Posts Tagged ‘Conservation District’

By Patrick Sweet (Staff Writer)
Published: June 15, 2010

NOXEN – Chief Oil and Gas may begin construction on a natural gas well just a few miles north of the border between Luzerne and Wyoming counties as soon as the second week of July.

Off Route 29 in Noxen, short stakes mark the future location of the drilling pad on Robert Longmore’s 97-acre farm. The state Department of Environmental Protection is currently reviewing the Texas-based gas company’s permit to place and operate a well it filed May 11.

The farm is near properties that are part of the Noxen Area Gas Group, a body of roughly 150 families with a combined 8,500 acres which is in the midst of negotiating a lease with Houston, Texas-based Carrizo Oil and Gas.

Just down the road from Longmore, Noxen group organizer Joel Field verified that the group is in the final stages of negotiation with Carrizo. Field and co-organizer Harry Traver declined further comment due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.

“Until things are settled down, they’d rather not give any statements,” Harry Traver’s wife, Dawn Traver, said Monday.

Longmore, 56, has owned the farm since 1998 and signed a lease with Chief roughly four and a half years ago. The landmen who approached Longmore about the deal, he said, made the three-page lease giving his family $25 per acre with the minimum 12.5 percent royalty sound like a good deal.

“We were kind of taken advantage of four and a half years ago,” Longmore said. “I know people getting $6,000 an acre.”

The lease had almost no provisions protecting Longmore’s farm. At the time, the landmen made it seem unlikely that drilling would ever commence during the terms of his lease, which ends May 15, 2011.

Chief Oil and Gas media contact Ben McCue attempted to reach operations employees for comment Monday afternoon but they were unavailable by press time.

Since Longmore signed, though, he said his experience with the company has been much more positive.

Earlier this year, the Longmores were given the opportunity to amend the lease.

“They proposed some amendments to the lease,” Longmore said, “so we countered with some amendments with some environmental stuff.”

Chief offered to reopen the terms of the lease in order to add protections for the company in anticipation of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that could have invalidated thousands of gas leases where gas companies were deducting production costs from the state minimum royalty.

The opinion on the case was an interpretation of the Pennsylvania’s Minimum Royalty Act which establishes the 12.5 percent royalty requirement for all oil or natural gas recovered from a well but doesn’t stipulate when to calculate the royalty.

The court ultimately decided in favor of the gas companies roughly a week after the Longmores and Chief finalized the revised lease.

The Longmores added amendments that protected ground and surface water, along with the 0.25-mile stretch of Bowmans Creek that runs through the property.

Longmore’s son, Josh Longmore, manages the Luzerne County Conservation District and helped his father amend the lease.

“Unfortunately, they signed a very basic lease that didn’t have some of the protections that the newer leases have,” Josh Longmore said. “Our biggest goal, our biggest hope is that the property maintains its natural beauty, its agricultural purpose.”

The younger Longmore doesn’t have any stake in his parents’ farm, but felt that it was necessary to help. He and his father combed through leases that they found online and pulled out the clauses that fit their needs.

“There was like three or four different categories of amendments,” Longmore said.

Chief accepted 90 percent of their roughly 20 amendments, Longmore said.

The company did draw the line on an amendment that would have prohibited the company from disposing cuttings – the rock equivalent to sawdust – on the pad. The company argued it would be cost-prohibitive to haul it off-site, Longmore said.

“I really got the impression that they weren’t hiding anything from us,” Longmore said. “They were willing to answer every question we had.”

psweet@citizensvoice.com 570-821-2112

Copyright: The Citizens Voice

Experts say leases are in-depth and a lawyer’s assistance is recommended.

By Sheena Delazio sdelazio@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

LEHMAN TWP.— The Penn State Cooperative Extension of Luzerne County and the Luzerne Conservation District want landowners to know what they are getting into before they sign a natural gas lease for their property.

The two organizations will host “Understanding and Negotiating Natural Gas Leases,” as part of a two-day informational discussion. The first session, held on Monday, was attended by more than 70 local landowners.

“It’s a hot topic right now,” said Tanya Dierolf, a conservation coordinator for the conservation district. “The price per acre has increased at a phenomenal rate.”

Typically, leasing companies offer property owners one-eighth of the money made on gas or oil extracted from beneath their properties. Depending on the company, owners can receive hundreds of dollars up front.

“(On Monday) presenters talked about the impact it could have on the land (if someone signed a lease), and there is potential there to make money, but we’re trying to present the facts,” Dierolf said. “These (leases) are very technical, and we highly recommend (landowners) consult an attorney before they make a decision.”

For example, in June, the Pennsylvania Mineral Group based in Port Lavaca, Texas, made up to 700 offers in Luzerne County to purchase gas rights at $300 an acre. Offers were based on geological surveys that pinpoint locations that may contain natural gas or oil.

The Pennsylvania Mineral Group did not return phone calls.

“These lease agreements are so in depth that landowners don’t understand the legality,” said Donna Grey, a Penn State Cooperative Extension educator. “We’re trying to explain what the landowner can expect to occur on their property so they can have an understanding, both visual and written.”

For next week’s session, Penn State Extension educators will be on hand, as well as a geologist and attorney, to talk about understanding gas leases, negotiating a lease, the economic impact of signing a lease and development of the Marcellus shale within the Earth.

Grey said landowners who attend will be able to make better decisions regarding their land. “This could be a good thing or a bad thing (for the landowner),” she said.

“It’s really confusing, and landowners need to use a consultant or attorney to help them. They can negotiate (if they decide to sign). And if they aren’t comfortable, they don’t have to settle on one gas company,” Grey said. “There is more than one company. They are just like any other sales person, they are out there to sell their product.”

If you go…
What: Understanding and Negotiating Natural Gas Leases

When: 7 p.m. Monday

Where: Technology Center, Penn State Wilkes-Barre Campus, Lehman Township

To register: Call 570-825-1701 or 570-674-7991. There is a $15 registration fee per person.

Copyright: Times Leader