Asking for help regarding signing pipeline easement

I own 80 acres in wetzel and Tyler counties. We have been approached about laying pipes.

What are they paying per foot and inch of pipe. They also want to put a water line, above groind, how much for this.

They want to run 2 separate gas line then a option for another 2 plus water. It's going to be around 2200 feet.

We also have timber, one side 30 to 35 years and the other 45 years old.

Added note, we just signed our second lease in January with this same company.

Views: 1463

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Cain on March 30, 2018 at 5:18am

Jason,

For what its worth - Back in 2012-2013 in southeast Ohio I remember some people saying they were getting $100 per foot for a pipeline ROW.  Others had said they asked for (and I think received) $2.00 per inch in diameter of pipe per pipe per foot.  I think they also let you keep any timber that they cut so that you could sell it as well.  Not sure about that though.  Don't know what people are getting for water lines but I did hear some say that the lines can be there a lot longer than you might think.  So you might want to put a time limit on the "temporary" water lines.  I would also ask for a disturbance fee each time they come in and lay down a new pipe(s).  I had a neighbor that had a pipeline put in on his property and as soon as they finished filling everything in they came back and dug everything up again to lay down another pipe.  Each time you do that you lose topsoil and use of the ROW while they are working.  I think they were at my neighbors off and on for almost 2 years laying and relaying the pipe.  Hope this helps.

Good Luck,

Dave

Permalink Reply by jason irvine on March 30, 2018 at 2:17pm
Thank you. I hope others on here will give advise
Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on March 31, 2018 at 11:25am

Jason,

We had a large pipeline replaced across our land 4 years ago and would love to do it again. The owners of the pipeline were told by FERC that the line had to be replaced. After having been contacted by two land men that were clueless, we finally got a good one who had to get things settled within a two month time frame so we knew we could be a little pushy. I had a forester evaluate the trees who placed the value of the older ones in the upper thousands. The good trees had to be stacked and the junk hauled away. We were payed for the pipe yard per month, at the sales market value of the land. Since I had recently sold 1/2 acre for $5000, they had to pay $10,000 per month for 3 months. Because the pipeline was already in the ground with a 30 ft right of way, we were paid for an additional 45 foot work area along the right of way. I don’t remember how much we were paid for that but it was the going rate. An important point that had been negotiated by the previous owner was that, one year after the completion of the pipeline, the permanent right of way was to be 30 feet allowing us to charge for the additional workspace. We made sure to include that verbiage in our agreement as well. There have been some sink holes that have developed since the line was laid but they have been taken care of to our satisfaction. I hope that you can have a good experience as well.

Permalink Reply by jason irvine on April 1, 2018 at 9:20am
Great info, thank you so much for your time.

You hear so much different info on this topic. The amounts and specifics are all over the place. The range of price is wide. There looking at running a total of 4 pipes and 1 above ground water. It runs right down the middle of my property. I don't want to make any mistakes with a lifetime decision.

I've also wondered if having the pipes across our property will increase our chances at getting drilled. We already have a drilling lease with the same company that wants to run the pipes..antero. We are also about 20 miles as the crow flys to the river and another 20 to the proposed ppt cracker...we have marcellus wet gas in the 1250 to 1275 btu area. Plus wet devonian and dry Utica. This pipe is heading in the direction of markwest fractionation plant as well.
Permalink Reply by jason irvine on April 1, 2018 at 9:22am
The appx distance on my property is 2100 feet. A small change adds a lot more money.
Permalink Reply by Joe Bezel on April 1, 2018 at 3:06pm

