Corbett: It is not my intention to alter or affect the agreed-to terms of any existing lease

QFFECE THE Governor      
July 9, 2013



Today I signed Senate Bill 259, which amends Act 60 of 1979, commonly referred to as the Guaranteed 

Minimum Royalty Act. This legislation provides enhanced transparency to owners of oil and gas interests 

by requiring, at a minimum, that certain information which pertains to the payment for oil or gas production 

be disclosed on a royalty check stub or other means provided to the interest owner on a regular basis. 

These are important steps to better inform landowners and leaseholders regarding the production occurring 

from their property.  



I am aware of several questions and concerns which have been 'raised with regard to Section 4 of Senate 

Bill 259, which added a new Section 2.1 to the underlying statute. By signing this legislation, it is my 

intention, and I believe that of the General Assembly, to enhance the efficient development of oil and 

natural gas while safeguarding the rights and protections of landowners and leaseholders. 



It is not my intention to alter or affect the common-law Rule of Apportionment, or to alter or affect the 

agreed-to terms of any existing lease. I believe the constitutional protections which guard against legislative

impairment of contracts serves as an added backstop to these concerns.  



Moreover, I do not believe anything in Senate Bill 259 expands the ability of an oil or gas operator to define the size of a drilling unit, or to expand the ability of any operator to hold by production any parcels of leased land. Instead, the legal clarity provided by this legislation will further minimize environmental impacts and 

surface disturbance associated with oil or gas development; maximize the economic benefits of royalties 

realized by landowners and leaseholders; expand the number of royalty owners in the Commonwealth by 

encouraging the efficient development of oil and gas resources; and ensure that landowners and 

leaseholders are compensated fairly.  



I look forward to working with members of the General Assembly on additional, future steps to ensure that the interests of landowners are paramount.  



Sincerely, 

TOM CORBETT  

Governor

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on July 11, 2013 at 12:03pm

Mark

I appreciate your post and I agree with you regarding the lawsuit.  I deeply resent, though, landowners being placed in the position of having to sue for what clearly is their just due.  The expense alone is incredibly burdensome.  The likely long time delay is intolerable.

Straight up, this never should have happened.  This is one of the dirtiest, most underhanded pieces of PA legislation I ever have encountered.  Corbett should be horse whipped for having signed this.  Garth Everett is a complete jackass and should be run out of town on a rail.  It will take years, I predict, to put this right.  This is no way to run the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania! 

Permalink Reply by Rick on July 12, 2013 at 8:04am

Everything was fine until this fine young man, Garth Everett... a great example of a "we the people" person threw the monkey wrench into the mix, and then says "What? Where did that come from?" I hope people in his district vote his sorry lying ass out! LQQK here ----> http://triblive.com/business/headlines/4303895-74/bill-pooling-prov...

Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on July 12, 2013 at 12:11pm

Rick

That's what I believed for a long time . . for weeks.  I now, too late, have come to realize the folly of my thinking.  I was duped.  Many landowners were duped.  Here is reality:

SB 259 in its early form was a straightforward Trojan horse;  pure and simple.  The early bill contained provisions mandating greater royalty stub transparency.  What landowner would not be in favor of that!  The early version was VERY well publicized, trumpeted, and ballyhooed.  Politicians were taking bows in every direction, so proud were they of their service to landowners, of their respect for landowners' need for more royalty stub information.

But the fix was in from the outset.  It had to be.  The poison pill was slipped in very near to the end of the process with no publicity whatsoever.  I say it was all part of their plan to screw landowners out of millions of dollars.  They executed their plan (and us) flawlessly.  It all was going well until the end when alarm bells went off everywhere after landowners (slowly) began to learn the truth.  By that time the bill was on Corbett's desk.  He said he would take his time.  It was another lie.  As the furor grew and they no longer could contain the outrage and uproar, Corbett quickly signed SB 259 in hope of shutting us up and putting this to rest.

It remains to be seen whether they were successful in the overall, or not. 

Permalink Reply by Rick on July 12, 2013 at 8:12am

You know I just read corbett's press release about signing this filthy land grab.... WTF! Did he even READ what the hell he signed?

Permalink Reply by Jeff on July 14, 2013 at 3:23am

I had an opportunity yesterday at a local auction to talk with several large land owners.  We all know each other’s political views and had a frank discussion on whether it’s time to have the democrats back in Harrisburg for a few years until all the oil and gas industry back stabbing is over.  I explained the ramifications of the bill Corbett just signed and how it could potentially cost them Hundreds of thousands of dollars.  With Corbett changing contract law and not even knowing who put the language in the bill speaks volumes for who's pulling the strings.  I told my very conservative neighbors that they’ll see a democrat for governor sign in my front pasture. 

Permalink Reply by Rick on July 16, 2013 at 3:46am

Fracking ban isnt going to happen in pa Fang... no way... the general popelation including the dems are used to it by now, and see benefits for the economy.. plus the O&G will line THEIR pockets a bit also... just not as freely as to the republicans...  dont fear the democrat!!

Permalink Reply by randall gottus on July 16, 2013 at 4:54pm

Rick  ...you are correct, and also, the dems are more supportive of landowners, and are upset that Corbett is letting the gas companies run this state. There is an article in the butler eagle news paper (6/19/13) talking about this, and there are other articles out there stating that the Dems are concerned that the republicans want to take more rights off the land owner and give them to the gas companies.

Permalink Reply by Rick on July 22, 2013 at 7:44am

Randall, can you post a link to the article you refer to? I would be very interested in reading it, as i am sure others here would also.

Permalink Reply by Nicholas Santillo on July 15, 2013 at 8:58am

I have an old lease with one shallow well still in production on 176 acres.

The gas company that holds the original lease has tried to get me to sign an addendum to give them Pooling and Unitization rights.

The problem is when they send me the papers to sign....they include wording that includes much more than Pooling and Unitization. 

1. Holding to the PA State min royalty of decimal 0.125  minus production costs and other expenses,

   ( production costs not broken down and without limitation for future increases).

2. May also include Coalbed methane.

3.  Includes any and all strata

The list goes on and on.

PA SB 259 Gives the Energy companies every thing they wanted, stated and implied, for a very low price

Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on July 15, 2013 at 10:27am

Nicholas:

I am sorry for your loss.  But with 176 acres you might want at least to consider a lawsuit.  That's really big money you are losing.  And you need to keep your eye peeled for any class action lawsuit that might be taking off.  With 176 acres you'd sure want in on that.

Remember, your lease is a contract.  Such a contract is not subject to amendment by an act of the dishonest and reprehensible PA Legislature.  Course that's my take.  The court will be the final judge of the matter.

And until and unless they deep drill you, time is on your side.  As more and more landowners in your situation discover their catastrophe, the movement for a class action suit will grow.  At the least, some PA judge should issue an injunction against deep drilling property like yours, until this matter can be settled.

Good luck.  You're gonna need it!

Permalink Reply by Nicholas Santillo on July 16, 2013 at 4:00pm

Frank Walker......

Thank You, and only time will tell !

Permalink Reply by Nicholas Santillo on July 16, 2013 at 3:50pm

Fang....

I have an Attorney that submitted all the suggestions you offered and many others as well,

but they would not yield.

Thank you for your inputs.

Nicholas

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