Great news Katrina Posey!
Yoda,
I have worked with a few attorneys that I would be happy to recommend if you wish to send me an email here on the site.
could anybody recommend a good D.O. attorney in WV?
if anybody knows of a company that does title searches for the oil and gasâŚemail me at lindalesu@Comcast.net
So the name I have got from Antero for my well name I guess is âBomanââŚ
They said they have no more info on this unit that its not drilling until later. anyone else know anything about this unit
Katrina,
I would need to review the exact specifics of your lease, but 99.999999% of leases are structured in a fashion that any âworkingâ is enough to hold the lease. Without reading the language associated with your lease, I would say that the lease is valid and will remain so for the duration of production.
Happy to be of assistance, we all need to lean on each other for guidance, certainly the production companies do not have the mineral owners interests as a priority.
Cheers
Ok, that is what I kind of figured, but my brother thought otherwise. I am happy its just drilled and maybe now I will start getting some checks.
Thanks !!
Linda,
Loren is correct. However, to cover your assets, I would strongly suggest spending the $5.00 - $7.50 and send Antero a Certified, Return Receipt Requested letter on the date the lease expires.
In the letter, advise Antero that you understand the lease has expired and provide them 10 days to respond if your understanding is incorrect. Something may be happening with the parcel that you are unaware of, typically leases are written so production is not required for a lease to expire. Most leases provide that a production company is able to start the production process the day before expiration and the lease is still valid.
Please, keep all correspondences in your records to keep in the event there is any questions at a later date.
I am not saying this is true with Antero, however if you think back to 2011, leases provided significantly greater bonuses and royalties than they do in 2016. Some production companies are waiting for the leases to expire, then attempting to release at current market terms, a month after the better leases expire.
It is your responsibility to CYA⌠Cover Your Assests
Took them a year of production before the sent a us a DOs on 8 wells and then a month after each DO they sent a yearâs back payment. I hope what they are telling you is correct though. Maybe they are getting caught up with the DOs.
I just spoke to Antero, my lease was up in October. But they have drilled them already. Said they should be sending a Division order in January or february. So since they are drilled and not in production yet, does this mean they do not have to renew the lease or since they have drilled and no production yet. Does just drilling on the pad hold the lease? Or will each lease say something differnt.
Thank you.
Roger, I agree with WV Mineral Owner. I know someone else (not Doddridge but a neighboring county) where Antero didnât want to continue negotiations on a lease and filed a partition suit. This family ended up taking the lease as far as they had negotiated. If they had worked with an attorney (I believe I know the firm that WV Mineral Owner is referring to; very good) they probably would have avoided the unpleasantness.
If you havenât talked with the Land Department in Colorado yet, that might get you further than you are right now, but a good experienced attorney who knows how Antero does things, would help you even more. And sometimes it might not be worth it to fight, and selling might be the better choice.
The issue about the well getting your gas on the 25 acres: They would pool your acreage with surrounding acreage into a unit, and drill one or more wells in that unit area with the lateral part of the well extending under several tracts, and draining gas and liquids from the surrounding area. You can go here a href=âhttp://www.dep.wv.gov/oil-and-gas/GI/Pages/WeeklyReports.aspxâ>http://www.dep.wv.gov/oil-and-gas/GI/Pages/WeeklyReports.aspx
Roger,
I did not find your name associated with any tax tickets in Doddridge County, therefore I have zero knowledge of the specifics of your parcel. However, if you wish to sell and get out from underneath the burden, I am open to discussing the situation. Email me on this site if you wish.
For those of you wondering why I do not hire a lawyer, stop and think about it. I represent 1/2 acre of 24.5 acres, the rest is owned by 264 people. Would someone PLEASE EXPLAIN why the cost of hiring a lawyer is to my benefit? I try to live on Social Security, donât have the means to travel to Doddridge County WV, and have several legal actions going on here at home as well as continuing health problems (donât get me started about the VA and its outside program that is supposed to provide medical service the VA canât handle. IF you have a car or someone to drive you to the locations 2 miles from a bus route!).
