Oil Gas and Minerals

if a subcontractor is hired by larger corporation to provide a specific task and while working on this specific task the subcontractors employee dies, who's responsible? who is the subcontractor an employee of? the statutory employment law is being used as well, what is this law? and what situations does this apply? thank you

I own a 12 acre tract, surface and oil and gas the tract is a divided portion of a 194 acre tract that has an existing lease in WV. There are two wells existing on the 194 acres that are not on my tract. I don't receive royalty from these wells. There are no pooling agreements in the original lease. The gas company wants me to sign a pooling agreement that states that all tracts will be merged and treated as if a well or wells were drilled on each tract. Does this give me a portion of the royalty for production on all parts of the 194 acre tract used in separate units. They have two pads under construction for horizontal wells on the 194 acre tract. They have signatures from all of the owners of the tracts within the 194 acres except mine. There permits show the use of parts of the 194 acre tract pooled with additional tracts outside of the 194 acre tract. They claim that without my signature that they can sever my portion of the tract out of the original lease and use the signed portions for creation of units involving tracts outside of the 194 acre tract. Can they actually do this or would it breach the original lease without the signatures of all of the heirs or assigns of the divided 194 acre tract.

When my husband passed away he named me as sole beneficiary to all of his property. I was told that. Since my name was not on the house (purchased before we married) or on the mineral rights lease, which he signed years after we were married, (and my name is NOT on, he said he was a SINGLE PERSON when he signed the lease and the document has that printed on it that he signed) that the lease became null and void after his death, or even before as it stated he was SINGLE when he was not, and that a new lease will have to be signed by me and that the company who held the mineral rights will have to pay me for those rights. And because we WERE MARRIED at the time the lease was signed and I did not sign it, that they still need a lease with MY name on it. True? He passed on 12/25/2009 and the will has been probated and the house is now in my name. As is all of his other property.The gas company told me the lease MUST remain in his name even if the house is sold to someone else. And that I, and future owners of the property, are only entitled to royalties. That the lease he signed is binding as long as their gas well is in operation.

This is an oil and gas question. Two brothers each have 1/2 mineral interests in the same real estate. The older brother 'conveys and quit claims to the following described real estate to wit' ...'Subject to all easements, restrictions, rights of way and covenants of record or in possession.' Does the the grantee now have all minerals and real estate?

According to the Register Of Deeds Office, located in the County Bldg of Howell, MI, I was told in person, (while watching the Registrar locate the huge books of Records and go through two of them that were completely handwritten and considered to be the most recent and up-to-date records regarding Deeds and ownership otherwise.) that because there are no records of an oil lease associated with our house or anyone else since the original lease in 1992, which was set to expire in three years, nor is there any reference of any mineral rights on the Deed; that they are two separate entities. (The original oil lease was brought out as well, to be examined in front of me, while the Registrar used the biggest magnifying glass I've ever seen...and I have the copies/documents that were made the day I was there...the ones that are suppose to show that the house and mineral rights are separate entities, not all of which I understand) Therefore, due to the previously stated, we did not have to disclose upon the mineral rights we had been receiving and we were not required to sell the mineral rights with the house. The original owner of the house sold it to his daughter and she sold it to us, where she signed off on the mineral rights, to us. The Oil Co. that holds our lease, transferred the lease and all rights to it, to the guy that bought the house at the Sheriff's auction. We received no written notice or any notice at all, other than noticing that our checks stopped coming in monthly, we also never signed off on our rights. The Registrar Of Deeds said that because the mineral rights are not conveyed on the Deed whatsoever, they are separate. The Oil Co. is saying that the Sheriff's Deed and the Covenant Deed convey these rights, when in fact, there is no mention of any mineral rights associated with that house...and I have copies of all Deeds; Warranty Deed between parents and daughter, WD between the daughter and us, the Sheriff's Deed, Covenant Deed, and what is recorded simply as, Deed with the current owner. There is a paragraph in the Sheriff's Deed that I don't fully understand, it's the third, 'WHEREAS' statement and contains this portion regarding; 'a copy thereof was duly posted in a conspicuous place upon the premises described in the mortgage that the premises, OR SOME PART OF THEM, would be sold on 8/12/09...so, isn't that saying that the sale could perhaps, not include a portion of the premises if it had previously been split off? There is record of one, and only one split regarding this property recorded with The Register of Deeds office/website and dated when we purchased the house and mineral rights from the daughter, which I am assuming (and hoping) would reference the split/severance of the rights from the actual property the house sits on. The Covenant Deed contains a sentence that is not on our Warranty Deed; 'Subject to building and use restrictions of record. And then the paragraph beginning; If property conveyed is unplatted...' Not sure what all that means. In all the copies of Deeds I have in my possession, there is not one single reference to anything other than the house itself, there is no mention of any mineral rights or a lease pertaining to any rights and we feel our mineral rights and the income from them, have been unlawfully transferred. I am sorry this is not just a sentence with a few words in it and an easy question, but I am a stay-at-home Mom and Wife and cannot afford to pay someone if I can figure it out on my own with some assistance. My children have not been real happy with me lately, as I have been nearly completely consumed by this for the past week and a half. I just need a little help deciphering between words, phrases, etc... I thank you for any assistance you are able and/or willing to give me.