Landman Tools
Tools & resources for land work.
Practical tools and writeups from the field, built to save time on the tedious parts of title and mineral work. General tools are up top, then guides grouped by state. Everything runs in your browser or downloads as a PDF.
General tools & references
Useful in any state: the deed formatter and unit converter, cheat sheets, the Duhig and Pugh write-ups, references on interests, deeds, lease clauses, and curative, the stratigraphic chart library, and outside references.
Net Deed Plotter Formatter
Paste a metes-and-bounds description and get the calls written the exact way Net Deed Plotter needs them. It runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.
Open tool → Live toolLand Measurement Converter
Type a value and pick the unit, and get it in feet and every other surveying unit: varas, rods, chains, links, yards, furlongs, miles, and meters. Runs in your browser, nothing uploaded.
Open tool → PDF • 2 pagesNet Deed Plotter Cheat Sheet
A field reference for plotting deeds in Net Deed Plotter: the call format, varas, entering a section by aliquot parts, curves and the minimum curve data, the "?" solver, and map tips.
Download → PDF • ReferenceLand Measurement Conversions
A printable cheat sheet of surveying and land units: linear and area conversions, the PLSS section breakdown to acres, and the Texas vara, labor, and league. Pairs with the converter.
Download → PDF • GuideThe Duhig Rule
The over-conveyance rule from Duhig v. Peavy-Moore: who absorbs the shortfall when a warranty deed reserves more than the grantor owns, a worked fraction example, and how Oklahoma and Texas apply it. Links to the opinion.
Download → PDF • GuidePugh Clauses
Horizontal and vertical Pugh clauses, and Oklahoma's statutory Pugh clause under 52 O.S. § 87.1(b), with how Texas differs and why a negotiated clause still matters. Links to the current statute.
Download → PDF • GuideMineral & Royalty Interest Types
The mineral estate as a bundle of rights, then how mineral, working, royalty, NPRI, and overriding royalty interests differ in leasing power, costs, and revenue. Who owns what, who pays, and who signs.
Download → PDF • GuideOverriding Royalty: Advanced Calculations
Override math past the basics: how each reservation sets the rate, from flat and sliding scale to “less and except any burdens” and proportionately reduced, plus unitizing an override, the blended-NRI trap, burden groups, and washout. Worked examples throughout. Pairs with the Interest Types guide.
Download → PDF • GuideDeed Types
General warranty, special warranty, quitclaim, deed without warranty, mineral, royalty, and correction deeds: what each conveys and, more to the point, what it warrants. Ties into the Duhig rule.
Download → PDF • GuideOil & Gas Lease Clause Glossary
The common lease clauses in plain terms: granting, habendum, royalty, shut-in, delay rental, pooling, Pugh, continuous development, the savings clauses, proportionate reduction, surrender, and force majeure.
Download → PDF • GuideTitle Curative Checklist
Common title defects and the instrument that cures each: affidavit of heirship, correction deed, release, ratification, stipulation and cross-conveyance, and quiet title, with a least-invasive-first approach.
Download → 6 chartsStratigraphic Chart Library
Reference stratigraphic charts for the basins landmen work most, from Oklahoma and the Permian to the Williston, Powder River, and East Texas.
Open library → SoftwareGreenbriar Net Deed Plotter
The deed plotting software behind the Net Deed Plotter formatter and cheat sheet. Get it direct from Greenbriar Graphics at deedplotter.com.
Visit deedplotter.com → ReferenceWho's Who in the American Petroleum Industry
A long-running reference that tracks the mergers, acquisitions, name changes, and takeovers behind oil and gas company names, so you can trace a company from one name to the next. Published by McPherson Publishing since 1986.
Visit mcpubco.com →AI Deed Analyzer
Drop in a deed and get an instant breakdown of the parties, legal description, and deed calls, pulled out for you. In development.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma-specific guides and charts: intestacy, well spacing, pooling, and marketable record title.
Oklahoma Intestate Succession
Who inherits when there is no will. Descent and distribution under 84 O.S. § 213, with the scenario tables landmen need for heirship and mineral title work.
Download → PDF • ChartOklahoma Intestacy Chart
The visual companion to the guide. Who takes what under 84 O.S. § 213, including the joint-industry rule and the July 1, 1985 line, shown as at-a-glance bars with links to the statute.
Download → PDF • GuideOklahoma Well Spacing
How drilling and spacing units work under 52 O.S. § 87.1: unit sizes, one well per unit, increased density, location exceptions, and how spacing feeds into pooling and the statutory Pugh clause. Links to the statute and OCC rules.
Download → PDF • GuideOklahoma Pooling
How the Corporation Commission forced pooling process works under 52 O.S. § 87.1: the application and hearing, election options and deadlines, who can and cannot be pooled, the 2022 multiunit horizontal rule, and what a landman checks in the order. Links to the current statutes.
Download → PDF • GuideOklahoma Marketable Record Title Act
The 30-year curative rule under 16 O.S. §§ 71 through 80: root of title, what the Act extinguishes, and the exceptions that survive, including severed minerals.
Download →Texas
Texas-specific guides and charts: intestacy, well spacing, and pooling.
Texas Intestate Succession
Descent and distribution under the Texas Estates Code, Chapter 201. Community and separate property tables, the surviving spouse's life estate, and the September 1, 1993 change in the community property rule.
Download → PDF • ChartTexas Intestacy Chart
The same Texas descent rules as the guide, shown at a glance. A visual, one-look chart of who takes what for community and separate real property, with the statute cites on each panel.
Download → PDF • GuideTexas Well Spacing
How Texas spacing works: Statewide Rule 37 and Rule 38, field rules, proration units, and Rule 37/38 exceptions, with links to the rules. Combining tracts is left to pooling under the lease.
Download → PDF • GuideTexas Pooling
Texas pooling, mostly voluntary under the lease clause, with the Mineral Interest Pooling Act as the limited compulsory backstop under Natural Resources Code Ch. 102. How it works, and how it differs from Oklahoma.
Download →Ohio
Ohio-specific intestacy guide and chart, written for mineral and surface title work.
Ohio Intestate Succession
Descent of real property under Ohio Revised Code § 2105.06, written for mineral and surface title work. Current law, the historical date eras for old chains, and Ohio's ancestral property and dower notes.
Download → PDF • ChartOhio Intestacy Chart
The visual companion to the Ohio guide. Who takes the minerals and surface under § 2105.06, shown as at-a-glance bars, with the money preferential and the date eras noted and links to the statute.
Download →New Mexico
New Mexico fee-lands communitization guide.
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If something in these tools looks wrong, reads as out of date, or should be added, send it my way. I read every note. When a change is warranted I make it and pass it along, so it helps the next landman too.