Penn Land Owners

640 acres is one aquare mile. So 620 is slightly less than a square mile. Having one well pad every half mile sounds reasonable. Are you saying that there will be one well pad every half mile or one rig ? Or are you really saying 20 rigs to drain 620 acres. I am very confused.

I wouldn't have bought a home on Carter Rd. if there were NO drilling. I took a drive through the area to see what the issues were too. It wasn't my kind of neighborhood before.

You and the others who signed a gas lease should have taken the time to investigate how to protect yourselves first. But you didn't, and now it bites you.

You say Cabot lied, but now you have no problem lying about how many wells per acre (which is all public knowledge) just to make your point.

I don't see why anyone on Carter Rd should have a problem selling, but they have to expect less because they signed a lease...just like anyone else who did. You can't have it both ways and that seems to be what they want. If they didn't get a lease they would have complained, and now that they did they complain.

I'm very unhappy with Cabot too. But for very different reasons. They should have taken what were rather small incidents and dealt with them right away instead of letting them get to this point. Now they are harming all gas drilling with this. But for the most part people are happy with what is happening and Carter Rd is an isolated incident.

rfs the problem is it is not an isolated incident. It is happening in Bradford County right now. There are incidences of well contamination, soil contamination, air contamination, etc. Yes you are correct they should be handled quickly and appropriately so as to avoid future problems but that is not always the case. We the landowners are being skinned and left out to dry, because we were left in the dark with regards to the "play".

What is really harming the gas industry is the landmen that they send around to strongarm the local landowners- this practice is inexcusable and the companies will not own up to it because they say these people are independent contractors, while at the same time they are telling them how to intimidate the people. I urge everyone that has a landman that is strong arming them to take a picture of the landmen next to their car, to have their license plate visible in the picture and ask for identification. Photo identification, if they are unwilling to provide you with same I would refuse to talk to them and I would notify the gas company in writing that a landman representing their company came to you and refused to give you identification. I would also urge everyone that is conversing with landmen to tape their conversations and tell them you are doing so. You will be surprised at the change in attitude. I have purchased a tape recorder and a camera and I consider them my most valuable piece of equipment at this point in the game. I have had instances of landmen using two different names to identify themselves. Refusing to give their cards to people when asked. I cannot tell you how upset I am at some of the thngs that I have witnessed and I have heard second had that has happened and based upon what I have seen I believe the landowner over any landman

CJK, you make good points about the landmen. However, I've been told the same thing by two landmen. I had enough common sense to join a landowner group and to educate myself. I was offered $25.00 an acre 1 1/2 years ago. I was told you better sign now or you will miss the boat. We're gone in two weeks. Well they're still here. They are offering $1000.00 an acre now. It's a case of risk vs. reward. $1000.00 is not enough for me or any of my neighbors in comparision to the potential riasks involved.

As for these not being isolated instances of contamination well of course they're not. I just went to the Penn State presentation at Lake Lehman High school this evening. Accidents do happen and will continue to happen but again, they are an acception to the rule and you are greatly overestimating and sensationalizing your points. Hydro fracking has been around for 25 years with regard to natural gas exploration. Also it is and has been utilized to drill thousands of water wells in PA. It is not new at all to PA, just new to our areas.

John- When they have hydrofraced these thousand of wells you speak of did they use all of the water and chemicals that they are using for the gas well process?
When you speak of the Hydro Fracking being around for natural gas exploration for 25 years where, when are you refering to? Is it in the Marellus shale formation or in others? Is that vertical wells or horizontal wells? If it is any of the others you are attempting to compare apples to oranges? Please specify the"being around for 25 years" quote.

"Accidents do happen and will continue to happen but again, they are an acception to the rule and you are greatly overestimating and sensationalizing your points." How can you validate this statement? As far as I am concerned accidents are almost always at least 90% avoidable.

With reference to your lease negogiations you are wise but not everyone is. But the sad fact is that even though you might think that it is an "everyone for themselves" atmopshere, that might not be the case. What you do as a landowner does and will continue to effect your neighbors.Please remember this because when the gas companies come by to sign the agreements and you sign in the interest of gas exploration, you as the landowner risk the possiblity of being sued for damages incurred as a result of the operations of the well pad.

