Mineral Rights

lockhaven · Jun 25, 2011

I would like any advice or information on mineral rights. I am in Lycoming county PA. They are drilling and fracking for gas all around me. I own the mineral rights to my land. How much should I ask for and are there any other things I should know about. So far I have heard nothing from the gas company.

teg · Jun 25, 2011

Have you tried searching for... fracking it's been talked about a couple times.

Wayne County Hose · Jun 25, 2011

Google "Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance." A lot of good info there and links to others. Also Geology.com and look up the Marcellus Shale Region. See what people around you are getting for lease and royalties and in the words of a gas man, have a lawyer look over everything. Money is out there, just have to be patient. Good luck.

sweettractors · Jun 25, 2011

lockhaven said:
I would like any advice or information on mineral rights. I am in Lycoming county PA. They are drilling and fracking for gas all around me. I own the mineral rights to my land. How much should I ask for and are there any other things I should know about. So far I have heard nothing from the gas company.

Get your per acre money up front and then at least 1/8 of production. In Ky we have 1000 ft limit between gas wells and you have to be 500 ft away from your neighbors property line to get the max. If not, you have to share with the neighbor and if he hits close to the property line, he has to share with you. Your state may be different. Ken Sweet

Gods Country · Jun 25, 2011

After you get a belly full of free advice, talk to a competent attorney.

Chooglin · Jun 25, 2011

I was offered $1,200.00 per acre for 25 yrs. or $800.00 per acre for 10 yrs. plus royalties, by Chesapeake Enrgy and DECLINED.

forgeblast · Jun 25, 2011

I posted in another thread about what the going rate was, cant seem to find it now.
My neighbor with in the last 6mts got 5,250 or so an acre. He is next to a train line but some where around 5k an acre is going price. Also the best money you can spend is getting a lawyer to sign off on the lease. There should be a time frame, 5 years, then they have to redo the lease. Set backs from the house, storage of chemicals, and you should be able to get about 21% of what comes out of the ground. Due to medical issues we signed early, we got 50 an acre. I am over in susquehanna county, drive past 5-8 gas wells on a daily basis. Questions? just ask.

lockhaven · Jun 26, 2011

I am sorry for not being more specific. I do not want them drilling on my land. I understand that they are drilling so deep then drilling out horizontal, that puts them under my land. They should have to pay me for the gas that is extracted from under my property I would think. On the whole I am not happy they are here. The trucks will run you off the road and they will block a road for hours. State Police are useless they show up for a few minutes the trucks slow down they leave and we are right back on the race course.

jinman · Jun 26, 2011

I can't offer you specific advice, but I can tell you that gas production will positively effect the entire economy of your area and help you pull out of tough economic times. Production in the Barnett Shale in our area has been a huge boost to the economy here. Increased traffic and damage to rural roads is surely a negative. Also, fracking takes huge amounts of fresh water out of the aquifers. The minerals under your property belong to you and, in general, they cannot be removed without your permission/leasing. As long as environmental issues are controlled, I don't see a problem. Since you own your minerals, you are very lucky. Your decision should stand whichever side of the issue you are on.

Ken · Jun 26, 2011

lockhaven said:
I would like any advice or information on mineral rights. I am in Lycoming county PA. They are drilling and fracking for gas all around me. I own the mineral rights to my land. How much should I ask for and are there any other things I should know about. So far I have heard nothing from the gas company.

Look for address of state licensing for gas oil wells. Or where the companys have to file for the permit. They also report on what the expected amount for Leasing of mineral wells and also you will be given a paper to sign . Read carefully here you can sign away all rights if on wrong line.
Do they offer a point of use tap for personnal gas to house. y/n
Access roads property line or direct line to well location. How much per foot of right of way.
Size of Pad 5 acre or less amount of land disruption usually around 8/12 th. per. acre
Gas line right of way. usually $5 a foot .
Read again on division amounts of producing well 1/8th 1/4th 1/5th it is admazing what is signed when finding out what the neighbor is getting Remember the person who contacted you is a co. that is buying/leasing up the section of minerals and then will sell to gas co. to do drilling every penny you accept less is money for them. It is a Lawyer carefully written contract with few words for the seller on caution.
ken

mad_planter · Jun 26, 2011

Interesting. Certainly not been my experience with them. I guess they must know you don't want them there and they are out to get you

One thing I am positive of though is that if they don't own the gas rights then they certainly aren't drawing gas from under your property, assuming its not just a 1/4 or 1/2 acre lot. If you can prove they are I'd say you won the lottery, but I think its unlikely considering how careful and how many lawyers these companies employ.

You really need to talk to a lawyer and see what rights you have. Chances are your property won't be considered to be in any of the well areas (since you didn't sell your rights) and you won't have any say or expectation of money from the surrounding well areas.

forgeblast · Jun 27, 2011

They put land into Pools, the pools are I think, about 2-400 acre plots. That way when they put a well into one of these pools you know if you are in there you will get money.
Pa as of now has NO forced pooling. Forced pooling is where they can force you to join a pool. How long this will last, Not too sure.
Best advice I can give you is see a lawyer, we were approached so early in the gas rush, no lawyers were handling gas leases. Now most have a person to handle them.
In our paper today it said that a company just drilled two gushers, 30million cubic feet of gas a day coming from these wells, this is about 15 mins away from us.

