Are you looking for an oil and gas attorney? Many mineral owners are looking for an oil and gas attorney because they don’t know where to turn. Before you do anything read this entire article. We’ll help you better understand when you should hire an oil and gas attorney and when you should find someone else. Below we have a number of situations that may describe yours. Find the section that best describes why you are looking for an oil and gas attorney and read the section carefully. We’ll even recommend the best alternative when applicable.
If you still have questions after reading the section that applies to you, use the form at the bottom of this page. We speak with mineral owners every day and we would be happy to help you out.
Selling Mineral Rights or Leasing Mineral Rights
If you have been approached to sell mineral rights or lease mineral rights, you may have been presented with a lengthy legal document. Your first instinct is to find an attorney who handles legal documents to help you through it. After years of experience we can tell you this is a mistake 9 times out of 10.
Why? An attorney is paid to review a legal document and make sure that the document does not contain any language that could hurt you in the future. Unfortunately, many attorney’s simply aren’t familiar with oil and gas lease terms and they miss key elements that you should have in your lease. In the event you do find an attorney who specializes in oil and gas, there is still one key reason that the attorney is not the right option.
An oil and gas attorney does NOT know if the value being offered in the contract is the real market value. They have no way to determiner if the offer is fair, they are simply checking the legal language. Your attorney may be able to review the lease, but they can never ensure that you got a fair offer.
We have spoken to a large number of mineral owners over the years who worked with an attorney to sell or lease mineral rights. More often than not the language in these agreements is not in the best interests of the mineral owner. Missing pugh clauses, royalty deduction clauses, and many other factors that are important are often overlooked by attorney’s who don’t have the necessary experience and expertise. Finding a qualified oil and gas attorney is extremely difficult, and even the best attorney may not be in your best interests if the original offer you received isn’t fair market value.
Alternative Option: The alternative option we recommend is to contact US Mineral Exchange. The reason is that the team at US Mineral Exchange can not only help you get your lease or sales agreement reviewed, they can also ensure that you are getting fair market value for your property.
Lease Agreement Dispute or Royalties Dispute
If there is a dispute about your lease agreement, contacting an oil and gas attorney is likely your best option. This can happen when a lease agreement is sign, and then the oil and gas company decides not to immediately pay the lease bonus. If an oil and gas company is stalling a lease bonus payment, getting an attorney involved can be a good way to either speed up the payment process or get your lease rescinded so you can lease it to someone else.
In addition, if you have royalties that you don’t believe are being paid out fairly, getting an attorney involved may be a good solution. The attorney may be able to put pressure on the oil and gas company to provide you with information about what deductions have occurred and why they were necessary. An oil and gas attorney may also be able to review your lease to determine if the terms specified in the lease are being accurately followed.
Selling Royalties
If you have royalties to sell, there is no need to contact an oil and gas attorney. An oil and gas attorney may be able to review legal documentation, but the buyer of your royalties will take care of all of that. In rare circumstances there may be some terms of a royalty sale that need to be reviewed, but an attorney is most likely not your best option. In addition, just like when you sell or lease mineral rights, the attorney is only reviewing legal documents and can’t tell you if you are getting a fair value. The best legal documents in the world don’t ensure you get fair market value for your property. To get fair market value, you need to get your property in front of multiple buyers.
Alternative Option: We highly recommend that you list your royalties with US Mineral Exchange or contact them for questions about an offer you have received. US Mineral Exchange works with royalty owners to ensure they get the highest amount possible for their royalties.
Free Consultation
If you own mineral rights and have questions, fill out the free consultation form below. We can help you with the following questions:
- Mineral Rights Value
- Evaluate whether you have a fair offer to sell mineral rights
- Answer questions about selling mineral rights
- Understanding Market Value of Mineral Rights
- + Any other questions related to mineral rights!
No matter what question you have regarding your mineral rights, we can help! We usually respond to your inquiry within 1 to 2 hours!
Whether you want to sell mineral rights, determine mineral rights value, or simply have some basic questions regarding your mineral rights ownership, fill out the form and we will quickly be in touch.