Jason,

From your description, this sounds like gathering lines from a well pad.  I don't have any of these, but do have several easements with NGL pipelines.  For the landowner's perspective, it doesn't make much difference.  I would nail down the contract terms you want before worrying about how much per foot you will get paid.  You mentioned that the ROW will split your land. in half.  It is important that you have access to all your property to maintain its value.  They won't tell you up front, but you will not be able to move heavy equipment, such as a cement truck or semi, across the ROW.  If the pipeline ROW will cut off access from any road to a section of your property, you will forever be unable to develop it by constructing a home or other building, or drive a semi to it to harvest timber.  Make sure they build you a "bridge" so that you access all of your property, or compensate you for the loss of use of the cut-off part of your land.  It is a perfectly reasonable thing to ask for, and they will do it, but you have to ask.  There are many other considerations.  While I have done three easements, one of them very complex, I would not dream of doing one without a good attorney.  They will have their attorneys crawling over every word of your contract; don't go into this unrepresented.  Don't worry about attorney's fees, a good attorney will get more than enough out of them in negotiations to make it worth while.  The usual fee structure is the attorney will get 25%-30% of whatever they negotiate over the best offer they made to you.  For example, if their best offer to you was $35/foot, and the attorney negotiates $100/foot, he will get 25% of the difference, $65, which comes to $16.25 per foot.  You will get the rest, $83.75 per foot.  Not a bad deal.  But more important are the terms, which will govern how you can use the property.  You will have to live with this the rest of your life.  Get legal assistance. For more information, search for "pipeline easement" in the search window on the upper right of the screen; you will find many threads.

Permalink Reply by jason irvine on April 2, 2018 at 4:02pm
That is great info. I'm glad you mentioned the timber access. This is a hunting camp with 95% wooded. Our property also has not been tinbered for years...appx 50 acres that is 35 to 40 years old and 30 acres 45 to 50 years old. It is due to be timbered. They need to leave us access to the remaining trees.
Permalink Reply by Joe Bezel on April 2, 2018 at 4:40pm

Be specific in what you ask for.  I learned the hard way.  When we negotiated the ROW, they agreed to leave the timber for us.  We had quite a few tall, mature, straight white oaks that were cut.  When the chain saw crew came through, they dropped the trees so they fell into a steep ravine.  We even rented a small bulldozer; we couldn't get them out.  A few months later, they came back with track hoes to move everything off the ROW.  I explained the problem to the foreman; he agreed to pull them out of the ravine where we could work on them.  They did, and put them on the wrong side of the ROW, that had no access to a road.  They would not let us bring equipment across the ROW to haul out the trees.  They had already pulled the track hoes out. and moved them to another area.  A few months later, they came back.  Again I explained to the foreman what the problem was, and he agreed to move the timber to the near side of the ROW.  They did, and stacked them in a pile about 25' high, not neatly but in a haphazard fashion, like pixie sticks.  It was impossible to pull any out safely.  Finally, I talked someone into stacking them in a reasonable fashion.  When the timber guy came out to look at them, he said they had sat too long and had water stains in the wood; they were worthless as timber.  We figured this fiasco cost us about $40,000.  I don't think the pipeline people were being jackasses, they just didn't care.

Permalink Reply by jason irvine on April 3, 2018 at 7:35am
Thank you. They have agreed to 35 a foot for each of the first 2 lines. Then we negotiate the 2nd 2. We still need to work out more specifics before I sign.
Permalink Reply by Joe Bezel on April 3, 2018 at 7:49am

Make sure they put the water line in a place where it won't interfere with your use of your land.  It looks like a giant fire hose; you won't be able to drive across it.

Permalink Reply by Jed Clampett on April 3, 2018 at 2:35pm

I still think a 1 time payment for forever use of your land is giving it away.  I feel they should pay every year the pipe in in the ground.  X dollars per foot of line for you to forever lose the use of that land, your heirs get nothing and have to just live with the pipe there and making money for the gas company.  Instead of granting a right of way, I think we should all be leasing the use of the land.  I don't think asking for a percentage of the value of gas shipped across your land it fair, just a flat fee per year to use your land.  Don't forget to include an automatic inflation clause pinned to some cost/inflation index, etc.  When they need a wider path to add/repair/replace, they rent that extra space as needed.  And paying for timber damage/loss for initial construction is a must have also.

Permalink Reply by jason irvine on April 6, 2018 at 4:27am
Thanks to all that responded. We signed with antero who also holds the drilling lease. We agreed to 35 a foot per line. They are installing 4 lines. We have access to all of our property for logging. The rest of the details are acceptable.

RSS

© 2024   Created by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service