Two Questions - Prescription/Reversion of minerals and ownership of pad sites

Good morning,

Question #1 - My understanding is after 10 years mineral rights revert to the surface owner if no production has occurred.

My question is who do the rights revert to if the tract has been sold several times during that 10 years?  The current surface owner?

I am looking at some documents regarding a specific tract.  It was sold in 1993 and that owner (Owner A) reserved 1/2 of the mineral rights.  Owner B received 1/2 during that 1993 sale.  Subsequently, in 1995, Owner B sells to Owner C and conveys their 1/2 mineral interest in that sale.  No production occurred until 2004 and there has been continuous production since that time.  Owner C would own the 1/2 mineral interest conveyed by Owner B in their 1995 sale.  

But would not Owner A’s 1/2 also revert to the current surface owner after the 10 years and one day had elapsed?

Question #2 - Who owns an undrilled pad site?  Is there typically an agreement between landowner and operator outside of the lease for a pad site?  

Thanks in advance.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on September 4, 2023 at 5:16

It's not just production that maintains a mineral servitude in the ten year prescriptive period.  Any good faith attempt to drill a well on the servitude or in a unit including the servitude would reset the ten year clock.  If there was no good faith attempt to drill a well that turned out to be a dry hole, then both reservations expired at mid-night of the 3,650th day of the sale that created the servitude.  At that time, the current owner of the surface estate would own the mineral right in full.  The 1995 sales are moot lacking a good faith attempt to drill a well if the servitudes in question were created in 1993. Only operations can maintain a Louisiana mineral servitude.

As far as I know drill sites are traditionally sold to the first operator intending to drill the well as opposed to created in an O&G lease.  It wouldn't matter that the pad was undrilled.

Disclaimer:  I Am Not An O&G Attorney.

Permalink Reply by Quattro on September 4, 2023 at 5:51

Thank you Skip.

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on September 4, 2023 at 5:54

You're welcome.

Permalink Reply by Quattro on September 4, 2023 at 9:18

As follow up on the pad site, typically you would sell the acreage where the pad was built to the operator?  As in an actual conveyance of the surface?

Situation is Inherited property - there is an unused pad, but no conveyance document that can be found, and as far as i can tell, we are paying property tax on the entire acreage and have always been.

Trying to understand ownership of the pad and their rights to sell it again.  Not even sure who constructed it.

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on September 4, 2023 at 9:19

What is the section-township-range location of the pad?

Permalink Reply by Quattro on September 4, 2023 at 9:39

Sent you a message -thanks

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