CJK hydro fracking is a technique utilized in rock formations that are under great pressure due to being at great depths. The sand used in the process helps to keep the fractures open in order to help free the gas or targeted liquid. The chemicals are used to keep the bore hole and casings etc. free of corrosion. Corrosion would inhibit their ability to efficiently extract their target. The Marcellus is considered impermeable. This is why hydrofracking is considered the only technologically effective process in our area. The deeper a formation lyes underground the greater the impermeablity of the formation. The likliehood of methane migration or other naturally occurring migration of methane from the Marcellus is very low because of it being impermeable due to the great depth at which it exists. Obviosuly in other areas where the Marcellus is not deep such as outcrop areas or border areas the less permeable the shale is. I think this is one reason oil and gas companies like to avoid these areas. To me the casings are of utmost importance to us as other shale formations that exist at shallower depths and less impermeable and are much closer to aquifiers so they have a greater risk of methane migration. Surface spills to me are a far greater risk that we should focus on along with casings. I know I sound like a broken record. I also found out that currently the average recovered percentage of frack water in the Marcellus is 12%. This is a little lower than I expected. Another thing to think about. The projection of water usage for hydrofracking in PA when we are consider nearly fully developed (years down the road) is 10 billion gallons per year. Sounds like a huge number right ? Power plants use a little over 10 billion gallons of water in just three days currently in PA. Maybe we should start to focus on the other industires who are truly depleting our water supply. Below is a detailed definition of hydrofracking with a little history.

Hydraulic fracturing is a process that results in the creation of fractures in rocks. This petroleum engineering method has been used over the past 60 years in more than one million wells by the worldwide natural gas and oil exploration and production industry to create fractures that extend from a wellbore drilled into targeted rock formations to enhance oil and natural gas recovery. These fractures are typically kept open by a proppant such as grains of sand, which prevents the fractures from closing. The permeable proppant packed in the fracture provides a conductive channel, resulting in increased reservoir production. The method is informally called fracing or sometimes hydrofracing.

Hydraulic fractures may be natural or man-made and are extended by internal fluid pressure which opens the fracture and causes it to grow into the rock. Man-made fluid-driven fractures are formed at depth in a borehole and extend into targeted rock formations. The fracture width is typically maintained after the injection by introducing a proppant into the injected fluid. Proppant is a material, such as grains of sand, ceramic, or other particulates, that prevent the fractures from closing when the injection is stopped. The method is informally called fracing or hydrofracing. The terms fracking or hydrofracking are often used by opponents of hydraulic fracturing. Natural hydraulic fractures include volcanic dikes and sills.

Carolyn, you seem passionate about this. Very respectable. I suggest you stop using oil or electricity to heat your home or to power all of the luxury items in your household such as TV, microwave, stove, washer, dryer etc...
If you use any of these items you are contradicting the points you are trying to make. They complain about an oil spill but continue to use oil and gas every day. They offer no solutions. Stop driving your car Carolyn if you are truly passionate about the gulf disaster. They complain about water usage by NG exploration but continue to use electricity to power their homes. Power plants use alot more water to cool their turbines than the NG industry by an enormous margin. Offer us an alternative Carolyn. How do we get around the enormous water consumption by these power plants?

The wells will be plugged when they are finished. Hopefully well below the water aquifiers. The toxic waste water should be sent down deep under the surface into a deep injection well or properly treated and reintroduced into our streams and rivers. They have been doing this for years with minimal problems. I'm all for biodegradeable compounds being used but it's the least of our worries right now.

Carolyn, are you only concerned with our region or are you truly passionate about the environment in general ? Do you think the energy we currently use via burning of coal, gasoline, oil and diesel fuels is a better choice for us to make as a nation? Or do you think NG is a cleaner, better alternative? I'm interested in your answer.

T. Boone Pickens
“Senators Kerry and Lieberman are to be commended for a plan that recognizes the economic and national security threat of our ever-increasing dependence on foreign oil, particularly OPEC oil. Achieving energy security is not easy and I applaud their focus on a broad energy package that includes replacing foreign oil/diesel/gasoline with cleaner, abundant domestic natural gas in America’s heavy duty vehicle fleets. I look forward to working with them in the coming weeks to focus attention on that aspect of their legislation. More than 1.6 million Americans have signed on to my campaign to solve the foreign oil crisis, and I’m going to see to it that this objective is achieved as the legislative process evolves. Using natural gas as a transportation fuel is a non-partisan issue. The time to act is now.”

Seems like that's what you are wishing for anyway Marie.

I am hoping for some help with some facts- John you has said this:
"Hydraulic fracturing is a process that results in the creation of fractures in rocks. This petroleum engineering method has been used over the past 60 years in more than one million wells by the worldwide natural gas and oil exploration and production industry.."

