Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by herman on June 15, 2009 at 1:35

They have seismographed our land twice now and it was relatively painless. They paid $25/ac which is the going rate. First they survey and leave flags on all of the trees where the lines go. Then a helicoptor flies over real low dropping bags with equipment and lines in them. They may drop this in your yard, woods, fields or wherever needed or convenient for them. Later they come through with their trucks and crews and start drilling holes and doing the explosions after all of these lines are connected and the detectors are put in place. You will start hearing the explosions going off about every 15 or 20 minutes. One of the negatives is that it took them a while to come back and pick up all of their lines and equipment. One of the positives is that my brother-in-law needed some water for his pasture and they talked the crew into punching a shallow water well at no charge. All-in-all a very painless experience.

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Permalink Reply by king john on June 15, 2009 at 2:11

herman
when i hear the term "going rate" that is a red flag to me. i posted on previous page that i usually ask for double the going rate. jim is correct in that some tracts will have more leverage than others, but make no mistake, they will pay more. while severe damages are rare, they do occur and it is very important to conduct a post inspection of your property to insure the company stayed within the limits of "normal" damages.
kj

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Permalink Reply by Explorer on June 15, 2009 at 7:13

King John, I'm sorry but you are incorrect. You will not get "double the going rate."

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Permalink Reply by king john on June 15, 2009 at 11:49

sorry you dont know better .
kj

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Permalink Reply by Bacon on June 15, 2009 at 13:24

Might be different in various areas but in 14/11 RR parish with a several hundred acre tract, Veritas offered $12 an acre, take it or leave it. I guess the point is, for that money, is it worth it to decline?

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Permalink Reply by king john on June 15, 2009 at 13:47

bacon i have an oil and gas consultant who negoiated my deal. i am not at liberty to say exactly what i got but i assure it was much better than the going rate. yes i spent money to make money and i did not use their boiler plate contract either. jim krow pointed out different tracts may be more valuable than others based on location.
just my opinion, but VERITAS seems to be using the age old scare tactic...
kj

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Permalink Reply by Mac Davis on June 15, 2009 at 16:49

It seems to me that the money offered is too low to be worth the potential hazard and damages. Anything less than $100 and acre seems not worth considering. Especially with the BS contract terms that don't specify what they're going to do, just "good industry practices" or some such stuff.

The benefit to you is that good seismo data may get you more production and hence, more royalties. That's the reason I'd consider allowing it.

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Permalink Reply by Grillin' - MmmMmm on June 16, 2009 at 1:53

Excellent point Jay. Playing hardball on this issue will just result in a) the company undershooting and getting the data anyway and me getting no $$$, or b) they don't shoot the survey and end up not drilling, whereby I don't get royalties off these monster wells.

My advice is to spend your time and energy making sure you get the right stipulations in the contract that cover your property, damage restoration, proper notice, etc. That's where the real issues are and most companies are willing to discuss these as long as you are reasonable.

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Permalink Reply by zrdc06 on June 16, 2009 at 7:04

Another thing to ask yourself is who is acquiring the data and who has the mineral lease. If they are one in the same, then unless otherwise specified in the mineral lease, the company acquiring the data has a right to record the data. This could lead to a TRO whereby the surface owner has to allow access and then they do not receive the $25 permit fee. $25 an acre IS the going rate in NWLA ... the rate in the Arkoma (Arkansas and Oklahoma) is $11-$15 an acre.

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Permalink Reply by Mac Davis on June 16, 2009 at 10:11

I'm not looking to get $100/acre. I'm just saying that the payment is not the reason to let them do a survey. You let them do a survey because it increases your chance to get royalties.

I'd let them survey my acres for $25 per acre, but not for the survey fee. I'd do it for the potential royalties. I'd have some restrictions of what they could do, though. Distance from structures, cleanup, price for trees, calendar time window, time of day, etc. Nothing unreasonable, just restrictions to not allow them to walk all over me. I'd also require payment before a certain date. None of this "we'll sign now, obligating you, but we'll pay you when and if we decide to survey."

If you have more than a few acres the economics may be different for you.

It also makes a difference if it's your nicely maintained home site vs. timber acreage.

It occurs to me that the equation would shift if the surface property owner didn't own the mineral rights.

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Permalink Reply by Jerad Doty on June 16, 2009 at 12:56

The first thing in the process of getting on someones property is to get a signed permit that allows the seismic company to conduct there tests. You will be contacted by a permit agent via mail, telephone and or in person. The permit agent and the landowner will get together and go over what the plans are going to be as far as where cables will lay and what area the vibes or drill trucks will be. A good permit agent should show you a map to let the landowner see his property to make sure it is the right property so the exploration company can avoid a trespass. Also they should go over structures on properties, water wells pipelines anything that can be damaged. Water wells and swimming pools they tend to 600 ft away and houses or barns with concrete foundations are 300 ft, companies should go by this because it is industry standard. Damages will be contingent on weather and terrain, if it is dry you should see tracks like a tractor would make because the tires on both the vibe and drill buggy have cleated tires, vibes can also run with smooth terra tires to cut down on tracks but it is at the descretion of the Seismic company what tire will be used. If it is wet or raining it will be the call of the bird dog on whether or not they will work, if they work there will be damages but they will be fixed at the end of the project when the reclamation process begins. Pay will vary on the area being seismographed

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Permalink Reply by Robert G. Oliver on June 16, 2009 at 16:38

The oil company will mostlikely be doing a three d program over the area. More likly over an area of about thirty to one hundred sections. That is the normal size. They will lay out a spread of geo - phones, could be using cables or most likly they will be using one of the latie modle wireless systems. They will lay out these spreads a quarter mile apart. The lines will be either North and South or East and West. The Company will then shoot across the spread and record the relusts. Depending on how big the shoot is will determine how longit will take to complete the program. Then it will take any where from six to nine months for the computers to process the data. Then the people that paid for the shoot wan then put the information in to their computer program and the computer will paint the area where the gas is blue. That will take another three or more months of study before the company will decide if they want to drill a well. That basicly how it comes down.
Robert Oliver

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