Represent real estate developers who encounter the ever-increasing situation where the surface they own or have interest in acquiring has all or some of the mineral estate severed from the surface.  Developers are finding it almost impossible to obtain financing on their purchases, or very difficult to sell those properties, with surface control being compromised by the fact that the severed mineral estate is dominant over the surface estate. Our services include (i) title research to identify all of the record mineral owners (or their heirs), (ii) negotiating waivers of the mineral owners’ surface rights, and (iii) negotiating designated drill sites that are satisfactory to both mineral and surface owners’ land plans.  However, as is often the case, mineral owners may have been lost due to the passage of time or were unwilling to negotiate waivers or drill sites. To that end we have testified on dozens of occasions before the Texas Railroad Commission on behalf of developer clients seeking Rule 76 relief with regard to designating future drill sites that work within their land plans for development of their surface.

Represent renewable energy developers (wind and solar) as they deal with the reality that the minerals have more times than not been severed from the developer’s surface, which can create a surface control crisis.  Not unlike the real estate developers, this can cause difficulties in their ability to enjoy their surface rights, in that the owners of the mineral estate have the rights to get to their minerals without interference from the holders of the surface estate.  We aid our clients in (i) identifying and locating the current mineral owners and (ii) negotiating outright surface waivers or partial waivers with designated drillsites, along with road and pipeline access to those sites.  This allows the renewable energy developer to move forward with confidence that any future oil and gas development can take place alongside of, and not at the expense of, the development of the surface.

Lease checks, mineral take-offs, abstracting, lease preparation and negotiations, title curative.

Negotiate farm outs, participation agreements and joint operating agreements, prepare and mail division orders, prepare and maintain lease files.

Research title, prepare and negotiate ROWs, prepare and maintain ROW files, negotiate damages.

Producing Properties and Pipelines. Represent buyers, sellers, lenders and law firms in researching the ownership interests of the seller/borrower of producing oil and gas properties and leasehold interests, as well as pipeline assets, from small gathering systems to major trunk lines.

Represent midstream clients in acquiring the rights to construct gas storage facilities in salt dome caverns and depleted reservoirs, along with acquiring the necessary pipeline easements for connecting to the available markets.

Represent families, individuals and estates with extensive mineral and/or royalty holdings. We organize the files the client may have inherited or can no longer maintain, conduct courthouse research where necessary to create an accurate inventory of their interests, and negotiate leases with oil companies. Having spent a vast majority of our careers representing the oil companies, we have a good understanding of what an oil company is willing to accept when it comes to the terms and provisions of an oil and gas lease.

Have been certified as experts on numerous occasions by and testified in front of the Texas Railroad Commission for clients seeking relief under the various rules promulgated by the Commission.

Served as expert witnesses in numerous legal proceedings involving various aspects of the land side of the oil business.