Comment

Comment by CJK on March 31, 2010 at 8:36am

Marie I saw this article as well, I believe that the gas industry should pay the severance tax but I want the assurance that the tax will be sent to the local municipalities that are the ones that are bearing the expenses of the industry. I do not want it to go to the state's pension obligations or to the General Fund, which is where most of the supporters want it to go to. Also the gas industry is preparing for the severance tax to be passed so in the new leases they are having the severance tax being a deduction from the royalties received. So Beware. Also is it my opinion that the industry is trying to negogiate paying severance tax in return they will get emminent domain with respect to gathering pipelines. They are experiencing resistance to getting their product to market, so they want a way to force it on the land owners.

Comment by CJK on March 31, 2010 at 7:01am

John:

Does Western PA have wells of the same size as this area is seeing? That is 5 acre pads with 6 well heads and at least 12 horizontals, 1280 production units?

Comment by John Reed on March 31, 2010 at 5:28am

My point is you have as much control as you want. Nobody is forcing you to sign a lease. Simply put, if you don't agree with the terms do not sign. Now, if my neighbor signs a lease that is not as protective as my lease agreement that is an entirely another story. I cannot control that, however I will do my best to educate my neighbors. I'm in a land owner group. We have our own lease agreement based on our terms. Nobody is forced to sign it. The gas companies will try to tone it down to make it more beneficial to them of course. The hope is to shoor for the stars and make it as protective and lucrative as possible. We may need to remove some verbiage and the gas companies will need to add some verbiage. Hopefully, we will arrive at a good compromise and a good protective lease agreement. The individual landowners then have a baseline to go by as an agreement and they have the "freedom" to add even more protections as they see fit. You see we all have a choice in this....

Comment by John Reed on March 31, 2010 at 5:20am

Your best bet as a land owner would be to have an O/G attorney from the western part of the state review your lease agreement. Oil/Gas exploration is not new at all to this area.

Comment by CJK on March 31, 2010 at 3:35am

John- do you know of any reputable O/G Attorneys in NEPA?

Comment by CJK on March 31, 2010 at 3:32am

You do not always have control over where they locate the frac farms. This one is on the neighbor's property right on the property line. No consideration was taken by the neighbor nor the gas company.

Also FYI the landowner's control does not always end with the lease. If you think you have no control, that you signed a bad lease and there is no hope, I offer this challenge: when the gas company comes around to firm up the pipeline agreements; surface use agreements; right of way agreements be careful what you sign away. This is the time to step up and negotiate for more. Do not sign their boiler plate surface use agreements and others. Do your research, ask around, get ideas. Return a better document to them. Everyone is telling the landowner that you have to sign these documents or else, but this is your time to negotiate. The industry can only take it anyway of you are unreasonable, negotiating for your wants and needs is not unreasonable. Be mindful that these documents then override your lease. The surface use agreements that the industry is asking you to sign has no protections for the landowners, so this is the time for those that signed bad leases to gain some footing.

Comment by John Reed on March 31, 2010 at 1:35am

I do not disagree with the fact that there is room for improvement with regard to management practices. Marie keeps posting 100% negative things regarding the industry. Her agenda is to place fear in the hearts of as many land-owners as possible. She gives no substance to her posts. She offers no alternatives to the potential problems. We then start this debate over and over agin.

1. It all starts with the lease. If you are interested in leasing your land, make sure you have protections in place. If you don't want a frac farm located 200 feet from your house, don't allow it to happen. You can say absolutely no frac farm or provide guidance in the lease agreement as to the distance you are comfortable with. The problem is everyone in Dimmock signed bioler plate leases that are perfectly legal and the O/G companies are operating within the law. The landowners didn't educate themselves. They didn't know they had leverage. We all have leverage. Before you sign anything know exactly what you are signing. Educate yourself so you can make a good decision. If the lease agreement is not to your liking you don't have to sign it, bottom line.

Isn't this a more realistic message to be communicating ? Education.... Realizing that you as a landowner have more power than you realize.... The value of your gas is immense and the companies will need to bend and accomodate the landowner if they want it... Sign a well balanced lease agreement that is fair from a $$ perspective as well as a protections perspective... Only sign once you are comfortable and only after it has been reviewed by a reputable o?G attorney.

Comment by CJK on March 31, 2010 at 1:25am

John- How many of these 450,209 operating gas wells are deep both verticaly and horizontaly? How many of these wells are only shallow vertical wells?Do these gas wells have 6 vertical wells 4,000 feet down with horizontal legs of 5,000 feet in a 5 acre pad? You cannot compare apples to oranges. Where has this type of drilling occured in PA before this? I would like to know so I can visit to see what it looks like now.

Comment by John Reed on March 31, 2010 at 1:08am

BTW... PA has 52,700 operating natural gas wells. We are second to TX who has 76,436.

With natural gas exploration being so dangerous and accidents,spills and contamination ocurring so "frequently" (direct quote from the PBS clip) I'm shocked we don't make the healines every day. Exactly what defines frequently? Do you realize how many people, water wells, streams, lakes, ponds and overall acres encompass the drilling units of 52,700 natural gas wells? If it was such a detrimental process surely we would know with certainty by now.

Comment by CJK on March 31, 2010 at 1:03am

John I do have only one agenda that is not to malign the industry but to ask them to do it responsibly so that in 100 years or less, the quality of life in Northeast Pennsylvania will not be destroyed. The also need to be mindful that there are people living in the areas in which they are drilling. I went to Dimock, PA last week and what I saw was unbelievable. The industry set up a frac farm no more than 200 feet from someone's doorstep when the industry had plenty of other land to locate on. They have many residents receiving water weekly because their water is unsafe to drink. They are placing pipelines through wetlands. They are transporting frac fluid in above ground pipelines for long distances. This is just the beginning of what I saw. All of these occurrences are not necessary and could be avoided with better management practices in place. They can be more responsible and I do not think that is too much to ask.

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