i've always wanted to get into land acquisition in the residential development industry. not too many homebuilders hiring now of course.

anyway, my neighbor turned me on to the idea of being a landman for an oil and gas company. does anyone have any first or second hand insight? i sort of know what is required of a landman...what does their daily schedule look like? my neighbor says they travel quite a bit? is this a dead end job or will there be future potential?

thanks in advance.

oh, and if any of y'all would like to hire me...well that's ok too.

They do everything from title research at the courthouse to negotiating the leases with the folks who own the minerals. So what your day to day tasks are would vary as to what type or part of a project you are working on at the time.

Two types of landman field and in-house. Field landmen usually work for a broker as an independent contractor.Which means you are not an employee of the company they just pay you and you are responsible for paying all taxes owed out of your own pocket. The field landmen are out on the ground in the county they are working out of the courthouse or meeting with landowners getting ink.

In-house guys work for the oil companies and manage the projects the field guys are working on from the company side.

Money is good on both sides. Getting a job while knowing little or nothing about the industry will be the hardest part. Not to many brokers are high on training.

As a field landman you will travel and travel alot but tough it out and the money gets good but you do the grunt work.



[This message has been edited by tommyjohn (edited 12/17/2007 8:13a).]

My husband started as a Landman earlier this year. He was 6 hours away from home, during the week, and would come home for the weekends. He paid his dues for a few months doing that, and they moved him closer to home, where he will be to drive home every night. He really likes it a lot, and the $ is good. I will miss the big mileage reimburment checks, but at least he doesnt have to travel. I know someone looking to hire an entry level person right now, if it is something you want to look into.

beck...

i would REALLY be interested. if you could help me then you should expect a christmas card or two from me in the mail. the glittery kind too!

i finished my masters coursework this month and am wrapping up my thesis. i have around 5 years professional experience (2 of which was a management position). i can send you my resume and such if you'd like. my email is juddson.culpepper at gmail.com

tommy...

do field guys aspire to become inhouse? i assume an inhouse position is more desirable?

i've seen some courses sponsored by AAPL. would you recommend taking one or two? i've been reading as much as i can (arkansas leasing manual, literature from AAPL, etc.)

i'm finally experiencing the "how do i get experience when all the employers want experience" issue i've heard so much about...heh.

I would think most younger field guys do aspire to go in-house. I do.

Get ready for April 15th to be the most depressing day all year.

The classes sponsored by the AAPL are probably your best bet. I have never personally taken one. Other classes are offered such as Landman 101 but those are buyer beware.

Be sure the broker you get on with pays his subs on time. Some brokers only pay their subs when they get paid and the oil companies slow pay all the time. So at some brokers you may go 30-45 days without a check.

[This message has been edited by tommyjohn (edited 12/17/2007 11:42a).]

i've read about the slow pay bit on landmen.net

the way i see it (correct me if i'm wrong), you must pay for all expenses (gas, lodging, food, etc.) out of pocket at first but you'll be reimbursed by the broker on pay day? does that mean you can't write any of these items off for tax day?

This is how it works with reagards to taxes. I get paid a dayrate for each day I work as well as reimbursed for meals, mileage and lodging while on the road. Meals are a flat rate each day while miles is @ $0.485/mile and lodging is the only one you have to submit a reciept.

Every two weeks I essentially prepare a bill to my broker for all the above items for a flat amount. Two weeks later I recieve a check for the flat amount I billed. No money taken out for taxes or anything that states X amount was reimbursed expenses.

At the end of the year instead of a W-2 I recieve a 1099 that has one number the total amount of all my "billings" during the year. Then while preparing your taxes you subtract those amounts as well as any other expenses and then you have your income and that is the amount of money your are taxed on.

You have to pay an additional 7.5% in FICA taxes that the employer usually kicks in as well as quaterly taxes throughout the year.

got it...i'm usually excited when april 15th comes around but i can see why you're not a fan.

one last question...do landmen work steadily? in other words, are there days besides weekends that you don't work? who decides your schedule?

you've been a lot of help tommy...sorry for all the questions.

I have had work steadily for since Nov '03 when I started work in the business. The job you are on really dictates your schedule. If you are researching mineral title or putting together runsheets for attorneys you will spend most of your days in the county clerk's office and be doing the 8-5 thing. Buying leases requires some evenings and weekends because you have to work around the landowners schedule and the best time to catch them on the phone.

law degrees are big + + + +

Going to law school to be a landman is a waste.

Although lots of the big e&p companies are going that way because too many folks are coming out of law school.

My husband does his taxes quarterly, and its the way to go. The biggest mistake he sees is when your coworkers dont put 25% of their salary away for taxes. They think they will have the $ when its time, but they usually dont. As far as the pay went, his company pays on time, however it took us about 8 weeks to get his first check. That was with us putting hotel rooms and gas on a credit card. It sucked, but we knew to expect the slow first check. The rest are steady.
I wouldnt waste any money taking classes. He picked it up quickly and had no prior experience.

