How Much $ Should Landowners Get for a Pipeline Right-of-Way?
How much money should landowners get for the pipelines that cross their property? Should pipeline companies pay for the width of the right-of-way, in addition to the length? Should landowners be compensated more if it’s a bigger pipeline that has to be buried deeper? And, will landowners truly be able to use the land (farmers plowing and planting) if a pipeline is buried under it? These are all really important questions. In West Virginia, a former inspector for the state Dept. of Environmental Protection says landowners should be getting $50 per foot for a pipeline right-of-way. The industry, as represented by the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association, thinks $5 per foot is more like an acceptable number. Excuse us for laughing, but $5 per foot for a pipeline that will be in the ground for the next 30-50 years (or more)? We wouldn’t sign it–and we hope WV landowners don’t either…
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Yesterday the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) released their first quarter production numbers for both oil and natural gas (see our companion story today). Below are details for the top 6 natural gas producing wells, and the top 6 oil producing wells in the state. Rice Energy and Antero Resources split the top 6 natural gas wells with three apiece. Of note, Rice’s wells took the top 3 slots. Aubrey McClendon’s American Energy drilled the most top oil wells (4 of the top 6), followed by one apiece for Antero Resources and PDC Energy…
Must be that new advertisement airing in Pennsylvania warning folks against Gov. Tom Wolf’s Marcellus-killing 15% severance tax is having an effect. How can we tell? Because mainstream media outlets like the ABC affiliate in Harrisburg is manufacturing a false controversy about who’s behind the ads–quoting anti-drillers like Jan Jarrett from the non-transparent partisan group called the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center–to distract people from the effectiveness of the ad. Plus, the pro-Democrat Harrisburg Patriot-News doesn’t even bother manufacturing a false controversy–they just outright criticize and ridicule the ad, not even bothering with a veneer of objectivity…