Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by hunter777 on September 15, 2010 at 4:07pm

When the gas company is applying for a permit they must present a proposed unit size/shape, however after drilling and production starts they determine the actual area that is drained to come up with the final unitization, which the state must approve. This is because things don't always go according to plan when drilling, such as the horizontal leg may not be able to be drilled as long as they planned, or there may be other geology issues.

At that point they send the unit map to each landowner included in the unit for signatures. Obviously, the pipeline must be complete from the well to the compressor station for production to begin.

Hope it helps.

Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on September 16, 2010 at 12:40am

Thank you. I appreciate the response. It helps!

Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on September 16, 2010 at 8:35am

For benefit of anyone with a question on this:

You can learn about drilling unit declaration in Bradford County by using this link:

http://www.landex.com/webstore/jsp/cart/DocumentSearch.jsp

Check "Bradford County" on the left. Then fill in the name of a party you are certain will be in the unit. If you know the name of the landowner on whose land the well is being drilled, that's a good person to choose.

In Bradford County, drilling units show up listed as "miscellaneous" in the "type" column. Click on the miscellaneous item's instrument number to see the names and property identifiers of drilling unit participants.

I have not found a way using Landex, if you are in the drilling unit, to learn how many acres you have in the unit. At least I have not found a way to do this for free.

I figure if I'm ever fortunate enough to show up in a drilling unit it is time for a trip to Towanda anyway. The drilling unit declaration can be seen at the Bradford County courthouse, in the Recorder's office, for free.

Permalink Reply by Outback on September 17, 2010 at 4:22am

If you are in a drilling unit you will receive a listing of all unit members and the amount of their acres in the unit along with your Division Order.
Unit sizes are not cast in concrete. Our family is in three different units and since July 2009 our original Division Order has been "revised" 5 times

Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on September 17, 2010 at 4:48am

Many thanks for your reply. It is very helpful to me, and spot on what I needed to know.

My only remaining concern is different companies might handle this differently. I am leased to Talisman. Hope they follow the procedure outlined here, and don't have a different way of doing things.

Thanks again!

Frank

Permalink Reply by Victoria Smith on September 22, 2010 at 3:12am

An issue not related to the geology of the drilling unit, but which may change the unit, is the signatory status of all the O&G owners. If an O&G owner is a hold-out, e.g. there are ten heirs on a piece of property and eight have signed on and two are hold-outs, eventually for the drilling to take place the gas company may change the direction of the bore away from the land for which they cannot obtain the hold-out signature clearance. This is something to keep in mind when signatures of a number of family members are required to move ahead with the drilling. (In my experience, it has been an out-of-town relative, not living on or near the land, that is the hold-out.)