The Pennsylvania Game Commission has just leased more land under its control for Marcellus Shale drilling:
The Avonworth Municipal Authority in Allegheny County, PA recently signed a five-year drilling lease for the ACORD Municipal Park property controlled by the Authority (see the MDN story here). However, the deal was contingent on four of the five municipalities that oversee the 119-acre park in Kilbuck and Ohio Townships. Last night Emsworth council was the second municipality to vote against the measure and so the deal will not go forward.
An article on the Forbes website covers a recent energy conference held by Yale alumni. The focus of the article is on how America’s shale gas has turned around chemical companies. But MDN found this interesting paragraph talking about the Utica Shale:
Read More “Chesapeake Energy Paying $2,500 per Acre to Lease Utica Shale”
The Avonworth Municipal Authority in Allegheny County, PA (near Pittsburgh) has just signed a five-year drilling lease for park property controlled by the Authority.
Read More “Municipal Authority in Western PA Signs Drilling Lease for 119 Acre Park”
The decision is in, and Winfield Township (Butler County), PA supervisors have voted to not accept an offer from BLX-Redmill to lease 60 acres of the 69-acre township park located behind the municipal building.
Read More “Winfield Township, PA Turns Down Lease Offer from BLX-Redmill; Lessons for Landowners”
Last year some 40 landowners separated from the Windsor & Colesville Oil and Gas Lease Coalition to sign a deal to lease their land to Inflection Energy. Collectively the breakaway group holds about 3,000 acres. The rest of the coalition decided against signing in hopes of a better deal once drilling is allowed to begin in New York. The deal signed with Inflection was supposed to yield a signing bonus of $2,750 per acre, due to landowners by March 3rd. But that payment did not happen.
Read More “Infection Energy Delays Signing Bonus Payments for Landowners in Windsor, NY Area”
Winfield Township supervisors are mulling over an offer from BLX-Redmill Gas to lease a park in Butler County, PA for Marcellus drilling. But it’s a complicated offer involving re-selling the drilling rights by packaging them with other properties in the area, and also selling the rights to install pipelines to a third party.
Read More “Township in Western PA Offered $4500 per Acre for Marcellus Drilling Lease”
In 2008, Pennsylvania landowners filed lawsuits to have their lease agreements, signed in 2007 with Range Resources, invalidated because the royalty payments they were receiving fell below the 12 1/2 percent level that is guaranteed under PA’s Guaranteed Minimum Royalty Act (GMRA). The landowners separately were joined together into a class action lawsuit representing some 25,000 landowners. The case became known as Frederick v. Range Resources. The landowners challenged the method of calculating royalties that deducts expenses after the gas leaves the wellhead (processing, delivery, other fees). Their argument was that said fees should come from the driller’s side of the ledger sheet and not the landowner.
Read More “Range Resources Settles Royalty Lawsuit from Landowners for $22 Million”
EXCO Resources has withdrawn an offer made to the borough of Ford City, PA to lease borough-owned land for Marcellus Shale drilling:
Read More “EXCO Resources Withdraws Offer to Lease Land for Marcellus Drilling in Ford City, PA”
A legal case that affects Pennsylvania landowners with signed leases to allow Marcellus drilling on their land has just been decided in landowners’ favor in a PA court. But it’s complicated to explain (we’ll do our best).
Read More “PA Court Case Finds in Favor of Landowners, Against Drillers in Lease Extension Case”
Good question, and one that Brandon Otis, a CPA and valuations specialist with Alpern Rosenthal, an accounting advisory firm, addressed at a recent meeting in Pittsburgh. Otis has done research on 384 Marcellus wells in Susquehanna County, PA and has come up with a list of criteria for determining value. Among the criteria he uses:
Read More “How Much is that Marcellus Shale Well Drilled on Your Property Actually Worth?”
Many landowners in the Broome County, NY area who signed gas leases years ago are now receiving letters from the energy companies holding those leases that the landowner is “locked in” to the terms of the lease even though the original term has now expired. Why? The legal term is “force majeure,” which roughly means “due to circumstances beyond our control—the fact that New York State continues to prevent drilling—you have to stick with us for a while longer.” Because this involves contracts and interpretation of the terms of those contracts, it’s now in the hands of lawyers, or heading in that direction.
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.
Read More “Marcellus Landowners: Check for These Important Things in Your Lease Before You Sign”
Carrizo Oil & Gas has filed 41 records of gas leases in three Luzerne County municipalities:
Late last year, Chesapeake Energy asked landowners in Donora and Carroll, PA (near Pittsburgh) who had received royalty checks from Chesapeake, to give the money back.
Read More “Chesapeake Backs Down, Will Not Make PA Landowners Near Pittsburgh Return Royalty Checks”
An article discussing the potential impacts of shale gas drilling in the area around Erie, PA does a good job in exploring the benefits of shale gas drilling that have already occurred in Tioga County, PA. Tioga County is one of the most densely populated drilling regions in the entire Marcellus Shale play. A few facts from the article:
Read More “Some Landowners in Tioga, PA Area Receive Six-Figure Royalty Checks – Each Month”