In December of 2011, West Virginia passed new Marcellus Shale drilling laws raising certain fees and putting new requirements in place (see this MDN story). The drilling industry, while saying it was not a perfect law, in the end supported it. But there was on thing the new law did not address that the industry [...]
In March of this year, newly elected Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett appointed a 30-member Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission with the aim of producing “a comprehensive, strategic proposal for the responsible and environmentally sound development of Marcellus Shale.” The panel wrapped up their work last Friday by voting on a list of recommendations, ultimately approving 96 [...]
Forced pooling is the concept that forces landowners to allow drilling under their property if enough of their neighbors have signed leases. Many people (PA Gov. Tom Corbett and MDN among them) think it’s not a good idea—calling it the equivalent of “private eminent domain.” But the reality is, it does widely exist. In fact, [...]
Forced pooling happens when most landowners in an area have signed leases and want to allow drilling, but one or two have not. If a landowner has not signed a lease but owns land situated between other land already leased, that landowner could be “forced” to allow drilling. The unwilling landowner would not be forced [...]
West Virginia gets closer with new rules and regulations for drilling in the Marcellus Shale. And it looks like the forced pooling provision has been dropped:
The West Virginia legislature is actively debating new legislation that regulates drilling in the Marcellus Shale. One of the provisions in the proposed legislation being hotly debated is the issue of forced pooling:
The West Virginia legislature is considering a couple of bills that deal with rules for Marcellus shale gas development in the state. One of those bills contains a provision for forced pooling, a hot-button issue to be sure among landowners and mineral rights owners. The WV legislature may adopt a pooling provision that is used [...]
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