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Corbett Signs Controversial Bill Giving Drillers Power To Pool Leases
Governor Corbett signed a controversial bill (Senate Bill 259*) into law on July 9th, giving drillers the power to combine or “pool” leases for horizontal oil and gas drilling. The Governor is defending this legislation, but an oil and gas royalty owners group states that it undermines some landowners’ negotiating rights when dealing with Marcellus Shale drilling companies. The legislation was originally promoted as an effort to bring more clarity to the deductions companies take out of royalty payments. Landowner complaints over...
read moreWashington County, PA leases are expiring
Many Washington County PA landowners’ oil & gas leases have already expired, or are set to expire in the very near future. Unfortunately, many of them do not get the professional help they should, and miss valuable opportunities to maximize negotiations for a quality oil & gas lease. Landowners need the right representation, in regards to making an informed decision about their oil and gas lease and contract negotiations. Landowners need to capitalize on the financial benefits from their natural resources, with an eye towards having...
read moreAppeals court upholds local fracking bans in NY
New York municipalities can use local zoning laws to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing to drill for natural gas, a mid-level state appeals court said last week. The town of Skaneateles used a series of zoning laws to prohibit heavy industry last year. More than 50 New York municipalities, such as the town of Skaneateles, have banned gas drilling in the past few years, and more than 100 have enacted moratoriums on drilling activities. The court’s decision involved interpretation of state law that says that regulation of the oil and gas...
read moreEQT Acquiring Additional Marcellus Acres
EQT Corporation has agreed to purchase 99,000 net acres in southwestern Pennsylvania and 10 horizontal Marcellus wells in Washington County, Pa., from Chesapeake Energy Corporation and its partners. The $113 million transaction remains subject to closing conditions. The acreage includes 67,000 Marcellus acres and 32,000 dry Utica acres. $60 million is allocated to the undeveloped acreage, while the rest is for the existing Marcellus wells in the area. The acquisition is expected to close on May 30. It will include approximately 25,000 acres...
read morePA Supreme Court Reaffirms Property Rights
Marcellus Shale Formation is not a “mineral”… In a unanimous opinion by Justice Baer issued April 24, 2013, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reaffirmed the Dunham Rule, holding that a reservation of minerals in a deed does not reserve the gas in unconventional formations, such as the Marcellus Shale. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reaffirmed the state’s 131-year history of the mineral rights law, ruling in favor of a Susquehanna County couple that had filed suit over the rights to the Marcellus Shale gas under their property....
read moreSeismic Surveys To Start in Dunbar Twp, Fayette County in Autumn
Seismic surveys will begin in autumn in Dunbar Township, Fayette County in order to determine the best locations for Marcellus shale gas drilling operations. Dunbar Township supervisors told residents that testing will begin in October to allow Chevron to select drilling sites. McDonald Land Services will send letters to property owners that agreed to the surveys, notifying them of the procedures. The survey will take place in six phases in mid-October until the survey is complete, according to a letter from McDonald Land Services. Activity...
read moreMarcellus Drilling Cleaning Up Abandoned Mine Drainage
Abandoned mine drainage is destroying the environment everyday! Marcellus drilling may be able to change that… More than 4,000 miles of streams polluted by abandoned coalmine drainage flow through Pennsylvania’s forests, killing all aquatic and invertebrate life. And it would take an estimated $15 billion to clean up these dead streams. Some environmentalists and at least one Marcellus driller have decided there’s an opportunity here to kill two birds with one stone. Using the abandoned mine drainage to hydro-frack wells, they say, could...
read moreMarcellus Resources Pipeline to Gulf Coast
The volume of natural gas liquids in the Northeast is expected to exceed 1.2 million barrels per day by 2020. A pair of energy companies has announced a joint venture to transport natural gas liquids from the Marcellus regions to processing facilities in Texas and Louisiana. Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP, and the energy infrastructure firm Williams plan to upgrade existing pathways and build a new “Bluegrass Pipeline”, which could transport up to 400,000 barrels of the natural gas liquids per day. The company said exact locations have not...
read moreWhat Is Act 13 (Impact Fee)?
April 1, 2013: 2012 impact fees are due. Legislative leaders estimate the second fee payment will generate about $211 million. After years of deliberation on the issue, Pennsylvania legislators passed a bill overhauling the state’s natural gas drilling laws on February 8, 2012. Act 13 became law when Governor Corbett signed House Bill 1950 on Feb. 14, 2012. The Fee The legislation places an impact fee on every well drilling for gas in the Marcellus Shale formation. The levy will change from year to year based on natural gas prices and the...
read moreNew Yorkers Await PA Health Study
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York will wait for a Pennsylvania health study before deciding whether to allow drilling while landowners are preparing to sue New York over lost gas-leasing opportunities and an industry group warned Sunday that a business exodus from the state will worsen. Landowners hoping to lease to gas-drilling companies and earn royalties on gas production are preparing a lawsuit against the state because of the moratorium. The lawsuit will allege that the state has taken property rights in violation of the state and federal...
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