Just got a call from my parents, they are part of the Carroll County Ohio SURE (Standing United Really Excels) Group. They just signed over 7000 acres for $3500.00 an acre with a 20% royalty clause! You guys need to remember this when your dealing with the companies! That is a BUNCH of money!!!
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I was at the meeting they had a few weeks ago at the high school and signed up then. My information is current as of the meeting. It was an open meeting so I don't consider that I am disclosing anything that might be considered confidential.
The $3,500 an acre and 20% royalty (gross) was the going in position of the people that formed the group. That is, they weren't speaking to companies that weren't willing to meet that minimum amount. They indicated that there were 5 companies that were bidding/negotiating so the upfront bonus may actually be higher when all is said and done. They had roughly 5,500 acres committed going into the meeting and were planning on capping the group acreage at 10,000 acres (Carroll County only) so that a wider range of companies had the opportunity to make offers.
At the meeting it was indicated that it is a 5 year lease with a 3 year renewal (which means a 40% increase in the bonus money based on the timeframe).
The lease terms and conditions are based on the ALOV lease which can be found at http://www.alov.us/. I was just there and I see that the SURE form is on that site as well.
I signed up because the lease terms and conditions are pretty good in my opinion and protect the interests of the landowner much better than some of the other leases I have seen. It may be that there will be more money on the table for others down the road but my main concern is protecting our farm in addition to getting decent compensation on the lease.
One thing that was interesting about the lease is that there are both surface and vertical Pugh clauses. Rights above the Queenstown layer are reserved to the owner.
A lot of the participating acreage that was shown on the map at the meeting was along route 9 north of Carrollton (towards where the Chesapeake well is) which I'm sure makes the block attractive. We are South of Carrollton (Union Township) where a lot of people have already signed with Chesapeake so I'm not sure how it will play out for us.
Nuts says $3,500 an acre is a bunch of money but if you have a bad lease and your land gets wrecked it won't seem quite as big a bunch of money. Whatever the money one should always read the lease carefully and check with an attorney if you have any questions or doubts at all. At 26 pages (with notes) I know the ALOV lease is a bit to digest but it's a big decision one way or the other.
Mike
IF YOU WILL, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE NAME OF THE COMPANY THAT AGREED TO THIS DOLLAR AMOUNT; I OWN LAND IN HARRISON (198 ACRES.) I HAVE NOT SIGNED UP WITH ANYONE, AS OF TODAY..
REGARDS,
RAYMOND
Word on the street is incorrect Paul. There is a lease signing today in Carrollton. There will be a second date in the not too distant future. I'm not in a position to say which company and which price as the leaders of the SURE group and the company have not announced. Raymond, the amount I indicated in my original post can be used as a reference point. I'm sure that the actual details will come out soon but I respect confidences.
Mike
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