Pat Walker doesn’t know how many entries to expect for a contest to find the lowest surface lease annual payment.
However, she thinks it will be a fun way to raise awareness of the need to review surface lease payments.
My Landman Group Inc. will accept entries until the end of the year to win $500 for the lowest surface lease payments.
“It’s just to raise awareness among landowners of the need to have their compensation payment reviewed,” said Walker.
“We wanted to throw it out there for awareness, and it’s a marketing thing too,” said Walker, who along with her partners negotiate surface leases on behalf of farmers.
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The lowest annual lease Walker has heard of is $500 a year on irrigated land in southern Alberta, which is “ridiculously low,” said Walker.
“It is amazing what you find out there.”
Negotiating a new surface lease or renewing an oil lease is a secretive and complicated process. There is no blue book listing for what oil and gas companies can pay landowners for annual lease payments, said Graham Gilchrist, assistant farmers’ advocate with the Alberta Farmers’ Advocate office.
Farmers are reluctant to discuss land payments with their neighbours for fear they may embarrass their neighbours or appear to be a poor negotiator.
“We find producers are very reticent to share their own data,” said Gilchrist.
The Alberta Farmers’ Advocate hired a company in 2007 to gather three years of surface lease data to assess surface lease compensation offered by energy companies.
The data was based on information provided by energy companies rather than landowners.
The website data is not complete but offers a snapshot of possible lease compensation levels based on entry fee, land values, general disturbance, loss of use of land and adverse effect.
