Posted: 11/13/2007 11:24:38 AM EDT
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Building a new house on 16 acres, about 2/3rds finished and a truck comes down my driveway. I ask who are you with. His reply is sub contractor for San Jacinto land Service company. It for a 3-D seismic survey access. Any of you have any problems with these kinds of company's wanting to come on your property uninvited. They want to drill a hole drop some dynamite down it, BOOM and see if they can harvest natural gas or oil. I want nothing to do with them. I looked at my deed and I don't see anywhere on it that I own the mineral rights. What recourse do I have NO TRESPASSING 
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Make em get a court order if you don't want them there. |
True. But David_4x4 asked the mineral rights. |
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I guess the big question is, "do mineral rights allow access ONTO property you don't own?" I know they can drill across and under my land, but I don't think a drilling company who has the mineral rights to my property can just come on my property whenever they want, park their trucks and build a well. |
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"But its a subcontractor. They don't own jack!!!" But they were contracted by the people who do. If you bought the land with no mineral rights, they can come and "explore". Some companies have the common courtesy to let you know that they will check the area but some are total a-holes. Just have some fun and make them show id, papers, etc with your shotty. I know it is not related but every time I have to work on an easement, I make sure I got my ID visible.  Good luck. |
How would they prove that they had a right to be "ON" my property. I tell them to FO, and call the police to have them arrested if they don't. right? |
Legally, they can. They have to stay 200' away from your primary residence and pay for damages. Most will approach you and work out an agreement. Get a lawyer. It could save you big headaches down the road. The lease agreement they hand you only protects them, not the landowner. |
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If you don't own the mineral rights there's not much you can do to stop them if they're determined, although they will have to pay you for surface damages. Mineral owners do have the right to evaluate and exploit their property, which in this case would be whatever mineral assets (oil & gas) your property sits on. If they have not as yet made arrangements with you for reimbursement for damages they need to do that before proceeding. In real terms, you may be able to cause enough fuss that they decide to shoot around you, but life'll probably be easier if you just get some bucks out of them. Let me reiterate - if they are determined and they do either hold the mineral rights or have permission from whomever does, then you cannot stop them. Seismic crews have been known to have sheriff's deputies escort them when needing to access recalcitrant surface owners' property. |
Or the police come and tell you to let them have access. You might try talking to the guys, especially if you have a particular issue you are worried about, like erosion or damage to certain trees or something like that. The power company had some contractors out clearing under the power lines that run along the edge of my property between my house and the road. I talked to the guys and they didn't cut any of the trees or brush that block the view of the road. I didn't like having them there, but a little conversation kept the situation from being unbearable. |
I don't think the Ft Worth police are going to tell me that I have to let anyone else on my property. They would have no way of knowing the legalities, rights, etc. My land, they stay off unless and until they prove they have access and a court orders me. If tha were to happen, the Sheriff or Constable (not police) would be sent out to enforce the order, if needed. But if the clowns just showed up unannounced and tried to come on, the police would have to tell them to leave. |
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I don't think the Ft Worth police are going to tell me that I have to let anyone else on my property. They would have no way of knowing the legalities, rights, etc. My land, they stay off unless and until they prove they have access and a court orders me. If tha were to happen, the Sheriff or Constable (not police) would be sent out to enforce the order, if needed. But if the clowns just showed up unannounced and tried to come on, the police would have to tell them to leave. Bulleye txinvestigator, Prove it AND court orders, otherwise beat it ass hat |
I think these days they mostly use the thumpers, don't they? |
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Depends where you are. In East and Southeast Texas we use Pentolite mostly, which is an explosive. In deep South Texas and West Texas most recording is done with vibrators. ETA - I haven't run across a weight drop source (thumper) in many years, but they may be using them somewhere. |
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I had the exact same thing happen to me, I own 5 acres no mineral rights. I told them no they cannot come onto my property, they just laided the cables on the neighboring property to do their tests. Yes they can come in and drill under me from an angle, but my signing at closing said I had the surface rights and did NOT say they have any access to the surface. I guess if they had wanted it that bad we would have ended up in court. Oh and I was new to Texas back in 1976 when I bought the land and the surface rights language was written in at closing. I asked what does this mean, they said Oh it just means you can't drill and Oil well. So I signed what had happened was my Realator took the mineral rights. I found out later he has done that to lots of people. Had I known anything about Minerial right I would have them but on 5 acres that doesn't amount to much. |
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I live in the north end of the south Liberty oilfield. They do use explosives here. To answer the OPs question. To do a survey and seismic work they need to get permission to do this. Usually they pay so much per acre. The last time it was done at my place, I think the going rate was around 2 bucks per acre. So on 5 acres you might have enough to buy lunch, if you are not very hungry. If you get a hold of the land man who is in charge of all this, he can tell you who signed/cashed the check. They usually don't do much as far as damage to the land. They have recorders that they place in certain positions, and every so often they drill a hole and plant a charge. I always let them come in and do their work. The last 2 times they did this, they drilled wells adjacent to my property, and I was in on the pool. I am still getting one check on a well that is next to my property. I usually get around 500 bucks a month. It ain't that much, but it pays the taxes and utilities. When the other well came in, I became debt free in one month. Don't let anyone fool you. They are doing this seismic work as preparation to do some drilling. Petroleum and gas move around, and they need up to date info on its location. You have surface rights, and they are included in the payout of the well if your land is in the pool. |