We have property in extreme NE Bossier Parish, TS23, that borders Lafayette county and we are getting some lease offers.  This property was continually leased for many years but the past 2 or 3 years it has went unleased. Samson Contour has made the latest offer but I don't know a lot about this company.  The land man says they want to drill for natural gas in the Cotton Valley.  I would love to get some input and some comments and advice from all the folks on here that are much more knowledgeable than I am.  The lease from Samson seems to be the best offer and sounds about right for this area which is unproven aside from some Pettit oil producers in the area.  Kieth, Skip, Aubrey, Ted, anyone else jump on in there and give me some help.  Thanks

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Not a bad thing per-say... They don't want to put all the terms of the lease of record, as the lease may have terms negotiated that the company doen't want to give out to everyone. A Meorandum is simply a notice that your land is under lease, and says how long the lease is in effect. There are pros and cons. But, most attorneys don't have a problem with a memo being filed.

Send him South to T22 when you're finished with him LMC, lol, we have 10000 or so more acres to lease down here. lol . At least they are offering a better deal!

Guys, thanks for the response.  I'll try and send him your way. 

Continental Resources permits 3 vertical Pettit Lime wells in the Redland Field, Bossier Parish, S29 (2) and S31- 23N-12W.

BOSSIER 01 245153 RE PET SU;R C KEOUN ETAL C 003 12-JUL-12 C161 029-23N-12W 7666 REDLAND 6296

BOSSIER 01 245154 RE PET SU;J M COVINGTON 003 12-JUL-12 C161 029-23N-12W 7666 REDLAND 6254

BOSSIER 01 245155 RE PET SU;S H BOLINGER 002 12-JUL-12 C161 031-23N-12W 7666 REDLAND 6352

Skip,

I have a question you may be able to answer. My husband's family owns mineral rights in his deceased mother's Trust, which she had leased in the past to various drillers. The most recent lease was dated 2003. That lease expired and was not renewed. The location is township 23N-11W- beginning at the corner common to sections 4,5,8,9. There are 114.4 acres in Bossier and 5.8 acres in Webster Parish. After talking to an attorney, there apparently are some succession issues to bring ownership current to the living heirs. The attorney advised us to just wait for a another lease as many companies foot the bill if succession work is required. Several family members think we should be actively trying to complete the paperwork so that court records accurately identify ownership should another company try to locate us (we all live out west). I would appreciate your thoughts on this dilema, if this is a common problem, etc.   Thank you for your advice - - Lisa

I advise my clients to keep chain of title documents current and to diligently pursue lessees to file a release when a lease expires.  Not knowing the nature of the succession issues you mention prohibits me from being specific.  I will venture the opinion that a lessee could very well lease your minerals and then deposit royalty payments into an escrow account until your family clears any cloud on your title.  Of course you could attempt to negotiate payment from a lessee for legal costs to clear a clouded title but the Haynesville Shale taught many the lesson that dragging out negotiations when favorable terms are on the table can leave you open to evolving circumstances.  Lease terms don't always improve.  They can go the other way or go away.  Plenty of Haynesville lease offers were pulled with title issues used as a reason to void existing offers.

I wish I could provide additional information, however I do not have all the details other than the attorney said he would need to go back at least two generations because he could not find record of my mother-in-law owning these mineral rights. This is so perplexing to us as my mother-in-law had leased these mineral rights several times. Would this investigation be better suited for a Landman such as yourself?

Although leasing minerals is an indication that at least the lessee thought your mother-in-law had merchantable title, it's not definitive.  The level of due diligence normally performed for the purpose of offering a lease is less than that employed when a well produces and pay royalties.  A Division Order opinion could reveal some title clouds.  If there was no production under the old leases it is indeed possible that there are missing links in the chain of title.  How far back in time would cover the two generations?

My mother-in-law was born in 1925, and her mother around the 1900's, though I would have to track down specific names/dates. Another complication is my mother-in-law's brother owned half of those mineral rights. When he died his 1/2 ownership went to my mother-in-law as he had no wife/children. I do not think that is recorded either. The last company that offered a lease was Weiser and Brown. We found a copy of the signed lease and contacted Weiser and Brown for info they might have. We were then told that the well was "dry", the lease had not been renewed, and they had no other information.  

Lisa, "friend" me and post names and family relationships on my personal page and I'll see what documents are listed in the indices of the Bossier Parish public records.  I'll be out of town for the rest of this week but will look at it next.  The online instrument images do not go as far back as your mother-in-law or her mother but if the documents are listed it's no problem to obtain a copy

I have 50 acres in sec12 21n 14w, it shows to be in the Cottage Grove Oil Field,. After some research I found there use to be 2 Oil wells...1 pulled in 1958 and 1 pulled in 1985....With the new technology out there anyone know any Oil drilling going on???

Do you mean 12-21n-4w?

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