressa is only drilling to the Cotton Valley. They will probably do a deal with one of the larger companies for the Haynesville rights to the leases they own. The leases they bought for hundreds of dollars are worth ten to twenty times what they paid for them.
