I'm new to "gomarcellusshale", as well as new to this business.  We have a 152 acre farm with "Clinton" gas wells which supply our needs.

We've been approached by Fossil Creek Energy Corp (FCEC) for $50/acre, 12.5% Royalty, and $10,000 if a well is drilled.  We are sitting on the Utica Strata.  I've carefully read the lease and am very suspicious of the terms.  We are consulting attorneys.  I don't see any members from Noble County..and some interesting notes from Guernsey which lead me to suspect the FCEC lease.  Can they broker a lease after signing "cheap"?

We have news of ARTEX Oil offering leases in our County, they're out of Marietta.  Any comment on FCEC, ARTEX, and my suspicions would be welcomed!

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That is not necessarily the case.  The original lease to the Clinton wells operator may have specified a limit to the depth of mineral rights.  If that was the case the deeper rights may still be available.  I would suspect that FCEC likely did do their homework, and know this, or they would not waste their time contacting Mark Curry.  Mark should specify to his lawyer to check on that.  I would also recommend a lawyer with experience in oil and gas leases, as a regular lawyer may easily mess up IMHO.

"That is not necessarily the case."  -Hence the term "likely" Held by Production.

 

I would not be quick to say that Fossil Creek would not waste time...  They have in other counties.

 

Mark, I wouldn't waste your time and money on having your lawyer check to see if your deep rights are open.  If FCEC claims they are, ask them to provide you with a copy of your mineral title search.

 

I should probably clarify that our farm has three old wells that we actually own..1 'Clinton' which is deep but I'm not sure how deep, and 2 'Berea' fairly shallow..and there is no lease.  Our concern is that 1.  FCEC..a reputable outfit?  Given their size, lloks to me like they could broker a lease if you singed and it was 'cheap', and 2. No wish to rush in without investigating further.  This site is a great resource.  We are seeking advice of council.  I also wondered if, off the cuff, anyone thought the $50/acre was a come-on vs a real offer.

1. I don't think anyone knows yet because they haven't been around here long enough.  I know they were in Belmont Co., took 1 lease, and no one ever heard from them again.

2.  We have land in Buffalo Twp. and I thought our neighbors said FC was offering $100/acre 1st year and 50 years 2-5 (but I'm not positive on that).  If I were to sign right now it would be with Artex as they have a great reputation around Noble, Guernsey, and Muskingum and have drilled hundreds of wells in the area.

Hello Mark,

 

I was to the best of my knowledge the first Noble county land owner to join the site.... I have not had much feedback or info provided to me that was of any help so far. I have been contacted by a Enervest out of Marietta, Ohio but they are trying to sign me and any other landowner in my area to very low leases in the hopes to probably sell the rights at a higher price in the future.... I have chosen to sit tight and wait it out for now.... rather than accept less than land rents per acre if you want to lease it for hunting.... This group tried to tell me that Noble county does not have any Marcellus gas present....That it ends in P.A.     A group out of Oklahoma also contacted me and offered $100 /acre with 1/8 royalty and 300.000 cubic feet of gas free per year.... I'll just wait and see what happens for now.

 

 

 

George

 

We are in Buffalo Township, and I also see no reason to rush into this.  There is a bit of a land rush mentality and I definitely think some of these landmen can sniff out securing lower priced leases in the frenzy to sign up, and then broker them later.   We use gas now from present wells mentioned in previous post, and I am interested in comments about mineral rights and well depths.  Lease wording should protect these current rights.  We have an attorney in Cambridge vetting the lease..the more time we spend checking it out the better.  Should there be a Noble County page in the Ohio counties directory? Should Noble County landowners form a group?

I would like to see a Noble county landowners group formed, and listed in the county page. Now that there are two of us is that considered a group? My property is in Elk and Jefferson Townships.

 

Make it four and yes that is a start.
The Marcellus layer is likely thin in Noble but the interest in that area will probably be in the Utica Shale layer.

I have 100+ acres in center township in partnership with others. We were approached earlier in April with an offer from Fossil Creek Energy for a lease on our land. The offer was same as the one you describe. After a week I got another call from the representative who claimed to be co-owner of the company, stating that if We signed within the week he would up the offer but only gave a verbal agreement . The contract seems to conflict with some of his statements, so I would advise anyone considering signing to first consult a oil and gas leasing lawyer. I have not done so yet. After some checking online I found that the company was previously named Specter. I looked at the stark county   Oh  forum on this site and was amazed at the prices the landowners there are receiving, 1000-4000 $ per acre per yr. Don't know if it is true, but it makes me want to hold up for a while before signing.

i WOULD WAIT Fossil Creek is just one of many to come. Yes we should have a group in Noble Co.
everyone keeps speaking of all the other companies coming...where are they and how are they going to operate when the entire eastern portion of the state has been bought by ONE company in the last two years.

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