Changes

# Sales or gifts may be concluded by documents such as the following:

# Sales or gifts may be concluded by documents such as the following:

#* Deeds (e.g., warranty, quit claim, easement, permit, foreclosure, tax, mineral, and royalty deeds)

#* Deeds (e.g., warranty, quit claim, easement, permit, foreclosure, tax, mineral, and royalty deeds)

#* Leases (e.g., oil and gas, coal, uranium, and surface leases)

#* Leases (e.g., [[oil]] and [[Natural gas|gas]], [[coal]], [[uranium]], and surface leases)

#* Assignments or partial assignments of leases, overriding royalty, production payments, and so on.

#* Assignments or partial assignments of leases, overriding royalty, production payments, and so on.

#* Equitable interests created by contracts such as seismic options, joint venture agreements, joint operating agreements, farm-outs, pooling or unit agreements, and partnership agreements

#* Equitable interests created by contracts such as seismic options, joint venture agreements, joint operating agreements, farm-outs, pooling or unit agreements, and partnership agreements

#: All of the documents must be in writing to be valid against the claims of innocent purchasers for value. Generally the law requires that they be registered or recorded in the public records of the county or parish where the land lies.

#: All of the documents must be in writing to be valid against the claims of innocent purchasers for value. Generally the law requires that they be registered or recorded in the public records of the county or parish where the land lies.

# Transfers by ''devise'' or''descent'' are affected by the laws relating to inheritance of property interests from deceased persons. Such transfers can be accomplished by a will or, in the absence of a will, by laws of descent and distribution of the various states. A party who dies without leaving a will is said to have died ''intestate,'' and the beneficiaries or heirs of the deceased person may have the estate administered in the appropriate judicial forum. A person who dies leaving a will is said to have died ''testate,'' and the will is probated in the appropriate judicial forum. In some cases, wills are not probated and heirs do not seek court sanctioned administration. In those cases, most states recognize the transfer of interests, but some form of proof f heirship may be necessary. This proof can be offered in several different ways, such as by filing the unprobated will in the public records or by obtaining affidavits of death and heirship from people who knew the deceased person's family history.

# Transfers by ''devise'' or''descent'' are affected by the laws relating to inheritance of property interests from deceased persons. Such transfers can be accomplished by a will or, in the absence of a will, by laws of descent and distribution of the various states. A party who dies without leaving a will is said to have died ''intestate,'' and the beneficiaries or heirs of the deceased person may have the estate administered in the appropriate judicial forum. A person who dies leaving a will is said to have died ''testate,'' and the will is probated in the appropriate judicial forum. In some cases, wills are not probated and heirs do not seek court sanctioned administration. In those cases, most states recognize the transfer of interests, but some form of proof f heirship may be necessary. This proof can be offered in several different ways, such as by filing the unprobated will in the public records or by obtaining affidavits of death and heirship from people who knew the deceased person's family history.

# Transfers by ''judicial decree'' may occur as the result of court action involving such things as divorce, foreclosures, contested wills or heirship, partition, taxation, levies on property for collection of money judgments, adverse possession, title disputes, and eminent domain.  

# Transfers by ''judicial decree'' may occur as the result of court action involving such things as divorce, foreclosures, contested wills or heirship, partition, taxation, levies on property for collection of money judgments, adverse possession, title disputes, and eminent domain.

==Ascertaining ownership of property interests==

==Ascertaining ownership of property interests==

===Example 1===

===Example 1===

[[File:Drive-mechanisms-and-recovery_fig1.png|thumb|left|'''Table 1.''' Costs and revenue interests in example 1]]

Assume the Oily Co., lessee, obtains oil and gas leases from I. M. Lucky, lessor, who owns a 3/4 interest in a [[area::20 acre]] tract of land, and from I. S. Rich, lessor, who owns the other 1/4 interest in the tract. Mr. Lucky and Mr. Rich each reserve a 1/8 royalty (cost-free) interest. Oily Co. drills and completes an oil well at a depth above 3000 ft on the leased [[area::20 acre]] tract. The costs and revenue interests are shown in Table 1.

