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Permalink Reply by Harry E. Rose on January 27, 2015 at 4:10pm

It is good to check with your neighbors to see what they are doing.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Warner on February 2, 2015 at 4:44pm

I know of a bonus of $7000 an acre that was paid in December, 2014, not far from Wick, close to Middlebourne.  I'm not at liberty to disclose ownership or exact location.

The Lessee is Statoil.  I believe, but I don't know, that the tract is appr. 70 acres, and the surface owner also owns 100% of the minerals.  This would make the tract a prime property for leasing, which might help to explain the high bonus amount.  

This tract was under a Chesapeake lease set to expire in January, 2015.  

The owner had an offer from Antero,  but Statoil blew Antero's offer out of the water.

I'm not certain of who is leasing for Statoil, but I think it may be SA Property Research in Parkersburg, WV

Before signing with Antero, I suggest you contact Joshua Wise at SA Property Research with the map & parcel number from your Antero offer:

E-mail:

joshua@saproperty.us

or contact Statoil directly

Also, do some research here and elsewhere to avoid getting a bad lease.  

The landmen who are paid to secure these leases have a big bag of tricks to screw you, and it;s their job.

It's only gotten worse with the recent drop in price.  If your mineral interest is more than a few acres, it's well worth consulting a good lawyer.

Please be sure to let us know here what you find out.

There is also a group on this site that is specific to Tyler Co. but there isn't much activity there.

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Permalink Reply by pitlover on February 4, 2015 at 10:48am

Thank u for the info.. I believe the offer was $2500.00 an acre we have a Lil over 3 acres royalties were 12%... and it was for marcellus leasing for 5 years. I know there was an old pump in the neighbors.. but our neighbor on the hill had some activity going on but didn't amount to nothing.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR INFO...

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Permalink Reply by Adam Martin on February 2, 2015 at 5:33pm

Pitlover -

Can you provide more information on the size of your acerage, what strata Antero is intested in Leasing (ie Marcellus, Utica or all) and was contact made by an Antero Employee or a 3rd party Landman Company. About 2 weeks ago, during an earnings call, Antero anounced they were making a significant cut to their CapEx, mostly coming from aquiring or leasing and stated they would refocus most of their 2015 spending to Drilling and Completion Operations. Six months ago and before Oil and Gas prices fell to 5 year lows, I would've said to ask for 5k per acre, per strata and 18% to 20% royalty with no deductions or enancement clauses in the lease. If they are making an offer anywhere near these numbers, you are in a great location as they are only going for core marcellus and utica acerage now. Was this the first offer or have they approached you in the past? If they truely want you to lease, they will pay a good amount of money but I woldn't expect 10k per acre for all strata just because the energy market and E&P's have been taking big hits to their stock price. Difficult to say what you could get not knowing their orignal offer but I would make sure to run this process thru a good O&G attorney and not take their first offer seriously. It's a long process an you are in an area that is their primary focus, Rich Gas, Highly Rich Gas and Condensates. Look at their monthly reports and investor presenations at www.antero.com and you will see that they've essentially moved all their rigs in WV to Western Doddridge, Tyler, Ritchie and Southern Wetzel Co's. They've just paid big money to the state of WV to lease state land and the price per acre was 12k and the royalty was 20%.

Good luck and keep us up to date on how the negotiations go.

Adam

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Permalink Reply by pitlover on February 4, 2015 at 10:51am

It's about 3.271 acre, $2500.00 per acre with 12% royalties leasing for 5 years. Our property is right b4 the wick bridge.
THANKS FOR YOUR REPLY.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Warner on February 4, 2015 at 12:29pm

We have a current $3K per acre and 16% offer from Lonetree (Antero) for tracts on Elk Fork, which we are not accepting.

The minimum royalty allowed by WV state law is 12.5%.  Otherwise, your offer would be lower yet.

You should also be aware that the WV legislature is nearing a vote on 'forced pooling', which, if passed, will allow the gasholes to drill under you (if you don't lease willingly) from an adjacent property, providing they have leased (or seized) a preset percentage (not yet determined) of your neighbors' minerals.

It is well worth a call or e-mail from small owners like you and me to our representatives in Charleston to let them know that we are against this legislation.

If it passes, the offers will drop to near-nothing, and there may be no 'bonus' at all, if they seize your minerals.

Again, there are other considerations that are at least as important as the dollar amounts.

Even with a small tract, a lawyer can help you avoid being cheated in several ways.

There are several clauses in the standard lease that the gasholes offer the first time (called a 'boiler-plate lease) which can tie up your mineral rights effectively forever.

There are also more than one formations (layers) that hold gas e.g. Marcellus, Utica, etc.that can and should be leased separately.  These layers have a different composition of minerals, with the Marcellus being 'wet' with oils, while the Utica shale is 'dry' gas, producing little oil.  With gas prices way down, there is currently more interest in the wet gas than the dry.  Additionally, another layer known as the Rodgersville shale is showing some promise.

Obviously, this is a complicated business, and the temptation is to sign and stop worrying about it, particularly with a small tract.

I would advise against it.

Spend as much time as you can afford here and on other discussion pages to learn more.

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Permalink Reply by Kyle Nuttall on February 2, 2015 at 6:15pm

Do you live in Tyler County, or are you out of state?  If you know your neighbors you can ask around.  If not, get on the Tyler County page here on GMS and ask for some info there.

There have been some very helpful comments here.

If you have all the property under a tract, you can negotiate for some good terms.  Best of luck!

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