Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by ELLIS HUGH on October 21, 2009 at 4:14

Most people will advise you to sit tight and wait to be contacted, and wait further until a well is permitted in your section to enter into serious lease negotiations.

Sit tight.

--EH

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on October 21, 2009 at 4:15

Summer. If you have the patience, it is better to do your homework as to lease terms and then track development activity in your area until a lease is offered. Many landowners feel that they might be left out for some reason. No operator wishes you to go unleased. They want every last fraction of an acre that they can get within the drilling unit. If you know that you hold clear title to your minerals and that the proper conveyance documents are filed with your parish clerk of court, there is little chance that you will be overlooked. If you contact the companies leasing in your area you should expect one of two approached: An expression of no interest or; and "opening offer". There is no reason for a company to make their best offer until they are ready to drill a section and produce the gas. That's when they will make a final push to get all remaining acres leased. However, keep in mind that you can execute a lease at any time including after a well is completed and producing.

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Permalink Reply by Summer on October 21, 2009 at 4:25

Thanks, I feel so antsy about leasing. My mom had leased her land for peanuts basically, she was ill and the company really took advantage of her, She passed away and left her land to my brother and I and we took the company to court and got everything back. Now im just worried that maybe it looks like we are leased when we are not, im just a worrier most of the time though :)

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on October 21, 2009 at 4:53

Summer. To gain some peace of mind, you may wish to visit the Parish Clerk of Court's office and verify that they proper documents are recorded. Your mother's secession or a judgment of possession should be filed that establishes your ownership interest in the minerals and a release from the former lease that was invalidated in the court proceeding should be recorded. The attorney that handled the case may have filed a release. I suggest that can contact the attorney and ask. If a release was not recorded with the Clerk at the time of the suit then do so now. Those who allow impatience or worry to rule their leasing decisions ofttimes make less than the best decisions. Take a deep breathe, do your homework and enjoy the holidays. Good Luck.

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Permalink Reply by DJG on October 21, 2009 at 5:44

Summer,

I suggest that you run some searches on your families names with the online search site at Shelby County Clerks office.

http://cc.co.shelby.tx.us/RealEstate/ListOfParties.aspx

Records there are currently online from this week back until 1983.

Plug your family surname into the searchfield in the link above followed by first name.

Any current activity back until '83 should then come up for you to view. Any records prior to '83 are not yet available online - but they are registered and available to view by visiting the courthouse. Look to see what Warranty Deed, Oil & Gas, Probate, Release (for your case very important to make sure that the previous company did file the proper release documents regarding the previous lease) etc information might already be recorded for your mother there in Shelby, Co and then click on the view image links to pull up the documents for review. You'll need to have Java on your computer, but if you do not already there is a link to install right there on the web-page.

This resource has been invaluable to me as I have been gathering research on my own families mineral holdings there in Shelby County.

P.S. Be sure and look for multiple listings under the names you are searching. For example, for my wife's mother we have found records for her under multiple names including (Last Name, First Name / Last Name, Middle Name / Last Name, First Initial / Re-married Last Name, Middle Name, Previous Last Name / etc.) Just spend some time on the site and you'll probably find a lot of helpful information .
Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by DJG on October 21, 2009 at 6:06

Summer,

Oops, I had thought your first post was in the Shelby County, Texas group disscussion forum.

Obviously, the web-link that I posted was specifically related to Shelby Co, Texas - however - I would imagine that your local County/Parish would offer a similar service.

What area is your land/minerals located?

Good Luck

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Permalink Reply by Summer on October 21, 2009 at 6:46

the land is in San Augustine county, do you know of an online search for that county?

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Permalink Reply by DJG on October 21, 2009 at 8:07

Here's the website for the County Clerk's office in San Augustine, TX:

http://www.co.san-augustine.tx.us/ips/cms/countyoffices/countyClerk...

Unfortunately, they do not yet have their records up and searchable online via any free County maintained website.

I have not used these before, but you might be able to find the infomation you are looking for on one of the "Pay per view/search" sites out there like:

http://recordsproject.com/public/texas.asp

http://www.prsearch.com/texas/san_augustine.htm

http://www.countyrecords.com/crsanaugustine.html

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Permalink Reply by DJG on October 21, 2009 at 8:11

What part of San Augustine county are your minerals located and what is the total acreage?

I.E. do you know the Abstract or Survey number for your land?

There was some pretty good news for San Augustine, CO in the past week or two as Southwest Energy released information on a well in the NorthWest portion of the county near the Shelby Co. border for a well that IP'd at 16mmfcd - which is the highest intitial report for a Haynesville well in East Texas to date.

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Permalink Reply by Summer on October 21, 2009 at 9:34

I do not know the survey number, ill have to ask my brother. the acreage is around 230 - 250 i cant remember exactly . Im glad to hear the well is doing so good thats great news!

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