MMagis · Jun 27, 2011

Get yourself in contact with some landowner groups in your area and get with one of them. Don't tray negotiating yourself. I went to a meeting recently, and the job of one guy involved only getting payed a percentage of anything over $2000/acre. That should give you an idea. The clauses the professional legal teams put in the group lease contracts are things most people would never think of until it's too late.
The drilling companies absolutely won't drill under you without a signed lease contract. Too many people are worried over nothing because they simply don't understand the process.

jinman · Jun 27, 2011

forgeblast said:
In our paper today it said that a company just drilled two gushers, 30million cubic feet of gas a day coming from these wells, this is about 15 mins away from us.

Here's a link to the same story on Yahoo Finance.

dmccarty · Jun 27, 2011

There is a possibility of gas being in the eastern part of my county. Not under us unfortunately.

The local greenies are up in arms over the complete destruction of the environment caused by fracking. Since the biggest worry would be the loss of the well, the throught occurred to me that if I ever had the opportunity to lease my land for gas, part of the contract would be a water collection and cistern system for the house, if there was a problem with the well. I wish I had a cistern now and only used the well for the garden...

Later,
Dan

Ken · Jun 27, 2011

The gas co after buying the section 640 acres of mineral rights. Here is Arkansas will have a pad prepared usually 5 acre. with a waste pit lined so no drilling fluid can get to ground level. So first a large bore 36/48" in size to solid rock and cemented in place. Then a 2nd drill rig will drill to below the water table level And this pipe liner will cemented to surface by pressure to seal all leaks in water table. 3rd drill rig will bore vertical to 2300/2800 feet deep . and again cemented in place. Now a specialized rig will perforate the bore and drill a horizontal line up to more than a mile in the shale seam some use air drill some use a mix of water and diesel then after the length is bored they set off small explosive charges to fracture the shell and use high pressure water and sand to keep fracture open to retreive the gas . depending on the availability of the gas maybe 8 wells on one pad.
So far and adbundance of gas is being located.
Almost all griping and compliants are coming from those who sold there mineral rights so receive nothing or those who never owned land but want to share the wealth. Sounds like the political view of the day.
ken

greasemonkeyok · Jun 28, 2011

For perspective, a well selling 30 mmcf of gas per day at $4.00 /mcf, is $120,000.00 per day gross revenue. Of course there are taxes and possibly other costs taken out of that amount, say 10%.

The formula to calculate royalties is simple math. (Your royalty fraction, say 3/16) times (the number of net mineral acres you own, say 40 acres) divided by (the gross acres in the unit or pool, say 600 acres).

A $1,350.00/per day royalty check, or $40,500.00 for the first month, can finance a lot of equipment. Many a farmer in Oklahoma and Texas has been able to afford to buy equipment because they had royalty income that the agricultural income from the land would not support. Of course, those are the farmers that didn't let some city slicker hornswogle them out of their mineral rights.

ericrm2005 · Jun 28, 2011

lockhaven said:
I am sorry for not being more specific. I do not want them drilling on my land. I understand that they are drilling so deep then drilling out horizontal, that puts them under my land. They should have to pay me for the gas that is extracted from under my property I would think. On the whole I am not happy they are here. The trucks will run you off the road and they will block a road for hours. State Police are useless they show up for a few minutes the trucks slow down they leave and we are right back on the race course.

Im a fellow central pa resident, and I am completely terrified about what this gas drilling is doing to our area. Not only does it make it impossible for us to purchase more land because nobody is selling, but there have been so many problems with wells and the like. Central Pa has always had a beautiful farm landscape which is quickly coming to an end. We wont sign a gas lease on our land. I will be selling and heading to the midwest shortly. I never wanted to leave PA, but overpopulation and high taxes made me think about it, and the gas drilling made my mind up.

To answer your question, I dont think you are going to get a a flat amount. You will get paid IF their drill goes under any part of your land. They will pay you for the gas they take out from under your land, even if you have no contract with them. I would not sign a contract, as if you do it might be harder for you to sue the gas company not IF but WHEN your well is polluted.

Im not an eco-nut by any means and I certainly am in the "drill baby drill crowd", but I am only for it if it can be done without damage to the environment. I dont think at this point it can be done without damage.

To each their own opinion I guess.

aczlan · Jun 28, 2011

ericrm2005 said:
I would not sign a contract, as if you do it might be harder for you to sue the gas company not IF but WHEN your well is polluted.

So, put it in your contract that if your well is polluted by their operations (as compared to the report of the current status prepared by reputable independent lab xyz), that they will pay you $xxxxx and pay for you to get a new well of equal quality, or city water, or whatever you feel is the proper remediation.

And if they are working in the area, have a water test done by a reputable lab to conclusively prove the pre-existing water conditions.

Aaron Z

MMagis · Jun 28, 2011

ericrm2005 said:
Im a fellow central pa resident, and I am completely terrified about what this gas drilling is doing to our area. Not only does it make it impossible for us to purchase more land because nobody is selling, but there have been so many problems with wells and the like. Central Pa has always had a beautiful farm landscape which is quickly coming to an end. We wont sign a gas lease on our land. I will be selling and heading to the midwest shortly. I never wanted to leave PA, but overpopulation and high taxes made me think about it, and the gas drilling made my mind up.

To answer your question, I dont think you are going to get a a flat amount. You will get paid IF their drill goes under any part of your land. They will pay you for the gas they take out from under your land, even if you have no contract with them. I would not sign a contract, as if you do it might be harder for you to sue the gas company not IF but WHEN your well is polluted.

Im not an eco-nut by any means and I certainly am in the "drill baby drill crowd", but I am only for it if it can be done without damage to the environment. I dont think at this point it can be done without damage.

To each their own opinion I guess.

No offense, but you clearly have NO idea what you're talking about. Do a little research and get some understanding before giving "advice". I won't pretend to know much, but I know you're wrong about pretty much everything you wrote.