WV Forced Pooling HB2688 Passes House, Heads to Senate

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forced poolingWest Virginia House Bill (HB) 2688 (see WV HB2688 Forced Pooling Bill Continues March Toward Passage) has done what no other forced pooling bill over the past six years has done--it's been approved by a full vote in the WV House. The House approved HB2688 on Wednesday by a vote of 60-40. The vote came after two hours of spirited debate over the merits--or lack thereof--in forcing some holdout mineral rights holders to allow drilling in certain, limited situations. Why has this bill gone further than the others before it? Probably because it creates a standard that 80% of the mineral rights in a unit must be leased in order to "force" the other 20% into the unit--to allow drilling. That's one of (perhaps the) highest percentage for any state with a forced pooling provision. The bill now heads to the Senate for a vote...

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