Comment

Comment by rex roae on September 17, 2012 at 1:38pm

I keep hearing good things.  Of course, there's so much BS floating around here, it's hard to determine what's fact and what's fluff(guessing the majority is fluff).

From some people I know in that area, I'm cautiously optimistic.

One thing I can say for sure.  About a month ago I talked to Bob Grinnel(sp) who is in charge of leasing out of the Carlton office.  I asked him if Range had moved on their offer of $2,000/acre over 5 years.  He told me it all depended on the Lippert well and to wait about a month.  3 days later Range upped their offer to $3750/acre over 5 years.  

Come to your own conclusions.

Comment by j. rick on September 17, 2012 at 12:30pm

has anyone heard of news on the cochranton well (lippert rd. well).fracking was supposed to start sat. 9-15. as of 10pm that night water trucks were on the move heavily. keep an eye open for the flare stack. if seen let the forum know.then crawford county will be getting serious. I M O.

Comment by Sam Douglass on September 16, 2012 at 1:40pm

Take your time - it may not be all good:

Pennsylvania homeowners, banks examine oil, gas leases

About The Tribune-Review The Tribune-Review can be reached via e-mail or at 412-321-6460.
By The Associated Press Published: Sunday, September 2, 2012, 11:59 p.m. Updated: Monday, September 3, 2012

When Donald Yost tried to refinance his home about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh in January, he met a roadblock. He had a solid credit rating, and the appraisal he’d paid almost $500 for was good, too.
The problem was a lease that allows a company to drill for natural gas about a mile underneath his property, similar to leases many of his neighbors have.

Yost said that in the middle of the application process, ESB Bank told him the gas lease was too prohibitive. So he went to the drilling company, Rex Energy, which agreed to subordinate their claims to the property ­ in other words, to put the bank’s interest first.

“They were actually very good,” Yost said of Rex.

But Yost said a bank representative then told him that no loans would be given to anyone with a gas drilling lease. And that’s what upsets Yost the most, he said: that the bank didn’t tell him up-front that homes with leases didn’t qualify. He said it also declined to refund what he'd paid for his appraisal.

Eventually, Yost got his home refinanced with another bank ­ after he paid for a second appraisal. ESB spokesman Daniel Schwartz said the bank has no comment.

Financial experts say situations like Yost’s are rare, and that properties with leases are routinely financed. But banks are taking a new look at how to assess the positive and negative impacts of the Marcellus shale boom, which has brought drilling rigs to some communities that never had them before.

Pennsylvania has been home to oil and gas exploration for 160 years, notes Sean Moran, co-chair of the Energy Section at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, a Pittsburgh law firm that has recently been hiring specialists in the oil and gas industry.

“Most banks are trying to court landowners who have oil and gas rights,” Moran said, adding that there are a lot of rumors about problems with mortgages and gas leases, but little hard data to suggest it’s a significant problem.

The Department of Environmental Protection estimates that more than 350,000 oil and gas wells have been drilled since 1859. Pennsylvania led the nation in oil production in the late 1800s but had faded to a minor role until the Marcellus boom.

Charles Updegraff, chairman of Citizens & Northern Bank, which is based in a Western Pennsylvania region with a long history of drilling, said his bank doesn't exclude people with Marcellus leases, simply because such a ban would mean the company wouldn't write many mortgage loans.

“We’re taking a little bit harder look at it than we did in the past, simply because of the increased activity,” he said
.
Updegraff said that in the past it was probably common that people seeking loans or mortgages didn’t even ask about mineral leases, since many involved tiny amounts of money.
“I would find it hard to believe that nobody’s asking now,” he said, since gas leases can involve hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Comment by warjr on September 14, 2012 at 9:14pm

Bob & Dave, thanks for answering my question.  No bashing was intended, just a realistic question from a landowner who does not live in the area.

Comment by j. rick on September 14, 2012 at 2:46pm

theres always the philosophy of dont count your chickens till they hatch.  and believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see. nwpalg hasnt even produced the half? have they?

Comment by David Hunt on September 14, 2012 at 2:12pm

Bob pretty much said it all.

With the for profit groups you have to sign a commitment letter for up to one year before they share that info so if someone leeks it to the wrong person no one can be picked off with out the group leaders still being paid. With our group you don't sign a commitment letter so you have more freedom to sign with someone else but you are giving up seeing the map. I can't begin to tell you how many hours I have volunteer'd to this cause and a lot of that time is going door to door talking to the people in my neighborhood trying to get them all to unite for the good of all. By doing this I know exactly who is in our group and where their land is located. If every one in the group would spend a few hours a week doing this, we would all gain and you would be able to plot a map of your neighborhood so you could see where you stand . You must under stand that this board has been at this for over a year for you. I have not and will not receive one penny for the hundreds (Probably thousands) of hours I have put in on this project. I am not looking for a compliment (But Bob I do Appreciate it) but you must understand we don't show the mapping because if we do it will be leaked and we will all lose. I went to the meeting in Trumbull co. where they voted to take the B.P. deal, it was stated at that meeting that the info shared there could not get out or B.P. could back out. Guess what? it took me about an hour to get home and when I got home I checked the internet and there was all the details. So yes some people don't understand they can ruin it for everyone by giving too much info. Hope this makes sense and please don't criticize us for doing what is in the best interest of all involved!        

Comment by Bob Jenness on September 14, 2012 at 6:12am

As to information sharing within NWPALG...

I, too have asked for lots of information over the time I've been a member, and I've come to understand that there are 3 reasons why it isn't happening as much as all members would like:

1. It's volunteers, and this stuff takes time.  I'd much rather the board keeps focusing their time on making progress toward a lease.  I'd volunteer to help coordinate information sharing and prepare sharable documents for a web site, but one person probably can't do that job, and see following items.

2. Some of this information is sensitive, and all landowners may not want it made public.  Some of it could weaken our negotiating position, so should be held proprietary.

3. I'd want all members to sign a non-disclosure agreement or similar doc before they all get to see my or the board's proprietary information, because in a group this large there's a lot of opportunity for hacking, accidents, or defections.  This makes the workload even bigger (but we could probably do it if we want to badly enough:-)  

By the way, we should compliment NWPALG board on the success of their confidentiality to date - nice work!

How about it landowners?  Do we want to share information enough to sign up to carefully hold it confidential with possible legal/financial consequences to leakers?

Comment by Michelle Leonard on September 14, 2012 at 4:49am

So what exactly happened in Mercer?  I too would like to know about a map with NWPALG, that would be great.

Comment by warjr on September 14, 2012 at 12:07am

@ Frank, can you answer my question I posted just before your comment?

Comment by Frank on September 14, 2012 at 12:04am

It seems that thhe baloon busted with cx-energy. I know I have been to several of their meetings and other for professional for profit groups. That is why I would never join them, they all require a signed marketing agreement where you're locked into them exclusively, and you have no other options. I've heard them all say that NWPALG doesn't know what they are doing and that they will never be able to lease everthing at once. Well I got my newsletter from them this week and although they would like to have one lease like the landowner group in Ohio with BP they realize they may have to do it differently do to represent their membership the best possible way. (good business plan). NWPALG has said all along to no Marketing agreement, that it would be up to the landowners to sign one with the energy company if they required it. Anyways I'm proud to be a member of a group that is run by volunteers and my neighbors, they can't go anywhere, they still have to live here among us. And in closing just my little philosophy, " the Ark was built by Amateurs and the Titanic by proffesionals- and we all know how that worked out don't we"

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