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Marcellus Landowners: Check for These Important Things in Your Lease Before You Sign

At a recent meeting in Sherrard, West Virginia, senior trust officer for WesBanco Inc., Paul McKay, had some excellent advice for landowners as they get ready to sign leases. He told those at the meeting that the first lease they’re offered usually has room for negotiation, and some of the items landowners need to check for include shut-in royalties, the question of who pays taxes, and payment for natural gas liquids.
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MDN Improvements

A quick note to readers of the Marcellus Drilling News service. We’ve been making a few improvements to the website that we hope will make using it a better experience. And we have plans for even more improvements in the coming weeks and months.

Here’s what we’ve changed in the past week or so:

  1. We’ve moved the site to a new web server. MDN noticed there were times that the site was slow and even unresponsive. So we’ve upgraded the hosting of the site, which means it’s faster and will experience less (hopefully no) downtime.
  2. The MDN Directory of Marcellus Shale Landowner Groups has been reformatted and updated. If you belong to or lead a landowner coalition, please review the entry for your group in our directory to be sure it’s accurate and up-to-date. If an entry for your group is not there, send us your details and we will list it (no charge).
  3. The Links & Resources page has been reformatted, and additional links added. This is a work in progress. A notable addition is a section listing the active energy companies/drillers in the Marcellus Shale. Keep an eye on this page as we continue to add even more resources. Our aim is to provide only links to sites that are meaningful and beneficial to landowners. That is, fewer links, but better quality, so you don’t waste time visiting sites with little or no value to you.
  4. We’ve added a Calendar page, to promote both pro- and (yes) anti-drilling meetings and events. It’s important for everyone to stay informed, and important for people to listen to those on the other side of the debate. If you have an event listing, send it to MDN and we’ll add it (no charge).

Thank you for reading MDN. We value you, and appreciate that you have taken time to stop by and visit our site.

Jim Willis, MDN Editor
[email protected]

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Pro-Drilling PA Senator Joe Scarnati Accepts Free Super Bowl Trip from CONSOL Energy

Joe ScarnatiA bone-headed move by Pennsylvania’s top Senate Republican:

The state Senate president, a key player in the debate over natural-gas drilling in Pennsylvania, accepted a free trip from one of the state’s largest energy companies to see the Pittsburgh Steelers play in the Super Bowl.

Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, had his ticket, plane ride, and hotel bill paid for by Consol Energy Inc., a major coal producer and one of the companies drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, according to Mr. Scarnati’s top aide.*

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