My wife and I have 93 acres that has been under lease since 1975 with a gas well that is still producing royalties. We have been approached by the energy company that currently owns the lease. They want to put a Utica Shale well on our property . What are my rights as far as placement of the well, use of my land, water and right of way .
The current lease makes very little reference to well placement, water useage, roadways to and from the well as well as no reference tto horizontal drilling.
I think that answering your question will be difficult without reading the entire lease. From what you have stated, the lease is held by production and "little" reference is made about well placement, etc. By this, it sounds like something in the lease addresses these matters. In cases that I am familiar with, when the lease is held by production, the operator obtains a new permit to drill at any location on the lease that is allowed under the permit. Water usage and roadways would tend to fall under a surface owner agreement with the oil company which would be seperate from the mineral lease. Again, the key is what does the lease say?
Hello Charles,
Thank you for your input. In the lease the only statement on well placement is that no well can be drilled within 300 feet of an existing building. And the only reference to water states"the Lessee shall have the privledge of using sufficient oil, gas and water for operating on the premisis" . I understand it takes millions of gallons of water when drilling a Utica well and dont want the pond on my farm drained to where I loose the use and enjoyment I get from the pond.
My question would then be do I have a way to prevent the Energy company from drilling or am I bound to this lease agreement?
Martin Wollam
Martin:
From what you have stated, the terms of the lease agreement would remain in effect since the lease is held by production. As far as interpreting the water usage, I would consult an attorney as usually, this is an agreement between the surface owner and the oil company. In the event the surface owner did not own the minerals, could an oil company come in under a mineral lease agreement and utilize the water owned by a surface owner?
Martin Wollam said:
Hello Charles,
Thank you for your input. In the lease the only statement on well placement is that no well can be drilled within 300 feet of an existing building. And the only reference to water states"the Lessee shall have the privledge of using sufficient oil, gas and water for operating on the premisis" . I understand it takes millions of gallons of water when drilling a Utica well and dont want the pond on my farm drained to where I loose the use and enjoyment I get from the pond.
My question would then be do I have a way to prevent the Energy company from drilling or am I bound to this lease agreement?
Martin Wollam