Reassignment of oil & gas lease

We got a certified letter stating:
The purpose of the letter is to serve notice that Chesapeake wishes to assign a portion of your lease to Eclipse. (Reference is made to the date if the lease, county it is recorded in, instrument number, book & page).
There is a clause in your lease that requires us to notify you of an assignment and request your consent to this assignment which shall not be unreasonably withheld. The purpose of this clause is to keep you informed of the ownership of your lease and to ensure that the ownership of your lease is in good hands. Therefore, to the extent required under your lease, we are requesting your consent to Chesapeake assigning interest in your lease to Eclipse, as set forth herein.

I'm looking for advice such as:
What questions should I be asking?
Do I need to have an attorney involved or review this?

Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

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Permalink Reply by Clinton44 on February 6, 2015 at 10:50am

Probably would be a good idea to have your attorney look it over. We had portions of our lease reassigned to other companies that partnered with the original company that we leased with. There were no problems and we did not have a clause saying that we had to be notified we found out when we started getting royalty payments from the other two companies.

Permalink Reply by Alan Bowers on February 6, 2015 at 11:06am

RO,

When (what date) did you get the letter?

Were you signed directly with Chesapeake?

Do you have an ALOV-CHK lease (were you part of the ALOV group)?

Where is your leased acreage located (Township, County, State)?

Asking Permission isn't something Chesapeake usually does.  Their typical MO is to just do what they want and then deal with the consequences later.

Try sending them a letter asking for a copy of the agreement between Eclipse and Chesapeake that would transfer ownership.

In the letter tell them "under advice from counsel" you would like to read a copy of the ENTIRE agreement between Eclipse and Chesapeake before you send them written consent.

By using the word "counsel" you come across as less aggressive/threatening in your request.  If you say "Attorney" they will figure you have lawyered up and are getting ready for a fight.  "Counsel" could be anyone, a financial planner, an accountant, your grandparents, uncle frank or aunt millie, or even your local psychic. 

There is no harm in asking for a copy of their transfer agreement.  The worst they could do is say "NO".  After you get a copy of their agreement then decide if you want to consult an attorney.

While you wait for their reply keep checking this thread to see if anyone else is able to contribute any more information.

Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on February 6, 2015 at 2:23pm
I think that Alan is giving good advice. We signed a document like the one that you received 20 years ago for an old Clinton well that was being reassigned. We did so with the advice of our attorney. I didn't know until a few years ago, when I learned how to use the ODNR website, that the transfer was actually made 3 months prior to the letter that I signed as evidenced by the name of the company that applied for the drilling permit. I'd ask for all of the documentation Alan is suggesting.
Permalink Reply by Dexter Green on February 6, 2015 at 3:21pm

They will likely not show you the agreement between the two parties.  They may be bound by a CA to not show anyone until the document is executed and recorded.  So I agree that RO should ask but not be surprised if they say no.

Permalink Reply by RO on February 6, 2015 at 3:28pm
Great advice. I thank you.
Chk's letter is dated 1/29/15 and I picked the letter up today 2/6/15 at the post office. I'm signed directly with Chk, I'm not part of a group. The land is in Millwood Twp, Guernsey Co., Ohio.
Permalink Reply by Robin Hood on February 7, 2015 at 7:44am

like alan bowers, I too am shocked that Chesapeake requested the permission of the landowner to assign. Our lease has  the"prior written consent from lessor required" but we were never informed by Range Resources or Chesapeake about the assignment. This was three years ago. We have written many certified letters about the subject to them which they ignore. We return the yearly leasing fees. They are going to hold on to our lease until we take them to court. That is their MO. 

If you deny the assignment they will fight you on the unreasonably withheld issue or most likely by just doing it anyway and wait for you to sue them in court.

But then assignment to eclipse has got to be better then staying with Chesapeake!

Permalink Reply by bo boboski on February 7, 2015 at 9:04am

That last sentence says it all.  good luck!  People wonder why some folks sell their minerals out right.

Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on February 7, 2015 at 2:09pm

I'd get a good attorney on this. As it would be an assignment of the original lease were you happy with that lease? Might Eclipse agree for a addendum to the lease such as a clause that shuts the door on paying enhancement charges? You have something they want to modify why shouldn't you perhaps also want to modify? 

Permalink Reply by Tony on February 9, 2015 at 5:33am

Anne is correct.  Eclipse is doing a lot (and planning to do a lot) in this area.  I would be happy, if I were you, to deal with Eclipse rather than CHK.  

Permalink Reply by RO on February 10, 2015 at 12:15pm
Ok, so we called Chk yesterday and had to leave a message. We got a call back today. We were told how many acres are being transferred but he didn't know the name of the unit it's to be in. He also said that he would send a copy of the transfer agreement between Chk and Eclipse.

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