Ive been a landman for 2 1/2 years now. I work with a bunch of younger people, and like some people said on this board it takes a while to get going (in terms of catching up with pay/expenses). I work out of town 3-4 nights a week. (Im racking up some serious Hilton Rewards Points).

It does take a little while for me to get paid, but after 6 months or so, it doesnt matter anymore because you should have built a trail of steady income, which is good. My checks are always about 4-6 weeks after the work I have done, so it might be hard at first if you dont have alot of money saved up. All in all Im very happy with basically everything.

Im going to try to go the in-house route and probably will within the next year or so, because im starting to get tired of the constant travel. Thats the worst part about the job, but when you have a good group of people staying out of town with you, like I do, it makes it easier.

Also I would recommend an accountant for sure. She got my taxes down significantly from where I thought they would be.


[This message has been edited by The D (edited 12/17/2007 10:40p).]

Also about the AAPL classes....

I have taken several of them (my broker paid for them), and they are OK. Like all classes, I learned a couple things that were important that helped me from making mistakes before I made them. However alot of it was basic terms and definition, especially for the Landman 101 class. Im not really sure if it would help you in obtaining a job. I guess it couldn't hurt because it shows you have interest, but I wouldn't have gone if it was on my own dime, because it is pretty expensive.

lots of good info here. thanks!

i've been reading the arkansas leasing manual and some other stuff from the a&m real estate center about oil and gas leases. any other must reads to get me better acquainted?

Are there any companies/brokers that would hire an entry level college grad to be a landman? I don't know much about the oil and gas field (not sure many new college grads actually know about a "real" job) but am interested in learning. Any help?

cobalt -- where are you wanting to work? My dad runs crews of landman for his company out of Jefferson usually. He works in Tyler but drives to Jefferson several times a week.

derek,

no preference really. my fiancee is an elementary teacher and she's told me she would follow me...i snagged a good one! if your dad is interested in taking on extra help let me know.

The D,

Send me an email when you get the chance.

I have a business opportunity for you.

tnowlin@7leasing.com

Cobalt -- what's your email?

My dad isn't hiring anyone that is inexperienced right now, but can point you in the direction of some people around here who do and give you advice on what to do.

thanks derek. it's juddson.culpepper at gmail.com

I know a guy who is a landman, he sits around at home all day and rarely goes to work and bills for working 40 hours a week....seems like a pretty sweet gig for a slacker

Cobalt,

What are you getting your Master's in? I'm finishing up a Master's in Energy and Earth Resources (mix of petroleum engineering, oil & gas law, geology, and MBA classes) from UT, and I'll be working as an in house landman when I graduate in May.

The in house jobs are pretty hard to come by unless you have a JD, MBA, PLM degree, or something else comperable. It's easier to break into the industry by doing field land work.

I would also recommend anyone interest in a career in petroleum land management attend the NAPE Conference. It's at the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston in February. It's a great place to make contacts.

$325 to network

masters is in rec and parks.

i probably know what you're thinking. i hate feeling like i need to defend my degree, but i must. i took one rpts class (research methods) and the rest were business, GIS, and land development courses. my thesis is all about the effects of open space (easements, right of ways, etc.) on the market and assessed value of single family homes.

AgEco...you probably have a much more solid background in terms of being a landman than i do. but it's still something i'd like to pursue. i wouldn't mind working field or inhouse i don't think. i'm ok with starting low and working hard for advancements.

Cobalt,
Didn't mean to sound condescending. It sounds to me like some of that stuff (the GIS and land developement) could come in handy, that's why I was asking. Landmen also deal with easements and right aways quite a bit, so I would definatly put emphasis on your familiarity with that.

$325 is pretty steep, (maybe you could talk your school into footing the bill?) but this conference is full of landmen and energy bankers looking to network.

ageco...no harm at all. i was trying to point out that my background wasn't nearly as strong. that's life tho eh? heh. like many, i wish i could go back and do things differently. it took me 2 years of engineering classes to realize i wasn't having fun.

i'll look into the conference. sounds like it couldn't hurt!

You might also want to look into going to some of the HAPL (Houston Association of Professional Landmen) functions. I think they occasionally have happy hours and things like that.

i'd feel like a dummy rolling up to a happy hour with bunch of landmen...when i'm not. awkward?

AgEco06- I have been a landman for a few years and have looked into that program at Texas. How do you like? I have a graduate degree in an entirely different field and have worked in China before. I am wanting to get back to international work. Are a lot of your classmates taking jobs with international possibilities?

Howdy to the landmen. I am a commercial real estate appraiser (+/- 12yrs). I have always had a landman career in the back of my mind, but thought you had to have a law degree.
Would any of you have any idea what the transition from a quasi-related field to being a landman would be like? I have been self-employed for many years [putting back for taxes is so automatic, I even put 25% of my mother's birthday checks in the account ;-)]
I have visited many courthouses and done many deed searches.

So, I feel like I would could hit the ground running. With my valuation background, does that make lease negotiatons eaiser, or is O&G a whole different animal?

Like Cobalt, I am ignorant of the opportunities and, basically, where to start.

there's some information on landmen.net

it isn't the most helpful forum around, but it may help you get started.