Ohio County Receives $8M (So Far) from Marcellus Gas Leases

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Ohio County, WV is reaping the rewards of leasing county-owned land for Marcellus gas drilling. The county’s land leases with Chesapeake Energy have already resulted in nearly $8 million in one-time lease payments for the county coffers, and soon will mean royalty payments too. Chesapeake has already completed a well on private land adjacent to (and drilling under) county land in The Highlands area. But gas from that well has not yet started to flow due to a delay in getting a pipeline built to the well. Once the pipeline is in place, the county will start receiving royalty checks from that well.

And within the next 12 months, Chesapeake will drill a new well, this time directly on county-owned land at the airport:

Within the next year, Chesapeake Energy plans to drill for natural gas on property beyond the runway at the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport.

The land – owned by the Ohio County Commission – was leased to Chesapeake as part of the deal county officials signed with the driller last year, which has already yielded commissioners $7.85 million on lease payments at $3,600 per acre. County officials will gain 18.75 percent of production royalties once gas starts flowing.

"We anticipate drilling activity to begin in mid-2012. However, our drilling schedules often change based on a number of factors," said Chesapeake Director of Corporate Development Stacey Brodak.*

*The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register (Aug 16, 2011) – Gas Drilling to Begin at Airport

2 Comments

  1. Hello New York!! Look whats going on all around you.Lease payments, Royalty payments, JOBS!!!.  So your answer to raising more tax dollars is raising all the tolls 50 %, what a great idea ( NOT), can’t raise taxes which are already ridiculous,  just price the working man out of work so it costs $20.00 just to enter the city from everywhere, parking another small fortune $30.00 per day if your lucky, that’s $50.00, oh yeah gotta eat lunch, $10.00 per day ( really cheap for NYC), that’s $60.00 dollars and I forgot OPEC gasoline at $ 4.00 per gallon that’s another $ 10- $15.00 per day fuel costs for an average commute. The total to be in the Big Apple and you have not made a dime yet is around $75.00 PER DAY!!. Wake up , its time to move this state forward!! Get off the OPEC bottle and reap the rewards of the new found ” Gold”. Give the working slob a break from the constant pick pocket fee mentality.The other States are laughing at us and reaping Huge profits too.Oh yeah to all you treehuggers out there, how about some clean burning “Natural Gas” for all those thousands of vehicles poisoning the city right now, and imagine that it all came from right here.

  2. Right on Waco Here is more on the issue – Mayor Bloomberg has implemented that all taxi’s are to be run on either a hybrid OR CNG. As are all of the city buses and non – emergency vehicles that service the city. The Democrat based voters that out weigh the Republicans in the city by an easy 2:1 margin think that is a fantastic idea to aid in lowering pollution in the city (so do the republicans and anyone with a brain). Here is the catch; Where does the CNG come from that runs all these vehicles as well as heat their homes, cook their food, etc. etc. ??? Well it is in your back yard- Really!! BUT. You watch 1 movie on HBO of some folks lighting their water on fire (BTW that little trick has been done 20 years before Fracking was a thought- Methane can be found in well water all over the State) and all of the sudden it is “A Disaster waiting to happen” and you think that documentary educated you enough to make a decison. HERE IS THE TRUTH THEY HAVE BEEN FRACKING FOR 20+ YEARS ALREADY. As usual the knee jerk reaction of the Dems hurts the state and the country as a whole. Just like any gun related tragedy you blame the implement and not the one responsible. YES- there is a risk of chemical spills, a well blowing out, and several other things that can go wrong when drilling a mile plus into the earth BUT since you are reading this on your computer which is electrically powered. . .was the risk to see this message worth it, was reading your e-mai worth it, how about that A/C you are enjoying now or the lights . . . . .and on and on  ??? Think about it before you run out to meet your friends and walk around in a circle holding a sign and chanting some chant thinking you are helping. Really Think.
    Last thought  – It’s better than coal, it does not have to be imported from countries that support or commit crimes against humanity, it will create jobs and an economic boon in the region, and wil give the country 50+ years of clean energy.