In this episode we answer listener questions submitted by Heidi, Greg, Sarah, Nikki, Eric, and a listener who wishes to remain anonymous. This episode was filled with a wide variety of questions from the difference between MCF and MMBtu’s and how to audit gas royalties, Lithium, leasing the minerals and surface rights, going through ancillary probate in New Mexico, wastewater disposal issues and earthquakes, getting information from a previous operator, 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!
If this has been helpful, please take a moment and leave us an honest rating & review on Apple Podcasts. This feedback really helps keep us going and helps make sure that we are putting out content that is tailored to your needs.
Listener Question #1
Hi Matt,
First, let me say your podcasts have been most beneficial and educational to me. Our family owns the surface and minerals rights, but we lease to a gas company for operations.
I created a hypothetical example of 5 wells, one of which is shut in, but I’m still getting reporting for.
Royalty terms: 12.5 % of gross proceeds at the mouth of the well.
Questions:
- Why does the gas company report to the state in MCF and report to us our royalties in MMBTU?
( I converted MMBTU reported to us into MCF)- I don’t think I’ve been paid correctly. Could you walk me through on how to calculate my payment and where the errors are , if any?
Thank You so much!
Heidi
Listener Question #2
I’m sure you get many requests on your podcast.
Have you done a podcast on any Lithium in the Texas area or Elon Musk’s interests in it?
Appreciating your work.
Greg
Listener Question #3
Matt,
I am delighted I found your site and am getting your important information pertaining to mineral rights. What a source of information! Thank you for your service and dedication to mineral/land owners. You may not be able to grant me my request but I will briefly try to give an overview of our situation and then ask my question.
My husband and I own 1,000 +/- acres in Cass County, Texas. We reside in Richardson, Texas. (Absentee landowners). Most of this land was inherited by my husband in 1954. It is fully planted in pine trees, has two lakes, is split by highway 59 and borders the KCS railroad tracks. This is valuable property to us for sentimental reasons and we have worked hard to be good stewards of the land. We own roughly 60% of the mineral rights among the different tracks/surveys.
We are being approached by landmen interested in oil/gas leasing. We are aware of the potential of extracting lithium from the brine. (Smackover and the activity in Arkansas with Exxon.). This is somewhat exciting but equally scary for us.. Among our concerns are ownership/rights of surface/ground water, protection for our heirs (we are in our 80’s), as well as protecting the surface for the beauty of the area. We fear surface damage to the areas we do not own the mineral rights on and the possibility of drilling wells located on a large area.
We need direction in finding the best and most knowledgeable people to help us negotiate a lease, whether it be an attorney or someone who specializes in leases in general, plus addressing this new area of lithium extraction and ownership.
Question…do you provide such a service or do you have recommendations?
Thank you for your response,
Sarah
Listener Question #4
Hi Matt I’ve recently discovered your website and I’m likely going to take your course but in the meantime I have a question I’m wondering if you may be able to help me with.
My father-in-law has oil and gas interests in New Mexico and Colorado through 15 different operating companies. He was a resident of California, unmarried, when he passed away and unfortunately did not have a will. He had no other assets. His estate did not require probate and California follows interstate law which says that his property goes to his children.
I’ve been successful in the majority of the companies transferring his interests to my husband and his brother equally through an affidavit of heirship in each county where the properties are located, death certificate and W-9 forms for the heirs. One company however (IKAV/Simcoe) is refusing to do it saying that I need to have an attorney open up probate in New Mexico and proceeded to give me the name and phone number of an attorney I should use. Is it legal for them to refuse to transfer the interest and demand that a probate be opened in a state in which my father-in-law wasn’t even a resident? There is not a huge amount of money involved here so it wouldn’t make financial sense for us to pay thousands of dollars to have an attorney involved. I’m just trying to figure out if they can even do that before paying to consult with an attorney. Literally every other company accepts the affidavit of heirship except for them. Do you happen to have any insight on this?
Thank you so much!
Nikki
Listener Question #5
Hey guys,
I enjoy your podcast but would like to hear your take on issues with injected wastewater and issues with earthquakes and below ground blowouts. I have included a link to an ongoing issue.
Eric
Here are the links that he included in his email:
- RRC addresses uncontrolled Crane County leak amid concern and no-fly zone criticism
- Texas’ environmental agency enables companies to increase oilfield wastewater disposal in rivers • Source New Mexico
Listener Question #6
Matt,
Love the Mineral Rights Podcast, thanks for keeping me informed! I’ve run into a situation in North Dakota I’d love your input on. We’re non-consenting mineral rights owners on a section in McKenzie County. My family didn’t find out about the drilling until about a decade after production started due to a complex inheritance. The wells have earned the original cost of drilling back multiple times over at this point. I’ve inquired about the back royalties since we were only getting paid the statutory minimum for most of the past decade (which was actually being escheated). The current operator bought the operation three years ago and are now paying the correct royalty going forward. When I asked about the past royalties, the current operator claims that’s the responsibility of the previous operator, not them to cover. I would have thought this money would be set aside in an escrow account and would have transferred with the sale of the operation. Maybe I’m being too optimistic. What are your thoughts on who should have our back royalties?
Feel free to use this question on the pod, I’d just prefer not to be identified.
Thanks,
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
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 103: How to Find Out if You Have Unclaimed Royalties
- MRP 166: How to Read and Manage Your 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
How to Negotiate a Lease / Surface Use Agreement
- MRP 83: Saltwater Disposal Well Agreements
- MRP 144: Solutions to the Orphan Wells Problem
- MRP 151: Types of Underground Injection Wells
- MRP 187: Produced Water Opportunities with Jared Boehs
Thanks for Listening!
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Thanks again – until next time!