IT IS JUST NOT WORTH IT PEOPLE!
You are not the only one. The main reason I have not rid myself of that handful of dirt is because I have no idea as to how to get a copy of the title and what ever else I need to sale the property. This is a situation where I am all but an complete outsider and most of the other co-owners are from one or two families. Even the names of the co-owners I know are my cousins have not made contact with me for decades. It would seem that one of them would try to make contact if for nothing but to buy the property to keep it within the family. RCR 1/27/2017
Ah, Nancy, would that be us getting the partition suit filed?
Roger, Antero must need that chunk of dirt. They will spend the money to file a partition suit to get the leverage they need. They will âbuyâ an acre or two off of one of the heirs who have already signed on that tract for say 1500.00. Then, Antero is and owner just like you. After the litigation is over, Antero will deed it back to them. They will summons you to a hearing and you will need representation for the hearing. Antero is betting you will sign a lease after you are summoned. If not they have to represent every single heir on that tract at the partition hearing. That is costly to them for filing a partition suit but, they already have their lawyers on retainer. The amount you have is not much an I imagine it is about the principal of the matter and them trying to push you around. We went ahead and signed leases because we did not have enough people who wanted to contest the partition suit. They will do it though to force your hand and you need to decide whether you want to fight it or lease it. As far as selling I would not sell it and I hope no one on here asks you to do so. Thank You.
Roger C Roberts, I know that the judge at the Circuit court level in Ritchie County seems to be a very good man and rules fairly, often for the mineral rights owner over the company. I believe he is the same one over the Doddridge area. While you have had a bad experience, I feel that you mistakenly lump all of WV into one pot, whereas there are multiple pots for West Virginians, just like any state.
The rules on partition suits have the purpose of not allowing one party to hurt another party where there is joint ownership. It is easy to see how multiple owners of a surface tract could divide it up but that does not work the same way with multiple owners of an undivided mineral right.
If the companies get their wish, the WV legislature could pass a forced pooling bill (which they have attempted many times) which would force a lease on you if you didnât sign it willingly, with certain safeguards. Meanwhile they have the partition suit as their way to get things done.
From their viewpoint, it costs a lot to drill a well, and part of that is getting the drilling rig to the area. Once there, they like to make use of it in the most efficient way possible. One âholdoutâ owner of a tract in their path could cost them a lot of money. On the other hand, one could say that why not just negotiate with that holdout.
This is the way I see it.
If the operator sent you a lease agreement it should contain enough information to allow a potential buyer to identify your interest.
to RW Kennedy- Your have stated my argument. The contracts I have received first came directly from ARC and then their lawyers. The contracts were different in content. But neither address the questions I have placed on this board. The board informed me about the map showing the spacing applied by the state of WV, the name of the surrounding property owners who would be effected by a well on the property to which I have a connection, well bottom, etc.
The first thing that caught my attention when reading the first contract was that ARC stated they could not be held accountable for injury or death on the job site. That ended my interest in the contract right there. That was reworded in the second series of contracts. (It is like âThird Party Liabilityâ has been following me most of my life, Iâve stopped attending car meets, stopped being involved in music/culture festivals, etc. because of my knowledge of just who can be forced to pay for third parties being hurt at the event.)
The other term/condition that was present in the first contract but not the second was the âAbandonmentâ clause. After reading that one party was stuck with a 6000 square feet concrete pad on his property that was left behind by the drilling company, letâs face it, âIFâ someone else was interested in buying that land who would have to pay to remove the concrete? The property owner.
While talking to one of ARCâs legal team he stated, quote, âWhy should you care what happens to the property (after abandonment), you would have MADE YOUR MONEY OUT OF IT.â I responded, âBecause I care!â
I am not a âGreenieâ but in some areas of thought I see their point. This legal mess I am in is because of land passing through two generations before me, I am the third generation. I ask, what will two generations further down the line think of me in regards to how my actions effect the property? It is not about the gas beneath the surface, it is the SURFACE from which these future generations might need in order to make a living. If times are hard in WV at the present can it even be suggested that there will be improvement in the near future??? RCR 1/28/2017