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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on September 24, 2012 at 14:28

James, 130 acres are almost a quarter of a section (640 acres), not a township which is 36 sections.  It is a goodly amount of mineral rights but it does not have any producing wells.  The J-W unit order does not require that a well be drilled but is effective indefinitely until dissolved by order of the Office of Conservation.  The controlling circumstance in the section is the term of any leases which may be in effect.  Considering when this unit was formed it's unlikely there are any leases remaining in force.  There is a major fault in this SW corner of Township 16 North, Range 8 West.  It appears to impact much of Section 32.

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Permalink Reply by James Martin on October 1, 2012 at 11:31

Skip,

I've worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers since 1998, after graduating La Tech doing land surveying. To be honest it's been since high school I guess remember townships and sections. We do mostly GPS and never research land records. I wanted mainly to know if the T32 had produced anything. My Aunt, who runs the show, is 92 and the land needs to be split before all the original owners die. My Mother, who owns 1/5, is getting nowhere with the family dividing the remainder of my Grandfather's estate. Again, I wanted to know if there was any activity on that piece of land. I realize too there are other landowners within the 640 acre section. I was thinking if sections N, S, E, & W of the T32 hit then the profits were shared.

James

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on October 1, 2012 at 12:11

James, if you are referring to the N 1/4 (160 acres), S 1/4 (160 acres), etc. of Section 32 - 16N - 8W regarding participation in royalties generated by producing gas or oil wells, the answer is that it depends.  Depends on whether a producing well is a "lease" well or a "unit" well.  If it's a lease well, only those mineral interests making up the minimum state mandated footprint for that type of well get paid.  If it's a unit well, it depends on the size of the unit.  Shallow oil wells can have units that are 160 or 320 acres as an example.  Deeper gas wells may be 320 or 640.  Units are approved by the state and if minerals fall within the unit boundary they receive royalty from production.  The Haynesville Shale has caused many to think that all units are a section, 640 acres.  They are not. You have to look up the unit order to see the size of the unit.

In Section 32 there are 3 historic wells, all lease wells either Dry & Plugged or Plugged & Abandoned, 1 expired permit and 1 unit well (James RA SUA; Whatley #1) which produced from 8/78 to 5/86.

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