Assume the Oily Co., lessee, obtains oil and gas leases from I. M. Lucky, lessor, who owns a 3/4 interest in a [[area::20 acre]] tract of land, and from I. S. Rich, lessor, who owns the other 1/4 interest in the tract. Mr. Lucky and Mr. Rich each reserve a 1/8 royalty (cost-free) interest. Oily Co. drills and completes an oil well at a depth above 3000 ft on the leased [[area::20 acre]] tract. The costs and revenue interests are shown in [[:Image:[[File:Drive-mechanisms-and-recovery_fig1.png|Table 1]].

| Oily Co., lessee || 100.00000 || 87.50000

|  I. S. Lucky, lessor #1 (3/4 of 1/8 royalty) || 0 || 9.37500

|  I. S. Rich, lessor #2 (1/4 of 1/8 royalty) || 0 || 3.12500

|-

|  TOTALS || 100.00000 || 100.00000

===Example 2===

===Example 2===

Assume the Oily Co. sold the deep rights to the leases in the [[area::20 acre]] tract to the Gassy Co. with the Oily Co. retaining a 5% overriding royalty interest (ORRI). The Gassy Co. obtained an oil and gas lease covering a 5/8 interest from B. A. Winner, lessor, who retained a 1/5 royalty on the [[area::300 acre]] tract adjoining the [[area::20 acre]] tract. The OPM Co. owned a lease obtained from Gotta Fortune, lessor, on the other 3/8 interest in the [[area::300 acre]] tract. The Fortune lease provided for a 1/5 royalty,but Gotta had sold 1/2 of her royalty to Fast Buck. All four leases authorized pooling, which allowed the Gassy Co. and the OPM Co. to pool their interests in the [[area::20 acre]] leases with the [[300 acre]] leases, creating a [[area::320 acre]] unit on which the companies successfully drilled and completed a gas well on the unit. The costs and revenue interests of the parties in this unit are shown in [[:Image:Drive-mechanisms-and-recovery_fig2.png|Table 2]].

Assume the Oily Co. sold the deep rights to the leases in the [[area::20 acre]] tract to the Gassy Co. with the Oily Co. retaining a 5% overriding royalty interest (ORRI). The Gassy Co. obtained an oil and gas lease covering a 5/8 interest from B. A. Winner, lessor, who retained a 1/5 royalty on the [[area::300 acre]] tract adjoining the [[area::20 acre]] tract. The OPM Co. owned a lease obtained from Gotta Fortune, lessor, on the other 3/8 interest in the [[area::300 acre]] tract. The Fortune lease provided for a 1/5 royalty,but Gotta had sold 1/2 of her royalty to Fast Buck. All four leases authorized pooling, which allowed the Gassy Co. and the OPM Co. to pool their interests in the [[area::20 acre]] leases with the 300 acre leases, creating a [[area::320 acre]] unit on which the companies successfully drilled and completed a gas well on the unit. The costs and revenue interests of the parties in this unit are shown in Table 2.

[[File:Drive-mechanisms-and-recovery_fig2.png|thumb|'''Table 2.''' Costs and revenue interests of example 2]]

 

|-

|-

|  ''20-ac tract (20/320)^a'' || ''= 06.25000'' || ''x [100 - (12.5 + 5)]^b'' || ''= 05.1562500''

|-

|  ''300-ac tract (300/320^a x 5/8)'' || ''= 58.59375'' || ''x (100 - 20)^b'' || ''= 46.8750000''

| Fast Buck, 1/2 of Fortune's royalty || 0 || 93.75^a x 1/5 x 1/2 x 3/8 || = 03.5156250

==Title opinions and title curative==

==Title opinions and title curative==

==See also==

==See also==

* [[Functions of a petroleum landman]]

* [[Functions of a petroleum landman]]

* [[Oil and gas contracts]]

* [[Oil and gas contracts]]

* [[Nature of the oil and gas lease]]

* [[Nature of the oil and gas lease]]

[[Category:Land and leasing]]

[[Category:Land and leasing]]