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My lease might have expired. How do I tell?
A lease usually ends when its primary term runs out with nothing holding it: no production in paying quantities, no drilling under way, no proper shut-in payment, and no producing unit that includes your land.
What to do first
- Find the lease.Note its recording details (book and page or instrument number), its date and its primary term.
- Check for production.Is a well on your land, or in a unit that includes it, producing and paying? Are royalty checks still coming?
- Check what else can hold it.Shut-in payments, drilling under way when the term ended, an extension option, or a continuous development clause.
- Ask for a release.If the lease looks ended, ask the company for a recorded release. A release in the county records clears the way for a new lease.
- Watch for top lease offers.A top lease offer is often a sign that someone else thinks the lease may end soon.
Send us the lease and what you know. We tell you what to check and what to ask for, and we can pull the county records if you want us to.
Common questions
How do I know if my oil and gas lease is still in force?
Check the primary term date, then whether anything held the lease past it: production in paying quantities, drilling, shut-in payments or a producing unit. If nothing did, it may have ended.
What should I do if my lease expired?
Ask the company for a recorded release. Until a release is filed, the old lease can still cloud the title when a new company wants to lease.
Send it before you sign
Tell us what you got and what you want to know. We reply by email and tell you how to send the pages. A landman reads them and sends back a one-page review sheet.
Email hello@landman.review with what you got and your question, or call (307) 263-8515.