Comment

Comment by Jim White on September 2, 2014 at 3:48am

Companies are offering 4 to 6 times that bonus and much higher royalties in that general area. Get yourself a local attorney.

Comment by Richard Phillips on August 31, 2014 at 12:55pm

We have a proposed lease in hand for 61 acres on the Tyler County line. The offer is $1000/acre and 14%, with a post-production expenses paragraph. Are we being low-balled? And should we counter with higher bonus and royalty numbers? I have an oil & gas attorney friend here in Mississippi who advises that we should hold out for a much higher royalty, maybe 20-25% and "not burdened with processing and transportation expenses." But he's not sure if that would be workable in West Virginia.

Comment by Samuel J. Orr on January 21, 2014 at 4:38pm

WARNING: Beware of Vortex Energy LLC. See thread that I started on Tyler County GMS site. This company is a shell company with few if any assets. It was only formed in June 2013 and has no telephone number, no financial history, no history of drilling wells, and no ability to drill wells. Attorney John Wells and SOEC tried to get people in Ohio to sign leases in favor of this zombie shell company but were unsuccessful. Wells and SOEC got landowners to sign leases with a similar zombie company named DUX. None of the leases were paid. The Vortex roadshow has moved to West Virginia. If you search the GMS website for the words "Historic failure", you will learn all you need to know because there are multiple postings that should tell you to run as fast as you can away from Vortex Energy LLC.  

Comment by Kyle Nuttall on January 21, 2013 at 5:45am

If your land is currently producing oil or gas, it's held by production (HBP in the oil patch).  They won't have to come asking for another lease.  However, the lease that covers your land appears to be an old one, and the old leases didn't allow for pooling with other property.  In order to drill a horizontal well, they will need to pool you.  So they'll come asking for a Ratification, Amendment, Modification, or something similarly named.  If you are a good wheeler-dealer, you might be able to get a  bonus and change the royalty amount.  You might even be able to get some terms changed, particularly where it comes to use of the surface.  Best of luck to you.

Comment by Michael on January 16, 2013 at 3:48pm

I have 68 acres out in the Bull Creek area of Pleasants County, close to Ritchie and wood County.  I have been wondering about the directional drilling companies coming into the area and leasing land.  I have a total of seven vertical wells on the property.  3 old shallow wells, 2 deeper from the 80's, and 2 in the last few years.  All produce some oil every year.  the 2 newer ones produce both oil and gas and are hooked up to commercial gas lines.

My question is about the existence of these current wells.  Does this play any factor in leasing land for directional drilling?  

Comment by Kyle Nuttall on November 5, 2012 at 6:46am

I'm not with 5 Star.  I'm a solo attorney, and I review leases for mineral owners on a regular basis.  I like to keep up with the latest prices as best I can.  Thanks for the info.  Someone else I talked with last week mentioned the $4K/acre + 20% royalty numbers.  I suspect they were talking about 5 Star.  I haven't heard those numbers anywhere else in WV recently.

5 Star sounds like an excellent project.  I may have to try to put something like that together elsewhere.

Comment by Michael Bonner on November 4, 2012 at 5:06am

Are you with 5 Star landowners group? They are currently negotiating a lease with Antero for the Marcellus layer only @ 4K per acre + 20% royalty. It's a block of well over 10K acres of land, which makes it more desirable. Based on what I've seen offered in nearby areas that seems like a fair offer.

Comment by Kyle Nuttall on November 2, 2012 at 9:53am

I know there's leasing going on in Pleasants County.  Can anybody share what they're being offered?  It seems like bonuses and royalties should be pretty high, as there should be some Utica Shale development going on.  Also, I've heard that there's another shale called the Upper Devonian. If anybody has information about that, I'd appreciate knowing about it.