In regards to your mention of "undesirable parts of the lease":
I have been sending letters to Antero and their lawyers for years and they have not address the issues of my concern (which are legit). I have no "Landman", if there is one assigned to the contracts I have received Antero has made no effort to provide me the name of the person, in regards to Doddridge County, and I have left three phone messages to the person whose name was in the cover letter for the Ritchie Contract.
It is quite clear that Antero would rather take a landowner to court and receive access to the property by asking the judge to force the sale of said property as in the long run Antero saves the money that is earmarked for signing fees, royalties, etc.
As I have stated elsewhere in this board, as soon as I began to read the first contract I received I noticed that, while not stated in the contract, I would be held for third party liability. It is implied.
The contract I have received for Ritchie County does not mention liability, does not mention Antero's obligations when they decide to leave the property.
Contracts for both counties also avoid stating that by signing the contract I would become an "associate" of the corporation in regards to developing the well, working the well, transport of the gas, storage of the gas until sold. I have NO REASON to become a "partner" of Antero, and if they are taking money from the royalty I would be due, I would be in fact a partner with the corporation in regards to that well.
To me ARC is not a desirable tenant, I base that on the safety issues that has already developed at site ARC has leased in Doddridge County. Yes, natural gas is highly explosive, but that is the reason I do not want association with that corporation. What happened in Doddridge County in September of 2016 revels that ARC is not only a "low cost" driller but also one that cuts corners, something that can lead to explosions, and employee injury and/or death.
Members of my extended family, which is not the family through which I have become associated in these contracts, have suffered too much thanks to ARC's operations in the western states. They agree with me and now wish they would have noted the problems I have discovered in the contracts with ARC.
Also, the people on this board who claim that simply accepting an unexpected package from an unknown sender (in this case ARC) DOES NOT MAKE ME obligated to what ever is inside the package in the area of agreements of a contract that may be in the package. When you receive such package it is your right to review the contents without obligations to the sender. Why do some residents of WV think otherwise?
Right now i have too many obligations where I live to take the time to travel to WV and due record searches, I do not have a computer and can not afford to take the time to go to a library to go online and find documents, etc. And when it comes to that unassigned handful of dirt in Doddridge County, it is not worth the effort. As for Ritchie, ARC didn't bother to provide me with the information I need to decide what to do. It is written to give the idea I am a sole owner, which I doubt, and that the land was inherited during 1967, which I know is not true.
Not the grounds upon which good relationships are founded. RCR 2/22/2017