Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bill anders on May 11, 2011 at 12:19pm

Company A would do a swap, trade, or buyout of Company B or vice versa.  These companies compete to a point but at the end of the day they work together in order to drill wells.  Hopefully Company A ( which you signed with) is the bigger of the two, if not Company B can drill and not take Company A's acreage position there. (Leaving you Cut out of the Unit and $$)  The bigger companies win at the end of the day, and the smaller one's are taking the risks hoping that the actual drilling companies do indeed buy the acreage they took a risk on.

Permalink Reply by Nate on May 12, 2011 at 10:44am

Let me know how this shakes out Paul. I know company B very well and can get you on board if company A doesn't want your lease. A lot of people didn't realize that in the contract/Letter of Intent that the landowner group in Columbiana county signed, the Lessee (CHK) has the right to only pay for leases they deem "usable". So I'm curious as to how things will shake out as people start getting (or not getting) paid.

Permalink Reply by J. Rossi on May 25, 2011 at 1:43pm

Make sure you put a production Pugh Clause and Gas Storage Clause in a addendum.

Permalink Reply by Utica Shale on May 12, 2011 at 7:16pm

Paul,

  Did your lease with Company A state that you would lease them more than the 20 unleased acres?

 

 You sort of implied that you own more land than just the 20 acres but that the other acres are already leased.  I don't understand why it would take a Title Search for them to realize that only 20 acres of your land is unleased - it should have clearly stated 20 acres in your lease, right ?

 

 Did Company A pay you a signing bonus for just the 20 acres after you signed the lease?

 Did you cash the check?

 

 

Permalink Reply by Paul Martinelli on May 13, 2011 at 9:26am

When you lease your land......in some cases it is almost impossible to know who owns what mineral rights. Leases are old, vauge......parcles get combined/ separated over time.  So you agree to lease the land...they title search it....and go from there.

 

Yes I own more than 20 acres....yes some of the other acres are leased (HBP)......and no, no check has been issued.

 

 

Nate and Bill are most likely correct...they will look at the unleased 20 acres and decide if they want it....or if they want to trade it to company B.   It may be beneficial to lease it to use as a bargaining chip to trade for other acreage held by B elsewhere.  I wonder when/where all this horse trading of parcels wil be held?

Permalink Reply by Rich Koehler on May 15, 2011 at 4:49pm

You can find out quite a bit about the lease history of your piece of ground by spending some time in your county Recorders office.   I found a series of leases on ours dating from the mid-70's.  I also found that they were  all transferred several times without our knowledge, but all have expired. 

Many leases are for a set term.  Read carefully when you find a copy of those on your ground and you may well find you have no leases in effect.  If you think you do, look for some statement about annual payments, no matter how insignificant it might be.  If it's in there and you have received nothing for some time, you are likely not bound under that lease.  If you haven't been getting any payments and a check suddenly shows up, I suggest you do not cash it, as doing so might serve to reactivate an expired lease.  The language in the old leases was drafted at a time when landowners were considerably less savvy about such things than they are now.  Some of it leaves large opportunities for the drilling companies.  Be very careful and if you have any doubt at all, contact an attorney.  It won't be free, but free stuff is usually worth it's price.

Permalink Reply by James Harber on May 24, 2011 at 11:43pm

Great advice, do some research or hire a  good atty to work on it for you. You may come out on the better end, besides wouldn't you rather know than not?