Got a question about mineral rights and leases.

[Beartracks]

Don't shoot the messenger, as this is related to oil & gas drilling. I'm asking for a friend (no, really!) who thought I might know, but I don't. She holds a tiny tiny piece of mineral rights on some land in Texas. She recently received a notice from an operating company that they were holding unclaimed funds for her. Based on the notice, it appears they've extracted stuff from the ground and need to pay her for her tiny tiny piece of it. However... she's never been party to a lease arrangement with this company. After a bit of research, I've determined that their well is just south of the land where her mineral rights are -- so maybe they did horizontal drilling? Anyhow, that leads to my question: Obviously an operator is obligated to pay the owners of mineral rights, but do they not sign a lease with the mineral rights holders if the actual well isn't drilled on the land that the minerals are under?



============

[FBaggins]

1. They don't have to sign a lease with every property owner

There are a bunch of different ways that someone can own mineral rights. Take a look at this summary. The second and third categories seem most likely to fit your friend's scenario.

https://bellatorum.com/royalty-mineral-interest-types/

Consult an attorney that specializes in the field if she's concerned and/or we're talking about significant amounts... but the general answer is that it's definitely possible to be owed royalties but not have any right to complain that you never signed a lease or negotiated the deal.

It's also possible that a communication about "unclaimed assets being held for you" is a scam. So be careful.

[2naSalit]

2. +1

[Beartracks]

6. She doesn't own the land, just a piece of the mineral rights.

One company already did a lease with all the mineral rights owners, so she gets small checks every now and then, like, pizza money. Lol. But this other money is from a different company and it made us wonder how she could get royalties without a related lease. Oh - and it does seem legit. She apparently misplaced their original notice, so when she found it and called them it turns out the money is now at the state comptroller 's office. I found it there, so yay! maybe she'll share the next pizza with me!

Thanks for the link and info.

==========

[Chainfire]

3. Coming out of the blue the first thought in my mind is scam.

In any case, somebody needs some expert legal advice. I have my opinions as a plumber, but they don't get a lot of respect in court.

[Beartracks]

7. She did find some papers from this company from 2-3 years ago.

No lease, apparently, but some other docs. She thinks her granddaughter filed it when helping her out with her mail, and she just "rediscovered" it today. So at least it wasn't as out of the blue as I first thought.

==========

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Lawyer time.

Make sure you have your Deed and a copy of your Abstract. Texas is the land of Slant drilling back in the day. Now it is the practice everyday.

[hunter]

5. My grandparents got checks from Chevron.

They didn't ask for them but there was oil under their land.

Turned out to be nothing compared to the costs of growing old in the U.S.A..

If it happened to me I'd give the money away to some hopeless cause.

Oh shit.

I may have been that hopeless cause.

[Beartracks]

8. In sure it was a sound investment.

========