In this episode we answer listener questions submitted by Tom, Anita, Ronnie, Karen, and Raegan. This episode was filled with a wide variety of questions from tips for locating missing minerals and royalties, dealing with non-payment by an operator, educating yourself (and others) about minerals, if your minerals might be prospective for lithium, and how to determine if your operator drilled a new well in time before the primary term of your lease expired, and more.
Some of the listener questions in this episode are addressed in my Mineral Management Basics online course, from how to read a legal description, how to perform a title search, and how to identify nearby oil and gas activity.
Thanks again to everyone who left a review or who submitted a listener question! If you have a question about your minerals or royalties, you can send it to feedback@mineralrightspodcast.com and who knows we might just answer it on the air!
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Listener Question #1
This email was in response to the 2nd email that gets sent to new Mineral Rights Podcast newsletter subscribers. That email provides tip on how to find out if you have missing money. To subscribe to my free newsletter, just enter your name and email address at the bottom of this page.
Very nice tip & link. Nice link – in the past, I’ve gone directly to the states that I know I have minerals in.
Suggestion – in your steps, instead of “your Last Name and First Name”, I would say, “your or your ancestors’ Last Name and First Name”
I’ve found it helpful to list branches of the family tree that the minerals came down through. Example, my ancestors came in Land Run in Oklahoma and owned minerals (almost 100 years ago). Great-Grandparents down to me. Then I’ve used those names and found minerals that “missed” probate records. The money in suspense identifies the minerals that missed either getting put into probate records or companies couldn’t find (or didn’t do the homework) descendants. I’m using FamilySearch.org (free) to list the ancestors, dates, locations. Then I copy/paste tree to sheet of paper and then highlight the branches the minerals come down through.
Then I’ve had to pull together the wills or probate records to show chain of title to the State to get the money in suspense. Then use the same information to file deeds or stipulation of interests at the relevant courthouses.
Just love your tips/blogs.
Thanks!
Tom
Listener Question #2
I am a Mineral owner. My issue is how to get an operator of an Oklahoma stripper well to pay?
Background: Talked to him one time after he’d been producing for months. Got a personal looking check for about $2k -no stub, no 1099. That was a year ago last May.
He’s in Texas. I’ve sent emails. I sent a certified letter to Registered Agent in Oklahoma. Returned undeliverable.
Anita
Listener Question #3
Hello Matt,
I am a mineral owner and I first came into contact with you at a Colorado NARO convention that was held online (Houston TX is home) due to Covid. When I was nine my parent leased their property. My mom used the money to pay for college and became a teacher. When I reached college age my parents sent me and my brothers to The University of Texas. I became a Mechanical Engineer and worked in industry producing oil drilling equipment.
I married my wife and she inherited royalty property. I purchased one of wife’s cousins property. I now manage about one hundred small properties in thirty five counties in four states.
I am now seventy nine years old and working on training my son to take over this property. A lot more is needed in this area. I am still learning and I use NARO for this.
Ronnie
Listener Question #4
Hi Matt,
Happy New Year to you & Justin!
I have a question please- I’m on your email list & have been listening to your podcasts.(Thank you!) You recently mentioned an area in Texas that might have lithium, the Smackover Formation. My mineral rights are in Burleson TX., and I wondered if you or Justin might know if Burleson is in the Smackover Formation area? My Division order does include “water” on it, so, I’d like to find out more if possible…
Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Karen
Listener Question #5
Good morning, Matt. I love your show and listen to many of your podcasts. Thank you for putting out such great content for mineral owners! It is incredibly helpful in navigating complex issues of managing minerals.
I have parents that are getting older, and I’ve begun assisting them with managing their minerals. I have a question for you that I am having difficulty sorting out. In assisting them and going through files, I have come across two different sections in which they own minerals where the OGL expired prior to the completion of the wells. The timing is as follows below. It appears to me that the leases expired prior to the completion of the wells…
Well #1
well spuds 9/30/10
drilling finished 12/9/10
OGL expires 1/4/11
well completed 5/27/11Primary Term:
“3 years from date and as long thereafter as oil and gas, or either of them is produced from said land by the lessee..”Commencement of Operations:
“If the Lessee shall commence to drill a well or commence reworking operations on an existing well within the term of this lease or any extension thereof, or on acreage pooled therewith, the Lessee shall have the right to drill such well to completion or complete reworking operations with reasonable diligence and dispatch, and if oil or gas, or either of them, be found in paying quantities, this lease shall continue and be in force with like effect as if such well had been completed within the term of years first mentioned.”
This well sat for 6 months before being completed.Well #2
well spuds 6/14/11
drilling finished 7/28/11
OGL expires 8/1/11
well completion 9/23/11This well sat for 2 months before being completed.
What next step would you take if you were in my shoes?
Best regards,
Raegan
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
Mineral Rights Education
- Mineral Management Basics Online Course
- National Association of Royalty Owners
- 1-on-1 Coaching with Matt
Books
- Never Split the Difference by former FBI Hostage Negotiator Chris Voss is THE book on negotiation.
Lithium Info
- Assessment of Undiscovered Conventional Oil and Gas Resources— Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous Cotton Valley Group, Jurassic (Location of Smackover Formation in East Texas and Louisiana)
- MRP 208: The Rise of Lithium: Implications for Mineral Rights Owners
- MRP 232: Mineral Rights News February 2024
Oklahoma Info
Title Research – Missing Royalties
How to Make Sure You are Getting Paid Correctly
- MRP 3: How to Calculate your Net Revenue Interest in 3 Simple Steps
- MRP 97: How to Audit Your Oil and Gas Royalty Statements
- MRP 224: What to do About Late Royalty Payments
- MRP 240: How to Find Oil & Gas Info for Wyoming (Example of well that produces each month but only sells oil a couple of times per year)
How to Negotiate a Lease / Surface Use Agreement
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