You can easily access well data on all of the wells on surrounding property/parcels with just a few mouse clicks. Follow these steps: access the WV Department of Environmental Protection – Office of Oil and Gas website; click on “Oil & Gas Database”; click on “Database and Map Information”; click on “Oil & Gas Map Search”. This will initially show you just the map of West Virginia, but then it gives you some options to find the other operating wells. You will need to have a good idea of the exact location of your parcel, map coordinates would be best. However, under “Location Search,” you only need the address or “Point of Interest.” You can visualize the wells under several different types of “map layers.” Try “2011 aerial photography” as the default value in your right margin to start. Once you are honed in to your parcel, you can check or compare the map, which you can expand and see quite clearly, to any existing map your landman sent you, just to make sure you’re at the correct location. If so, now just take a look at all of the surrounding wells, which you will be able to click on individually in order to see their recent history of production. This will provide graphs and charts showing yearly production for both oil and gas. The map will also indicate the presence of any horizontal wells and their direction. Whether there is one well or 6 wells wouldn’t ordinarily make any difference on the 150 acres, as long as you’re satisfied with the net per mineral acre signing bonus and royalties being paid. However, the biggest red flag that I see with 6 wells is EQT wanting to later use them for gas storage rights, which I would vehemently oppose in a contract. Moreover, without looking at all of the geology and formations they plan on accessing, it’s hard to comment on how justified EQT is installing 6 wells within 150 acres.
