In terms of passive income, one of the cornerstones of our century is oil and gas title. Before you sign a proposed lease agreement for mineral rights, you should contact a real estate law firm that is well versed in the most up-to-date real estate laws and is familiar with the marketing and negotiating of mineral rights. Typically, this isn’t a service that you would have a general practitioner perform for you.
The actual amount that you receive will be dependent on several different factors.
The smoothness of oil and gas makes it difficult to distinguish mineral rights by a characterized well or geographic region. Oil can without much trouble, flow, or spread to the subsurface of adjoining lots of lands. These liquid minerals that run amongst properties and might be removed from any property under which they move are called fugitive resources. This is commonly referred to as the "rule of capture”. In the event that you have the mineral rights to penetrate a well on your property, you reserve a privilege to all the oil you catch, regardless of whether the oil is drawn or pooled from the bordering properties of your neighbors.
You may have title to mineral rights on a property you own, or they may have been sold or leased by a prior owner, in which case they may not be yours to sell. Real estate law firms can research your chain of title to determine if the mineral rights transferred from owner to owner. Often, oil and gas companies retain and work with veteran real estate attorneys to conduct extensive research at many levels of detail, including certified title, takeoff, due diligence, genealogical heirship, and corporate leasehold title.
The laws concerning mineral rights in Ohio are complex and must be strictly complied with. Failure to comply with the laws may result in litigation that is extensive and expensive. In addition to already being strict, they are ever-changing. This is the reason why it isn’t ideal to hire lawyer a who is a general practitioner to draft, asses or negotiate your oil and gas lease.
Blindly signing an oil and gas lease can turn your property into a wasteland with consequences that can affect the quality of your everyday life such as:
- Permit the drilling company to use heavy equipment near your home twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,
- Provide immunity to the company for harm to your property caused by drilling on adjacent properties, and
- Allow drilling practices that contaminate your water source
Terms like the ones above may be negotiable, but you cannot expect the gas company to tell you this even if the company is required by law to do so. Even the most well-known oil and gas companies use misleading, confusing, and even illegal practices to get people to sign their contracts. That is why no one should sign an oil and gas lease without first consulting with a real estate lawyer.
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