Does anyone know if Expand is doing any leases in Marion County? In the past our property has had leases with both SWN and Chesapeake but I can not find any county records showing any current activity. My last contact with SWN was about 8 years ago or so. Do not think he is still in the area or his phone# has changed.
@RBudFarm - ​​Expand Energy focuses on Upper Wetzel, Marshall, Ohio, and Brooke Counties. EQT and NorthEast Natural Energy/NNE are now your two operators in Marion County.
Thank you for shedding some light on it for me. Does not leave much room for negotiations considering only two players in the area I really appreciate it!
What district are you in?
Pawpaw District. I have a low ball lease offer from Marion. I know they are going to drill (pressuring us to sign) and I believe our property is going to be at the foot end of the line. This is based on adjacent property leases already signed. The leases make a line directly from the proposed and approved pad. And end at my property. EQT is mainly working in Mannington area. Last lease (undrilled) was about 8 years ago from SWN. It was a really good lease. Marion has offered about half what it was.
​NNE/MNE is a smaller operator than SWN. They primarily control that area. Did you ask the Landman for a proposed unit map?
Do you know your Tax Map Parcel #?
So I do not feel comfortable giving the exact location due to who knows who will read this but I will tell you it is between Fairview and Rivesville. Still have negotiations to consider.
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@RBudFarm - No worries, I completely understand. I’m from Marion Co, WV, and a 24-year Petroleum Engineer, and I was only trying to help.
Thank you ,I really appreciate the info.
Its going to be EQT and NNE in that area of Pawpaw (more than likely through Marion Natural Energy).
Honestly, really depends on the size of your land in terms of your negotiating strength. If you’re talking less than an acre, your more than likely going to be Cotennancy into a lease if you negotiate too hard. If you have a larger interest, then you have a lot more strength to negotiate. One thing is dont get bullied into signing anything as WV has relatively good Cotennancy laws.
Other thing is, if you’re negotiating with Northeast and ever plan on potentially selling your mineral rights (even maintaing that option) make sure you strike out their Right of First Refusal Clause, which they put in all their leases and essentially means you have to go through them to sell (i.e. First Right of Refusal on any offers) and kills the value of your minerals to other companies
Wish you the best but congrats
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Wow,didn’t know anything about Right of First Refusal. 40 plus acres ,land and minerals. Will never be sold in my lifetime. Thank you for the info!
This just came in on another thread. Can anyone dumb this down a little for me? How will it affect current lease negotiation as well as the possibility of them just backing out of any current offer?
@RBudFarm - This is to present the judge and regulatory board with Co-Tenancy and force pooling terms for the Declaration of Pooling and Unitization (DPU) documents that every operator files when they complete or in completing drilling units. You can find them in the Marion County Recorders of Deeds office or the online IDX site for Marion Co.
Thank you for clarifying. I found out our tract is not part of this hearing but I know it is getting close to the deadline. I really appreciate your knowledge and willingness to help.
Question about leases in WV. If there is production on a part of the leased land, does the entire parcel described in the lease become part of the DO calculation? I am trying to figure out how percentages are arrived at.
@Elizabeth_McBride -Hi Elizabeth, that’s a difficult question to answer since many different scenarios are involved. I recommend reaching out to an Oil and Gas professional or advisor to explore details about the drilling unit, lease, etc.
While it may be lease specific, generally ONLY the portion of your parcel included in the Unitization is going to be used in your Division Order calculation. So if you own a 1/10th interest in a 15 acre parcel but they are only using 50% of the parcel, your NMA for the land included in the calculation is going to be 15 acres / 10 * 50% = 0.75 acres included
Its not too complicated as long as you have the correct numbers (most owners do not)
That explanation is really helpful.. On one DO, the calculation started with the lease acreage and then had decimal multipliers. But there is another long number in the middle that signifies something but doesn’t affect the end number.