Helium title in Kansas: the basics
Kansas is where helium was first found in natural gas, and it's drawing new exploration again. If you're leasing for helium, the title work is the same county work oil and gas has always needed, with a few things to watch.
A short history
In 1903 a gas well at Dexter, Kansas, produced gas that wouldn't burn. In 1905 chemists at the University of Kansas found helium in it, the first time helium was found in natural gas. The Hugoton field in southwest Kansas went on to be one of the country's main helium sources. Exploration has since spread to other parts of the state.
Where the records are
Kansas has 105 counties, and in each one the Register of Deeds records deeds, leases, assignments and releases. Kansas records are cited by book and page.
Use the Register of Deeds' filing date as the recording date. Some documents also carry a county clerk's transfer stamp with a different date; that isn't the recording.
Well records, logs and production are on the Kansas Geological Survey's online database. The Kansas Corporation Commission regulates drilling and spacing.
What to watch on a helium tract
- Old leases that never got released. Much of Kansas has been leased for oil and gas many times. An expired lease left of record can cloud the title; check each one for a release.
- The exact words of each lease and mineral deed. Whether an older oil and gas lease or deed reaches helium depends on its words and on Kansas law. That's a question for your title attorney, and the attorney needs the granting clause quoted word for word.
- Severed minerals. Kansas surface and minerals were often split by deeds reserving part or all of the minerals. Follow each reserved interest through its own chain.
- Every owner named. Small fractions passed through estates add up. A runsheet that says "et al." leaves you guessing who to lease.
What we deliver
For a helium tract we build the runsheet from the Register of Deeds records, link every document, and on a title runsheet or abstract quote the granting language your attorney needs. Our recent work includes Wallace County, Kansas.