Landmen hired by oil operators have one duty: acquire your mineral rights at the lowest possible royalty with the most operator-friendly lease terms. We provide independent, matter-of-fact second opinions for mineral owners and farming families before you sign a binding instrument.
Select your current situation to identify critical contract risks, discover what standard clauses you must strike, and export an itemized Landowner Protection Checklist (.CSV).
Oil companies print their leases on standard "Producers 88" forms designed in the 1950s to protect the driller. Never sign without these four protective addendum riders attached.
Prevents an operator from tying up your entire 160-acre tract by pooling just 20 acres into a distant well unit. A vertical Pugh clause also frees deep untested formations 100 feet below the deepest producing perforation at the end of the primary term.
Guarantees that your royalty check is calculated on gross proceeds at the point of sale. Without this clause, operators can legally subtract transportation, dehydration, compression, and marketing fees—slashing your net payment by 20% to 50%.
Stops an operator from holding your lease indefinitely without drilling by paying a token $1.00/acre "shut-in" fee. Caps shut-in status to an aggregate maximum of two consecutive years, forcing development or release.
If you own the surface acreage, sets mandatory payment rates for well pads, access roads, and flowlines. Prohibits drillers from drawing fresh water from your private water wells, ponds, or creeks without separate commercial contracts.
Upload your lease offer, division order letter, or ROW agreement for an objective assessment by our landmen. We will tell you if the terms are fair, what market bonuses are paying in your county, and what clauses you should strike.
This is almost universally a high-pressure sales tactic. Landmen represent the operator and operate on commission or timeline deadlines. If an oil company has committed capital to drill a unit including your minerals, they still need your signature after 14 days. Rushing to sign a bad lease costs you tens of thousands of dollars over the multi-decade life of a producing well.
In a "Net Proceeds" lease, the driller calculates your royalty check only after deducting expenses for transporting, compressing, treating, and marketing the oil and gas. In a "Gross Proceeds" lease with an explicit no-deductions addendum, your royalty is paid on 100% of the market value realized at the point of sale, with zero operator deductions.
In states like Texas, an operator cannot drill across your unleased mineral tract without committing a subsurface trespass. However, in states like Oklahoma, an operator can file for "forced pooling" through the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, where the state sets a fixed statutory bonus and royalty election if you fail to reach a voluntary agreement.
A Division Order is an accounting schedule sent by the operator once a well is completed, stating your decimal interest in production. In Texas (Texas Natural Resources Code § 91.402), a Division Order cannot alter or amend the terms of your underlying oil and gas lease. You should always verify that the decimal matches your Net Mineral Acres divided by total unit acreage.
We are independent career landmen. We believe landowners should have access to the same technical market knowledge that billion-dollar oil operators possess. If an estate requires complex title curative or direct mineral brokerage, we can assist, but our initial second opinion is always completely free and zero-pressure.