I got a letter from a company. What is it?

What to do first

1. Find what it asks you to sign.The heading of the enclosed form usually says it: Oil and Gas Lease, Division Order, Ratification, Right of Way Easement, Seismic Permit.
2. Look for dates.A pooling notice or a bonus draft may carry a real deadline. A sales letter may only say "limited time".
3. Find who it is from.Note the company, the contact, and whether the company named on the form is the one that wrote to you.
4. Hold off on signing.Wait until you know what the document is and what it changes.
5. Send it to us.We tell you what it is, what is normal, what is missing and what to ask.

Which kind is it?

• Lease offerThe letter, the printed form and the bonus draft.
• Top leaseA new lease that waits for the old one to end.
• Division orderYour decimal, and whether it adds up.
• RatificationConfirming a lease or unit, and how far the words reach.
• Pooling noticeWhen a hearing date or election deadline comes with it.
• Pipeline or ROW easementWidth, term, number of lines, depth and restoration.
• Seismic permitA survey crew on your land, and who pays for damage.
• Surface use agreementPads, roads, water and restoration, in writing.