Last week, my colleague from Oklahoma State University, Shannon Ferrell, and I put on an oil and gas leasing workshop in College Station.  The program was well attended, participants asked excellent questions, and the final evaluations and comments were very positive from those who attended. The funding for this project was provided by the Southern Risk Management Education Center and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.  We would also like to say a special thank you to Dr. Mark Waller, Tracy Davis, and Dusty Tittle for their assistance in planning this workshop and to Dylan Felger for doing the layout and design of the handbook.

As part of this project, we wrote a handbook titled “Petroleum Production on Agricultural Lands in Texas: Managing Risks and Opportunities” to assist Texas landowners in dealing with many issues related to petroleum production.  The first chapter discusses the oil and gas production process and highlights some of the impacts that might have on agricultural land.  The second chapter focuses on surface owners, outlining their rights under the law and offering critical tips for protecting the surface of their land.  Next, the third chapter provides an overview of what rights come along with mineral ownership, including a discussion of the rights of mineral co-tenants.  The fourth chapter deals with the oil and gas lease, breaking down a sample lease and offering a checklist of terms that mineral owners should consider.  Finally, the handbook concludes with chapter 5 on pipeline easement negotiation.

To obtain a copy of the handbook, just click here.