Well unit boundary???

Who determines the unit boundaries and is there an approval agency. I'm in southwest PA with a unit boundary running right along my property line. I'm not going to receive any royalties but feel my gas will be "extracted". What do I do???

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Permalink Reply by Clinton44 on July 11, 2012 at 2:23am

Hi Mark,

What county in PA are you?

The gas company designates the size of the drilling units as well as the leases that are included in each unit.

PA department of enviornmental protection issues the drilling permits.

If you get the permit numbers of the horizontal bores and email them to Kattie Schnid at DEP and request the well plats for those permit numbers. The plats will show the direction,length and bottom hole location,(end of the horizontal bore)

Kattie's email is kschmid@pa.gov she is usually pretty quick in getting back to you with the information.

Once you have the well plats in hand you can see if the wells are going under your property, If they are then I would call the driller, if you get no satisfaction contact a good oil and gas attorney.

We had a similar situation when I discovered three bottom hole locations about 350 feet off of one of our property lines.

We were included in that unit. Sometimes what happens as was our case it takes a while for the gas companies to make contact with those included in the units and set up royalty payments as some units have many leaseholders within a unit one unit we are in has 83 other leaseholders in it so there is quite a lot of information for the division order analysts to sift through.

Some on this site will tell you also to look for declarations of pooled units in the local courthouse. That is sometimes helpful but not always reliable as there is no regulation stipulating a time line for filing of the DPU's in PA. For instance the one unit we are in has been producing and paying royalties since Nov. of 2011 and still no DPU filed..

Hope this info helps keep me posted as to how you make out. 

Permalink Reply by Mark Wolfe on July 11, 2012 at 10:33am

I'm in Fayette County. I've already obtained the well plats from DEP. The horizontal bore is 47 feet at the nearest point and 350 feet at the farthest from my property line for a well being drilled on a neighbors farm. These numbers are exact as per the info from the plat and my experience as a surveyor (34 years). I do have a well on my farm that isn't under production yet (waiting on the gas line). It has 27 acres of my farm in the unit (northern portion of farm). We aren't listed as having any acreage on the neighboring well plat but I would think the fracking process will definitely extract gas from a portion of our southern acreage. I think I'll wait a while before contacting an attorney to see if the gas company gives us a share (6 other siblings and I involved). THANKS FOR THE INFO!!!!!

Permalink Reply by Clinton44 on July 11, 2012 at 10:50am

That sounds logical,

If I were you would contact the driller and make them aware that you know they are that close.

Thats whay we did and it worked out as follows,  they split the unit I decribed above into a North and South unit each with around 540 acres with three wells in each unit so it worked out to everyones benefit because the royalties are not as diluted as if we were all in the larger unit of over 1000 acres. We have 14 acres in the south unit and 40+ acres in another unrelated unit.

Who is the driller if I may ask??

Also be advised (for the unit you are in not yet in production) many of these gas companies have joint venture partners all responsible for paying their share of royalties seperately.

Good luck keep us posted it will be interesting to see what the outcome is.

Permalink Reply by LW on July 11, 2012 at 1:33pm

I know a unit can change after wells are drilled, because one that  we are in was split into a North and South, but can it change after production also? 

 

Permalink Reply by Clinton44 on July 11, 2012 at 1:45pm
It depends on the wording in your lease, most leases state that the units may be changed at will by the gas companies at any time.
Permalink Reply by LW on July 11, 2012 at 2:43pm

Thank you, I can see how this is important in the lease.  I can also how see how a landowner and their lawyer might have let this slip.  

Permalink Reply by Mark Wolfe on July 12, 2012 at 12:23pm

Chevron is drilling. Talked to a company representative a couple of weeks ago regarding some other issues with the northern well. He was with a sub-contracting company and I feel he was just telling us what we wanted to hear so they could obtain a sign-off for the pipeline. We've had more than a few promises that haven't been kept so I'm getting skeptical and downright mad at times.

Permalink Reply by Clinton44 on July 12, 2012 at 12:28pm

Ah ok, thought maybe I could provide you with some contact information but we have had no dealings with chevron.

Our leaseholder is Anadarko their partners are Ultra and Mitsui.

It must be frustrating not being dealt with fairly, We have been very lucky all the companies mentioned above have treated us right. 

Permalink Reply by DONALD MCNAUGHTON on July 13, 2012 at 4:19am

IN MY OPINION DO NOT TRUST  THEM!!!!!!! THEY ARE OPERATING THE WAY THE COMPANY THEY BOUGHT OUT!!!!!!!!!!

Permalink Reply by Mark Wolfe on July 14, 2012 at 5:12am

The company they "BOUGHT-OUT" & I have some MAJOR ISSUES!!! The biggest problem is when the current operator is confronted with a complaint the just POINT their finger & tell us our issue isn't their problem. Former doesn't answer our calls or e-mails & keeps giving us the run-around. My extensive background in land surveying has given me the opportunity to find MANY cases where drilling & pipeline construction has encroached on properties where they DO NOT have permission to be. Then when a landowner gets survey proof the courts let them PAY a small amount for the land they've TAKEN!!!!! Everyone MUST get a survey then PATROL their property. DO NOT carry a firearm or YOU will be arrested. LAND OF THE FREE, HOME OF BIG BUSINESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Permalink Reply by DONALD MCNAUGHTON on July 14, 2012 at 12:31pm

MARK

YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THERE HAVE BEEN MANY PEOP0LE CHEATED HERE IN THIS COUNTY. THEY RAN A PIPELINE ACROSS SOMEONE I KNOW HAS PROPERTY AND HE CAN NOT EVEN USE THE FIELD FOR HIS LIVE STOCK BECAUSE OF FENCES HAVE  NEVER BEEN REPLACED OR PILES OF DIRT LEFT. THEY GET THE SAME RUN AROUND! THIER SEMIC BUDDIES COULD NOT SAY OFF PRIVATE LAND OR CLEAN IT UP WHEN THEY FINISHED. THEY HAVE FORCED PEOPLE TO GET IN LAND GROUPS FOR PROTECTION. THEY TELL PEOPLE THERE IS KNOW GAS ON THIER PROPERTY BUT THE UNIT AND WELL LATERALE RUN ALONG THE PROPERTY LINE. I HAVE SEEN THE MAP THEY FILED WITH THE PERMIT APPLICATION. THERE ATTORNEY WILL NOT EVEN FOLLOW A JUDGES ORDER TO PRODUCE DOCUMENTS AND JUST STALL. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO CARRY A FIREARM WHERE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE BY A LAW RECENTLY PASSED BY THE STATE. THEY JUST WANT TO SCARE PEOPLE WITH THIER TACTICS AND POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. I TO HAVE EXPERIENCE IN SURVEYING AND KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THE PROPERTY LINES ARE. IT IS A TRAVISTY OF JUSTICE THAT YOU HAVE TO PROTECT YOU OWN RIGHTS. AMERICA FOR AMERICANS AND NOT BIG BUSINESS.

Permalink Reply by Betty on July 12, 2012 at 1:18pm

thank you for this info.   i'm stuck between two units -- one of which i believe is being fracked currently another one sitting on the sidelines.   this may sound like a very stupid question -- but even with all the activity at the one site -- how do i know if it is being fracked??? -- i'm 1500 feet from the well site according to the gas site info.

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