Can you tell me how many wells were drilled and fraced in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania? When did the earliest occur and where? I would also like to know the depths of all those wells? It would be good to have their locations as well. Is there somewhere that I might go to get all of this information?

I also would like to know what geologist(s), if any, have said that they are sure that the fracing fluid that is being left in the ground will not seep into any fresh water aquifer or migrate to the surface?
I am trying to put together a report and I would like to have the correct information. Any help here as to these questions? I may have more shortly.

Carolyn, it is fact and it has been confirmed by several high ranking government officials that by converting our transportation fleet to NG, we cut our OPEC consumption in half. If you couple that with converting our coal burning power plants to NG we cut into this by another large percentage. To me this would go a long way in ending our energy dependence while taking money out of the pockets of our adversaries in the middle east. The most effective way to win any war is to financially cripple the enemy. It always has been , and believe it or nor we are at war. We have been attcked on land as well as monetarily. We have been for years.

The biggest reason we are selling our gas abroad is because the demand is too low in the US. Companies are in business to profit. If we are dumb enough to continue to burn coal in our power plants and consume diesel in our transportation fleets the US demand will remain low and we will continue to export the NG. The environmentalists are doing their best to make this happen, for no other reason than politics. If they truly believed in protecting the environment it would be a no brainer to accept NG as a logical energy alternative. Some of the environmentalists say I'm not against NG exploration but I beleive we should move forward cautiously. I have much less of a problem with these individuals. I have found however, they say this and then do nothing but badmouth the entire industry. This exposes their true agenda.

You are correct, NG is a fossil fuel. However, you are incorrect in saying it is not a cleaner alternative to coal, oil or diesel. This is simply untrue. You are also correct the NG will run out. The problem is you are not looking at the big picture. We cannot wave a magic wand and construct the millions of windmills and/or water turbines needed to replace our power plants. A much more feasible alternative is to utilize the NG under our feet. Think of NG as a stepping stone that goes a long way in reducing our targeted greenhouse emissions while helping to bess less dependent on foriegn oil, while helping to stop terrorism, putting more Americans to work, stimulating local economies. At no other time in our nations history has all of the above been so important. It really surprises me more people don't see this and embrace the opportunity we have.

CJK-
To answer your question about how many wells have been drilled in PA, just go to the DEP website and read all the answers. They are there.

http://www.ahs2.dep.state.pa.us/eFactsWeb/default.aspx

Range Resources - Appalachia, LLC may have started the Marcellus Shale gas play. In 2003 they drilled a Marcellus well in Washington County, Pennsylvania and found a promising flow of natural gas [2]. They experimented with drilling and hydraulic fracturing methods that worked in the Barnett Shale of Texas. Their first Marcellus gas production from the well began in 2005. Between then and the end of 2007 more than 375 gas wells with suspected Marcellus intent had been permitted in Pennsylvania [2].

No geoligist to my knowledge has guaranteed that fracking fluid will not seep into water aquifiers. I have heard several say that the bigger concern is surface spills of flowback fluid. They have also said the chemicals used in fracking that are a portion of the flowback is not the big concern, rather the naturally ocurring heavy elements that exist deep underground. This is why I am all for deep injection wells. Logically the less you handle and transport the flowback water the less likley it will be to have spills and contamination in general. I beleive the total number of deep injection wells in PA stands at eight, but their are hundreds and maybe thousands across the US.

Wikipedia- Hydraulic fracturing for stimulation of oil and natural gas wells was first used in the United States in 1947.[2] It was first used commercially in 1949,[2] and because of its success in increasing production from oil wells was quickly adopted, and is now used worldwide in tens of thousands of oil and natural gas wells annually. The first industrial use of hydraulic fracturing was as early as 1903, according to T.L. Watson.[3] Before that date, hydraulic fracturing was used at Mt. Airy Quarry, near Mt Airy, North Carolina where it was (and still is) used to separate granite blocks from bedrock.

http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/news/2010/05/accelerating-activity
The total number of Marcellus wells drilled since 2008 is 1239. If you add the 375 from 2003 to 2007 from above a rough number is 1614. I do not have a breadkown of horizontal vs vertical. I would think the vast majority are horizontal.

http://www.barnettshalenews.com/documents/SumChart%201-1-08.pdf From 1-1-1982 to 1-1-2008 The total number of Barnett shale wells is 8960, 3978 vertical and 4982 horizontal.

