Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sweet Tea on March 21, 2009 at 17:48

Jim- what about this scenario: A landowner/mineral owner leases 800 acres in 1950, all on one lease.
(This land is spread out and located in sections 1,2,3,& 4 . ) A well is drilled in 1950, in section 1 and is still
producing to this day. The original landowner has passed away, and his heirs have sold the acreage
off in various smaller portions thru the years, but reserved minerals, some of those smaller tracts have been re-sold 2 or 3 times over.
Is that property in section 4 still hbp under the old lease from 1950, even though the unit boundary
only includes acreage in section 1? ( Also, there was never a well drilled in section 4)

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Permalink Reply by ELLIS HUGH on March 22, 2009 at 6:14

Jim Krow,

It is my understanding that if a portion of a tract of land is pooled within a producing unit, then prescription would be interrupted for the entire tract as long as the land is contiguous.

Do I understand this correctly?

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Permalink Reply by Sweet Tea on March 22, 2009 at 7:47

Jim, thanks for the info, but I'll admit , I'm still confused.

Let's say that I have owned property in section 4 for 12 years. There is no existing production in section 4, nor has there ever been a well in section 4.
The previous owner of my property did not reserve minerals when I bought the property.

Who would own the minerals for my property in section 4 today?

Is the servitude in force only as long as the heirs of the original owner kept the land contiguous, by not selling it off in parcels?

or, another scenario:
Let's say that the heirs only kept the land located within the original unit boundary
with the well in section 1, and sold ALL of the other acreage, and reserved minerals
with each sale. How long could the reservation hold on property in section 4?

ps-- I've looked online for info about servitudes in La, but haven't found much.
Do you have any ideas of where I could go to find out more?
Thanks,
ST

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on March 22, 2009 at 8:07

If the property is all in one block, contiguous, without a Puge clause in the lease, then the servitude holds all the property. Doesn't matter who owns the property after the servitude is created. The servitude lasts for as long as the production and good faith operations continue without a lapse in the terms of the original contract.

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on March 22, 2009 at 8:35

From what I read of this post an original owner of 800 acres, I assume it is all in one block, granted an oil, gas, and mineral lease. A well was drilled and has been producing without a 10 year lapse until today. The original owner sold the property and reserved minerals. The original owner still owns minerals on the 800 acres if he has not conveyed the interest to someone else.

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Permalink Reply by Sweet Tea on March 22, 2009 at 16:24

TD--to help me stay on track, I'll post my ?'s after your comments.
"If the property is all in one block, contiguous, without a Puge clause in the lease, then the servitude holds all the property."Yes property is all in one block, contiguous, (it is in the southern half of sections
1,2,3,&4- all touching on sides) with no pugh clause, all 800 acres leased at one time.

"Doesn't matter who owns the property after the servitude is created."
OK, I can see that the original owner reserved minerals

"The servitude lasts for as long as the production and good faith operations continue without a lapse in the terms of the original contract."
so, can production from a well in section 1, within a unit boundary that only takes in section 1, allow the original owner
to keep the minerals he reserved on property he sold in section 4 ,
even if he sold the land in section 4 (30 years ago)- and no other wells
have even been drilled in section 4?
Is the one well in section 1 the reason for the servitude of all the 800 acres?

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Permalink Reply by The_Baron on March 23, 2009 at 4:08

A well will hold the entire servitude if it is within the unit boundry and on the servitude.

However, if the well is not on the servitude, but in a unit that includes part of the servitude, only the part of the servitude that is in the unit will have prescription interupted.

So if, using you example, the well drilled in section 1is on the 800 acres, yes, the mineral servitude for all 800 acres is still held by the original owner, but if the well is not on the 800 acres, only the land in the unit in section one is still held. The other minerals in ssections 2,3, 4 would prescribe after 10 years of non use, but would be HBP by the original lease (assuming that the well in section one is still producing).

In summary, if the minerals in your section have prescribed, you would still be leased by the original lease, but you would own your minerals, and be due royalties in any well that is on your land or on lands that are unitized with yours.

The question is, is the one well in your example on or off the 800 acre tract.

Permalink Reply by zx_cajun_tn on March 25, 2009 at 6:42

Say X corporation sells 15,000 acres of land in 1940 and reserves mineral rights.
X corporation leases only 4,000 acres in 1944.
There is no activity for 10 years in the sections listed in the lease from 1945 to 1963. They drilled a dry hole in 1945 and no drilling happened until 1963 in the specified 4,000 acres.
Does X coporation still have mineral rights ?

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on March 25, 2009 at 6:57

The 4000 acres has no control over the 11000 acres left unleased. A well anywhere in the 15000 acres could hold the servitude together if the property is contiguous.

Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on March 25, 2009 at 7:08

Jim zx cajun's land came out of IP.

Permalink Reply by zx_cajun_tn on March 25, 2009 at 7:25

The 15,000 acres is NOT contiguous. There are three distinct tracts that are not linked.

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Permalink Reply by zx_cajun_tn on March 25, 2009 at 7:37

I got five instruments from a landman that is supposed to convince me that I don't own minerals to land that I have owned for 30 years. I leased 36 acres in 2005 to Ellora Energy.

The documents that the landman gave me to convince me that I now don't own the mineral rights are three leases. Dates: 1999, 1959, and 1944 that list my tract of land. The 1959 and 1944 leases list my property. But if you look on Sonris the 1959 and 1944 leases are BAD because there are 10 year gaps with no dry holes drilled nor production. 1945 to 1963, 1963 to 1975, and 1982 to 1998.

The 1940 deed reserving minerals for The Whitney Corporation is for 15,304 acres. It is NOT contiguous land. I have mapped it out and there are three different pieces of land. So, my question is why don't I have a piece of paper that convinces me that a lease was done that is valid that is holding the entire 15,000 acres? Shouldn't there be a lease in effect that gives what percentage Whitney recieves in royalty and the stipulations of the lease ?

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