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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on March 12, 2016 at 3:12

Bernard, your location is too far north for Haynesville Shale.  There have been a couple of shallow, vertical oil wells drilled in the Benton Field a little further north but with no great results over the last two years.  There is no current interest in this area that is confirmed in the public record.  IMO it would be difficult to demand any added value for the mineral rights at this time.  Of course under Louisiana law you can always choose to sell your surface and reserve your mineral rights.  Your right would be subject to a ten year prescriptive period and would revert to the surface owner if no good faith attempt to drill a well occurred during that time.

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Permalink Reply by Bernard Parks on March 15, 2016 at 10:26

  Thanks Skip.. There is a lot of new growth building in this area, and this appears a good time for the market to sell/.  How do I obtain further information on mineral preservation and Louisana Land Laws?  Thanks for offering your opinion in this matter.  I have followed this Haynesville Shale  for a few years and appreciate the feedback offered by the readers..

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on March 15, 2016 at 11:17

You need a specific clause reserving your mineral right included in the conveyance deed.  You'll have to consult an attorney, as a landman I do not provide legal advise.  Any real estate attorney should know the required language or can find it easily through the Shreveport-Bossier realtor association.

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Permalink Reply by Randall Wayne Pease on March 18, 2016 at 4:38

We sold our land in Bossier Parish (Bellevue Rd. area) and retained mineral rights for ten years. We were told we could retain the mineral rights indefinitely by selling them to another family member before the ten year expiration.

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on March 18, 2016 at 6:46

If you reserve the minerals for 10 years then I would think that would be all the time you could hold them. If you didn't stipulate 10 years then you could hold them for as long as the well produces and when production stopped then the 10 year time clock would start to run.

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Permalink Reply by Bernard Parks on March 18, 2016 at 16:48

To all concerned, thanks for the feedback.At the time, the mineral drilling was greeted with a lot of interest, but time did not forward the project.  Should there be any further discussion, I look forward to hearing from you.  Bernard Parks. 

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Permalink Reply by Port city landman on April 7, 2016 at 4:11

You do not specify "ten years" in a mineral reservation. You simply reserve the minerals. If there is a producing well then you hold the minerals as long as it is producing and then when it stops the 10 year clock restarts.

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Permalink Reply by Port city landman on April 7, 2016 at 4:08

That is incorrect. When you sold and reserved your rights that starts the clock. The only thing that stops the clock is a good faith attempt to drill a well. Which means a well has to be spud. If you were to sell your rights to anyone, whether family member or unrelated, that sell would only be good until the orginail date of the mineral reservation. For example, you sell your property on January 1, 2014 and reserve the minerals. You then sell that mineral right to someone on January 1, 2016. That reservation expires on January 1, 2014 if no one has spud a well. A lease won't stop the clock, a permit won't stop the clock, 1000 mineral deeds back and forth won't stop the clock. Only someone going and poking a hole in the ground will stop the clock.

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