Oil & Gas Title Examination

Helping clients understand what they own before they drill, produce or invest.

Companies seeking to develop oil and gas interests need clarity around title before they commit significant capital. Drawing on deep experience, practical judgment and the ability to scale, we meticulously trace the history of ownership and documents affecting oil and gas assets to help ascertain mineral and royalty interests, working interests, revenue interests, third-party rights and development rights. Perhaps that’s why three of the five largest publicly traded oil and gas companies in the U.S., along with numerous other publicly traded energy companies, smaller operators and non-operators, rely on us for this work.

How do we help oil and gas companies assess their rights to, and the potential risks of, developing an asset?

Navigating complex oil and gas title

Title can be shaped by generations of ownership transfers, fractionalized mineral interests, wills and trusts, historic pooling, leases, surface and depth rights and horizontal development across multiple tracts with different owners, among several other factors. Records often date to the 1800s, courthouse records often conflict with contractual rights, and every locale has its own rules and procedures.

The stakes are high. Unlike most real estate transactions, oil and gas deals typically have no insurance, so our opinion is often the client’s primary protection. We approach each examination with the persistence of a detective and the precision of an engineer, delivering the experience, rigor and accountability our clients require.

Senior teams curated around clients, at limitless scale.

Large acquisitions and development projects can require hundreds of title opinions covering thousands of acres, often within a 30- to 60-day diligence period. With almost 60 attorneys handling title opinions alone, that’s not a problem; we’re built for that pace. We recently completed the title work for a $12 billion West Texas transaction spanning nearly 100,000 net acres. With our depth of bench and organizational capacity, we can handle the most demanding title projects, without sacrificing judgment or consistency. Our experienced team includes former oil company general counsel attorneys and numerous former landmen who bring that firsthand industry experience to every examination.

A modern title opinion format

We designed and developed an innovative format that presents complex ownership information in a streamlined, intuitive and usable form. Special features include Excel-based schedules organized by tract and allocation, and complicated title and leasehold history presented through easy-to-navigate digital flow charts. By cutting repetition and reducing opportunities for error, our title opinions provide clients with a clear and accurate understanding of the asset without drowning them in paper. 

Our role does not end with merely identifying a defect.

When we uncover a problem, we help clients understand what information is missing, what needs to be confirmed and what steps may be available to address the issue and reduce risks. That may mean locating estate documents, confirming ownership, or satisfying certain requirements before an interest can be leased or paid. We give clients the information they need and then help them take the next best steps.

Deep experience across major producing regions.

Our title attorneys have substantial experience in:

• West Texas/New Mexico and the Permian, Delaware, and Central Platform Basins
• East Texas and the Haynesville
• North Texas and the Barnett
• South Texas and the Eagle Ford
• North Dakota/Montana and the Bakken formation in the Williston BasinOklahoma and the Mid-Continent
• Ohio and the Utica
• Colorado/Wyoming and the Rockies

We understand the historical ownership patterns and legal differences that make title examination vary from one basin or jurisdiction to another.

“Title examination isn’t about producing a legal opinion; it’s about giving an operator confidence that the asset it is buying, drilling or producing actually is what it thinks it is. The goal is to identify and resolve ownership and title issues before they become expensive problems for our clients.”