Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Booger on April 7, 2015 at 4:52am

normal procedure is to wait for response.......it's back and forth.........negotiating......if they need you, they will get back to you.

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Permalink Reply by rmc on April 7, 2015 at 6:06am

Pretty much what Booger said. If you start hounding them they will treat you like a mark at a used Car lot. If they need you they will get back in touch with you.

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Permalink Reply by Greg on April 7, 2015 at 6:27am

We ran into the same thing in dealing with Sonoco on the Mariner East pipeline. All in all, from the time I first met the landman till the deal was signed was a little over a year. They would talk to us with great urgency then go silent for months. Kind of a PIA if you are an impatient type.

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Permalink Reply by cecily cox on April 7, 2015 at 12:16pm

Don't back down!!!!!! If they want you they will contact you. If you want to protect yourself, stick to your guns, keep your lawyer in the loop, don't sign anything without your lawyer.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Bond on April 7, 2015 at 12:42pm

Very good advice please follow it.

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Permalink Reply by kit on April 7, 2015 at 3:18pm

thanks for all of this "free" advise. I just didn't know what I should be expecting. Ill just sit back and wait I guess.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Lilli on April 7, 2015 at 7:46pm

I'd advise against receiving calls or contacting the landman once you've retained council. In my experience with attorneys, if they are experts in their field, they understand whats going on in the industry and your situation far better than you. They know far more about what is driving the gas companies as well. For instance, pipeline companies don't know the exact route they will be using so when they enter into complex agreements, it will be contingent upon everyone signing along a proposed path. One owner or group of owners could muck a lot of things up for them. Then there are permits and the EPA etc. I'm surprised that anything gets accomplished in today's day and age.

Only after many factors have fallen into place will the pipe line companies get serious about dealing and paying.

My council and I have agreed in my case that, we can wait, the offer we got was way too low. I personally feel I've subsidized the O&G companies enough in the last eight years on account of the terms of my origional lease. I'm not subsiding them any more.

I'd sit back and wait.

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Permalink Reply by 0ym9x5ag7ury2 on April 11, 2015 at 3:17pm

You know you have the wrong lawyer when negotiating with a company on a ROW when the following happens.

My Neighbor was being pressured by a Cardinal Pipeline landman a few years back when they went across the oil patch counties trying to get signatures on a ROW that would transfer the landowners rights to them.

The lawyer my Neighbor used made recommendations then gave the revised ROW contract to the landman who scratched out the landowner protection paragraphs and gave it back to my Neighbor to sign.

If I were paying a lawyer for a ROW contract I would expect to see the results of his work before the landman has a chance to scratch it out of the contract. I recommended finding a new lawyer. '

My Neighbor realized that the Cardinal Pipeline ROW contract was a non-negotiable transfer of his rights to Cardinal Pipeline co. and stopped talking to them.

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Permalink Reply by Finnbear on April 13, 2015 at 3:41am

My take on this is as follows: If you really value your property, you really don't want any ROW on it.

They can't pay me enough to take away the right to do as I please on a 100' to 150' wide swath across my land.

The PERMANENT loss of use, loss of income, loss of value, loss of production (timber, in my case), the ability of the ROW holder to come back in at any time and tear up the landscape to repair, add-to, rework, etc are not worth it to me.

If you must have a ROW crossing your land, educate yourself, and make them pay for it. If your land is wooded, make them pay for current and FUTURE timber production. Once they clear for a ROW, you won't be growing any more trees on that ROW, ever. You may be able to do some limited agriculture on the ROW but there will likely be limits on the equipment that can pass over it. You are essentially selling part of your land to someone else, but you'll still be paying the property taxes on it.

Make sure you get paid for EACH pipe they put in the ROW. Don't allow them to sublease their ROW to other who may want to put other utilities on your land. You should be the one who gets paid for that.

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Permalink Reply by Todd Spence on April 15, 2015 at 11:31am

What is a fair and equitable agreement (fee amount) with an attorney to negotiate a ROW/pipeline on your behalf? How are most attorney's doing this? Hourly rate? Percentage? Anyone know?

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