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Three NY State Counties Along Border with PA Will be Focal Point for Marcellus Drilling According to Experts

Three New York State counties that sit on the border with Pennsylvania will likely be the first, and biggest beneficiaries of Marcellus Shale drilling when it finally begins in New York. Those counties are Broome, Tioga and Chemung. That prediction comes from two of the most prominent geologists in the Marcellus Shale:

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How Much Should Landowners be Paid for Marcellus Pipelines on Their Property?

With an increase in the number of Marcellus gas wells drilled, comes an increase in the need for pipelines to get that gas to market. Local pipelines that gather the gas and take it to a compressor station where it’s then sent to a larger pipeline, and pipelines that bring water to drilling sites, can be from as small as 4 inches in diameter to as large as 36 inches in diameter. In Marcellus Shale states like West Virginia and Ohio, the mineral rights to drill for gas beneath the ground are often owned by someone different than the landowner who owns the surface rights. A pipeline contract is known as a right-of-way easement with the surface owner.

Since surface owners will not see any royalties from the gas, they understandably want to get as high a price as they can for allowing pipelines to traverse their property, pipelines that once installed, will be there for many years—often longer than the producing gas well. But what’s a fair price?

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