Gas Leases

Sorry for the last minute notice but I just received word of this seminar this morning. For anyone in the Hornell, NY area considering signing a gas/oil lease please consider attending this seminar. It’s probably one of the best investments you’ll make:

Steuben County landowners are banding together over mineral leases — particularly natural gas.

The Steuben County Landowner’s Coalition, along with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Steuben County and the Steuben County Farm Bureau, is hosting a meeting from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday at Hornell High School to discuss the coalition’s mission of collectively negotiating natural gas leases.

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La. - Chris Moreno lost his job managing a print shop two years ago, just after his wife became pregnant and they’d started building a house on 40 acres near the shores of Caddo Lake.

He fretted he’d have to relinquish his humble piece of paradise, where he indulged his country boy’s passion for hunting raccoons and catching catfish.

But now fortune has smiled on Moreno - he’s poised to become a millionaire, all because of that 40 acres he bought eight years ago for $45,000.
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A packed Tunkhannock Area High School auditorium buzzed on Wednesday evening with one topic: natural-gas lease profits.

The rush is on in western Wyoming County, with the Wyoming County Landowners’ Group and its more than 45,000 acres in the gas-filled Marcellus Shale region recently accepting a lease agreement with the Unit and Citrus oil and gas drilling companies.

Landowners signed for $2,850 per acre sign-on bonuses, minus consultant payments, for five-year leases with 17 percent drilling royalties. If the lands aren’t drilled within five years, there are two one-year extensions each for $1,000 per acre.
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With the current energy crunch, could a speculative gas leasing frenzy take place in Botetourt again?

Apparently so.

Right now a similar event is under way in Western Pennsylvania. Published reports indicate that landowners have been inundated by natural gas companies seeking to snatch up mineral rights.
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When an oil company approached Bob and Gladys McArthur in 2006 about leasing their Hillsdale County land to search for oil, they looked at it as a little extra cash in the bank.

Oklahoma-based Continental Resources was one in a string of about five companies over the years to come to them with an oil lease.

“We figured they would hit a dry hole,” said Gladys McArthur. “At our age we don’t get our expectations up too high.”

Now a well on their property off Culbert Road, north of Pittsford, is pumping 110 barrels of oil a day, the maximum allowed by the state of Michigan.
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By now just about everyone has heard about the natural gas boom in Northwest Louisiana, called the Haynesville Shale.

As with any boom, the talk of the town is money. Less than a year ago, companies were paying $150 per acre lease bonuses with 1/6th royalty, and now rumors are flying around about $25,000 bonuses and 1/4th royalties.
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Three Lake Huntington, New York government and public interest agencies have planned a natural gas drilling symposium on Aug. 19, at Sullivan West High School, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

The meeting, organized by the Sullivan County planning division, the Chenango County Farm Bureau and Cornell Cooperative Extension, will focus on negotiating a gas lease that protects your property and financial interests.

Panelists for the symposium are Dr. William J. Pammer, Jr., Sullivan’s planning commissioner; Brad Vickers, president of the Chenango County Farm Bureau; Christopher Denton, an attorney who’s negotiated gas leases; Don Zaengle, a petroleum geologist; and Jim Leonard, a certified public accountant.

Registration is required. Call the county planning department at (845) 794-3000, ext. 5028, by no later than 4 p.m., Aug. 18.

Make copies, keep files and think about your future were three mantras recited Sunday in yet another local mineral rights meeting.
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The Fulton County Extension Office will be hosting an educational event aimed at discussing the ins and outs of residential gas leasing on Wednesday, July 30.

To be held at Fulton Theatre, the workshop for landowners who may be involved with future gas leasing will include several keynote speakers to touch on both the advantages and disadvantages of signing a natural gas lease.
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The West Virginia Farm Bureau has been sponsoring meetings about gas and oil leases in several parts of the Mountain State. The message being promoted is a sound one — property owners should be careful before they sign anything.

While the Eastern Panhandle isn’t exactly Natural Gas Country, a number of property owners have been contacted by oil and gas landmen in recent years. As far as we’re aware, there’s never been a successful, producing gas or oil well drilled in the Morgan County vicinity, but who knows what the future may hold?

The thing to remember is not to let promises of big bucks cloud your thinking. Read the small print about how many wells can be drilled on your property and how you will be paid.

Last year, a Roane County jury delivered a $405 million verdict against gas interests for not paying $134 million in gas royalties that were due nearly 9,000 landowners. After initially showing sympathy for the gas companies, Governor Joe Manchin stopped talking about it. Someone must have reminded him that most of the 9,000 who were shortchanged are state residents and voters. This year, the West Virginia Supreme Court refused to hear the case on appeal, so the verdict stands.

Signing a gas and oil lease is serious business that could affect your own use of your property. Don’t let anyone pressure you into a rash decision.