Third generation wildcatter, Raymond Pierson, is a famous Rocky Mountain geologist who played an instrumental role in the development of Wattenberg Field in Weld County, Colorado. Over the last few decades, his work has been published in both academic journals and newspapers.
Raymond recently had another discovery when he found LandGate. He had several discussions with LandGate’s oil and gas professionals and quickly understood that he found something unique. Never in his illustrious 40+ years in oil and gas had he come across a company like LandGate. “I sure am glad you all came into business,” Raymond said during a conference call. Raymond highly recommended a family friend to use services provided by LandGate to list their minerals for sale. Raymond’s friend now has their interests represented with the same economic and engineering support that oil and gas companies utilize for their own assets. Below is a summary, in Raymond Pierson’s own words, on why he believes LandGate is “the next big thing” in oil and gas for both mineral owners and mineral buyers.
“As a Certified Petroleum Geologist with 40 years of experience, I have had the opportunity to work with every professional aspect of the petroleum industry involving oil and gas minerals, exploration and development geology, drilling on and off shore, production and reserves. I have been credited by my peers as the geologist who discovered the Codell sandstone production of the Denver Basin in 1981, which currently boasts 25,000 wells. I have worked for various companies including AERA Energy LLC, the operating arm of ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell in California.
I was recently asked to help a family friend who owned minerals in Lea County, New Mexico. They had been approached to sell their minerals in a section of land that had been leased a few years earlier. The land physically off-set production and currently has a horizontal well permitted to be drilled. The price offered per net mine seemed extremely low. I conducted research of the geology and production, and submitted a report and advised the owner to share the report with the company making the offer. They did and the company rescinded their offer and did not make a new, higher offer. One of the resources that I selected to assist me in the valuation of the minerals was LandGate. I was able to see the land on their website, access off-setting wells and their production history, observe prices per net mineral acre of other lands in the same county and came to the following conclusion. The offer of $1900 per net mineral acre, comprising 80 net mineral acres, compared to the value of a 1% Overriding Royalty in an offset well was the determining factor for a decision. The land owner currently has a 25% Royalty on their minerals in the new permitted well. LandGate published an off-set well having a long term value of $53,000 per 1% override. So, the landowner could have received $152,000 for the sale of the minerals or the opportunity to receive $1,325,000 in royalties on just one comparable well on their property. There is room for six (6) horizontal wells which would yield $7,950,000 in long term royalties. The obvious choice was not to sell, at least not at the offered price. The question of what to do next with this knowledge became paramount. The landowner then became more interested in their mineral values and mentioned that they owned a few thousand mineral acres in Lea County and wanted to know their value as well. I explained that the evaluation of their entire mineral holdings would require a complete investigation of all the fields, wells, and current leasing and sales prices. I indicated that I could do that, but I would be limited on the access to the data, software, hardware, and resources I would need. However, I based all the information, with the exception of the geology, on the data I found on LandGate's website. The structure of LandGate incorporates all the reservoir engineering, well production, lease and mineral sales prices, and a very accurate value evaluation to present to the landowner. Their business model of incorporating everything a major oil company would use to value a property and then publicly listing it is exactly what I would have wanted to independently do, but clearly beyond my single abilities.
I visited with Craig Kaiser, involved the landowner, and recommended the services of LandGate. This business concept of LandGate is an extremely "value added" combination of resources into one accessible place and provides the mineral owner the protection and control over their valuable property."
-Raymond M. Pierson
AAPG Certified Petroleum Geologist #5881
Read more about Raymond M. Pierson's intriguing story on the development of the Codell formation in the following resources:
Energy Pipeline: Meet the pioneer, the man who discovered and broke the code to the Codell formation
