Lease Operating Rights
Operating rights are defined in the federal onshore regulations as the interest created out of a lease authorizing the holder of that right to enter upon the lease lands to conduct drilling and related operations, including production of oil or gas from such lands in accordance with the terms of the lease. Correspondingly, the term operating rights owners is defined as a person or entity holding operating rights in a lease issued by the United States. A lessee also may be an operating rights owner if the operating rights in a lease or portion thereof have not been severed from record title.
What are Aliquots?
Aliquots are geographic subdivisions of a lease that have different ownerships. Aliquots are typically expressed in quarter/quarter subdivisions of a block (Ex: SE/4 or SE1/4NE1/4SE1/4).
Here is an image to help describe and read aliquot descriptions:
What are Operating Rights?
Operating Rights have different ownerships based on geographic subdivisions of a lease and/or depth limitations based on the stratigraphic equivalent on a certain well.
| Field (Abbreviated) Name | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ASSIGN | Assignment Number | An indicator of which assignment relates to which owners in the event there is more than one operating right on a particular block/lease. |
| EFFECT. DATE | Effective Date | The effective date of the assignment of operating rights. |
| DESCRIPTION | Description | The legal description of the assignment. |
| COMPANY | Company Name | The name of the company owning the operating right. |
| INTEREST | Interest | The working (operating right) interest the company owns in that assignment number. |
| EFFECT DT. | Effective Date | That company's effective date of ownership or change in ownership for that assignment. |