They say timing is everything. I say timing and information are everything. It has been said by many a Landman, and I have heard it first hand; This offer will go away if you don’t sign by………… This may very well be the case, but wouldn’t it be smarter to sign a Lease document knowing you have gathered as much information as you could to make the best informed decision for your mineral or surface interest?
Questions such as: How much of my acreage will be included in the original Unit? Where does my acreage fit in the proposed original Unit? And what are these deductions? Where will the pipeline be located on my surface? These are just a few questions which are reasonable and valuable to the mineral owner.
Many Gas Companies have a hard time opening up to Mineral and Surface Owners. They all talk about TRANSPARENCY, but very few of them carry through with this notion. Many want YOU, the OWNER of the Mineral or Surface to sign the Agreement so they can move on to some other unsuspecting owner.
There is always the chance that the DEAL may go away. Even if you sign the Agreement, the Gas Company has a way out and the DEAL will go away anyway. Once signed, the Lease document could be active FOREVER. Now, forever is a relative term, but in my world 20 to 50 years is FOREVER. We as Mineral and Surface Owners need to do what we can to protect ourselves and our heirs by taking the time to gather as much information as we can prior to signing any Gas Lease or Surface Agreement.

We don’t want our Heirs opening up a drawer as they are cleaning out our stuff, (Hopefully, once we croak) and find a Gas Lease or Surface Agreement that they knew nothing about and that they scratch their head while saying “What were they thinking”?
LMMA can assist you with the timing and the gathering of information as you pick the RIGHT time to sign any Agreement with a Gas Company.
Comments