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November 2011 • BAKKEN BREAKOUT


By Patricia Stockdill for the Tribune


ennis Johnson’s western North Dakota roots run deep, returning to his


hometown of Watford City in 1980 after graduating from the University of North Dakota School of Law.


As the senior partner in the law firm of Johnson and Sundeen, he sees the excitement and challenges of living and working in the heart of North Dakota’s Oil Patch. Oil and gas law is just one horse in his firm’s arena of expertise, but tackling complex issues of mineral leases, mineral ownership, oil and gas litigation and surface rights issues are a major part of his work.


Oil companies typically use a mineral brokerage firm or landman to contact mineral owners in a potential oil and gas development area, Johnson said.


However, sometimes speculators anticipate areas with the potential for the next “hot spot” and seek mineral leases, either speculating an oil company will come to them for leases or develop a lease package and attempt to sell the package


to a company.


Some mineral owners seek out companies, described Mat Ekblad, Titan Resources, Inc. president and North Dakota State University graduate. He returned to his hometown of Williston where he formed his oil and gas brokerage firm. He feels mineral owners are becoming more proactive regarding their leases and at times will initiate the process.


Mineral ownership Obtaining mineral leases is just one role in the entire leasing process for a landman, Ekblad said. A landman runs titles, leases, abstracts, curative work, right-of-ways and other details in the chain of events leading from the initial mineral lease offer to the reality of liquid gold oozing through a pipeline.


A company orders titles within a tract of land once they determine where they want to put a block together to site a drilling unit, according to Ekblad.


One challenge mineral rights owners face is knowing if a landman is legitimate. Major and minor oil companies exist, Johnson said. A lease is probably a legitimate offer if made by a company actually conducting the drilling. However, sometimes companies don’t want the public knowing who the actual drilling company is, so leases may be offered in a landman or company’s name and are later assigned to the oil company.


Reputation among North Dakota’s circle of landmen is the best test in knowing if a landman is legitimate, Johnson said. North Dakota doesn’t require licensing for landmen in the same manner many other professions are licensed, so he recommends prospective mineral owners find out if the landman contacting them is a certified professional landman or member of the American Association of Professional Landmen.


People can also go to county courthouses to learn who has obtained leases, Ekblad said. The leasing process can take hours or weeks, depending on the offer and


negotiations with numerous variables entering into the process. “Just because a mineral owner is offered a lease does not mean he or she has to take it if they don’t like the offer,” Johnson added, which can bring about counteroffers and negotiations.


Given the complexities of oil and gas leases, Johnson recommends anyone presented with a lease offer contact his or her lawyer or a lawyer in the geographical location where drilling is occurring. Talk to people or lawyers in that area, and learn from their


Submitted photo Watford City attorneys Dennis Johnson, left, and Ross Sundeen, deal with a multitude of oil and gas issues in their law firm of Johnson and Sundeen.


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