Does anyone know what the going rate per acre is for letting a company do a seismic survey of your property? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

joevic

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Cajun was paying $25 per acre last summer. They may pay more if they drill and shoot from your property, don't know.
Speculative companies (Seitel, Global, CGGVeritas) usually pay $15.00 per acre. It's different when Oil Companies acquire there own 3D's, they have a complete set of economics. Cajun was permitting for Chesapeake last summer and those were propietary surveys.
CGG Veritas offered to pay me 15 bucks. Told them I wanted 25 and they turned me down so I turned them away. They said they couldn't because that is what they paid everyone else. They came back a month or so later and said 15/acre plus a predetermined amount for damages. I did the math on dollars per acre and it came to 25. We all got what we wanted in the end. I do think the amount of acreage you have helps with the negotiations.
I have 75 acres and Comstock offered $25, I checked around and confirmed that was fair.
Comstock is a propietary job. Speculative companies do not produce oil and gas. Just license data. Not the same economics. The real money you will get is from the royalties you will recieve from your minerals. You are not going to get rich off of seismic companies. Just oil and gas companies!
Seismic recording operations are done by helicopter portable operations now but drilling is done by buggies and and still cause damage. I know because I was involved in buggy operations and helicopter portable operations in the 70s and 80s. I would attach a hole price to the lease fees. I'd hate to find damage on my place and none on my neighbers yet we are paid the same acrage lease price. The way this 3D surveying is done there is not as equal a distribution of damage as it used to be.
As a retiree from a major seismic company I know it was common to pay so much per shot-hole and so much per mile when using explosives or so much per mile if using other energy sources such as vibroseis. In each case actual damage was also paid. This was when doing 2 dimensional surveys. Because of the difference in 2d and 3d data gathering techniques the compensation is different. For a 3-d survey It is common to pay a fee per each shot hole plus so much per acre plus actual damages. When a seismic company is acquiring a seismic survey for themselves (speculative survey) they will own the data. They hope to sell a licensing agreement to as many oil companies as they can. This is how they will get their cost back with hopes of making a profit for their risk taken. With the attraction of many oil companies reviewin the data it is likely an increase in the companies competing for your mineral rights will occur increasing the lease bonus amounts.
However, if the companies review the data gathered over your acreage and the data does not show the area as one of potential it has the reverse effect, it could kill any interest in leasing your acreage.
If an oil company is acquiring seismic data over an area they have already leased, by rights of their licensing agreement they can transgress the surface to evaluate their subsurface mineral lease.They usually pay a fair price which is normally a little more than the seismic company wil pay for a speculative survey. If the permit fee price is two expensive for a seismic company two make money on a speculative 3-d survey they may avoid acquiring the data in that area. The objective for the land owner is to get his acreage leased and a well drilled. $15 for a speculative survey plus damages and $25 for an oil company proprietary plus damages sounds fair to me.
Hope this wasn't to confusing.
Good info. Thanks.
Mike
This is very good information - A few questions come to mind - you said the seismic company owns the data - (1) to my way of thinking they would share ownership of the data with the land owner - would the land owner have a right to the data information? (2) Could the info from this seismic data prevent your land from being leased - and if so why would anyone let the seismic company test the land before getting a leasing bonus? (3) Would it benefit a land owner to have an attorney draw up a contract for seismic activites - for possible damages and the right to the info, etc.
Thanks
Shaleeee
Keep in mind that the more expensive the leases become the more thay are going to want to know what they are leasing. That is especially true if your property is beyond where they believe the limits of the Hanesville Shale to be.
Shaleeee
To protect their investment a seismic company must maintain the privacy of the data. I have never know for a company to give out the seismic data to some one that was not a bonafide energy company. Even if they did give it to you it would be in a form that would be absolutely worthless to you.
If data shows that your property has no potential for oil or gas then your property may never get leased. However, I would let the company cross my property with no hesitation. The good that it could bring greatly outweighs the bad.
I don't think it is necessary to get an attorney involved in a seismic contract. You can make notes on the seismic permit that damages include all surface damage to the land, fence damage, tree damage, waterwell damage etc.
Mike
They just contacted me (hwy 120 near Belmont) offered $15 per acre. I tried to negotiate better terms, but they held fast. I hear they are giving $25 in the northwestern part of Sabine.

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