Hello Everyone,
I've been trying to go back and follow this post from the beginning as well as keep up with new posts. I have to apologize, I just do not have enough time to even keep up. The arguments however, seem to be rather repetitious. Some of you are proponents of drilling others would like to see us rely on so called renewable resources. I would like to offer two suggestions for future leases.
1. negotiate that the operator runs a water casing. This is an additional casing string ran to about 10% of TD. If possible it would be best to air drill this or at least use a fresh water based mud. This string is in addition to a surface casing.
2. Fracturing chemicals seem to be a concern to everyone. There are fracturing service providers who can offer 100% green chemistry for their slick water treatments. Request that the operator you are negotiating with utilizes green chemistry.

I hope this information can be of use to someone.

In closing I would like to point out that installation of "renewable resources," such as wind and solar may actually result in the burning of more fossil fuels. What I mean by this is that it takes more energy to install and maintain them than they will ever produce in their lifetime, so we are working at a net loss.

Best Wishes to All,
Eberhard Carroll

The island in Maine is the exception, at least from the last time I checked into wind turbines. Here is another issue to consider. How do you get the electricity from Maine to NY, PA, NJ, etc? You have to build high voltage power lines through someone's backyard. Every few years there is a study showing that living next to high voltage power lines may cause cancer. Do you want power lines running through your back yard? Well guess what, the eminent domain card gets played by the power companies as well.

When are we going to run out of fossil fuels? That's something that neither you nor I or anyone else for that matter can give any sort of reasonable answer to. Estimates, sure, answers no. The Marcellus, like the Barnett, Eagle Ford, Bakken... are all technology plays. It has been know that there is oil and gas in these formations for decades, the technology had to develop to the point that it would be economic to produce them. Where will the next play be? The east coast of the US is similar in geology to offshore fields of Hibernia, Terra Nova, and White Rose off the coast of Newfoundland. There could be more oil off the east coast of the US than in all of Saudi Arabia. That's just oil. It is estimated that the US has over 2,000 years of coal reserves. Plus as you all know there is a little bit of natural gas (~1747 TCF) in this country too. So when do we run out of fossil fuels, probably not for a long time.

As far as green frac chemistry not being something that you can negotiate in a lease, well maybe your just a poor negotiator. Any one person by themselves would be. But if the general public knows that there is green frac chemistry available and everyone holds out for that to be part of there lease language, then it will happen. So you know there are operators (not Cabot) who do aggressively pursue green chemistry and pay extra for it. Since there is a fear of frac chemicals I thought I would through out the green chemistry.

I would also like to point out, again, that it is not fracing that contaminates ground water, it is poor zonal isolation. The cementing / casing process is a highly regulated process already. More regulation is not necessarily the solution.

Keep in mind the energy has to come from somewhere. The oil and gas industry has come leaps and bounds in the last 100 + years. Look at Spindletop TX where 100,000 bbl of oil and bay gushed out onto the ground for 9 days before they were able to get it under control. There was no attempt to get it under control, just let it slow down. Earthen trenches and pits were used to store the crude. Now every effort is made to keep oil and gas separate from the surface water and soil. Yes, there are accidents, but that is not the norm.

Kind Regards,
Eberhard Carroll

Amen Eberhard.

You are clueless Carolyn! You don't know what you are talking about. What about the millions of gallons of water used for golf courses? What's the impact of that? I'm so glad you are on this site so everyone can see you for what you are. LOL!! Typical follower of your own BS or the BS you read from obstructionist sites. Why don't you show us how great you are and put your own windmill on your property and while you're at it put some solar panels up too. Take pictures of everything that YOU have installed and practice what you preach! Show us how great they are. We are leasing our properties while you DO nothing to help your cause. Either back up what you say up with some REAL facts or just continue to be a joke to this site and any others that you belong. LOL!! It is funny to read your posts though. Factless bullcrap that you mostly cut and paste from your greenie magazines and call your own.

You're right J&L. They talk alot but present no solutions. They badmouth the industry but they are gulity of using the energy the industry provides. It's all about politics. Anything these far left radicals say is 100% politically motivated. I respect people who actually believe in what they say no matter how much I disagree with their opinions. I have no respect for those that talk the talk and that's about all they do. CJK seems to at least be of the mindset that NG exploration is here so let's improve it for the landowner. Marie and Carolyn are dead set against it period. They continue to make false statements to try and scare the less educated. They have no idea how stupid they come sound with some of this stuff.

Marie, all I see you doing is posting hyperlinks from far left radical websites denouncing the industry. You were also called out/upon to post some pictures of your so called green energy hime. You said you had solar panels and that you live your life green !!! All you did was provide a website dedicated to solar panels. Marie I call it like I see it. You don't want to work together, you have been 100% negative the entire time this post has been going on. What exactly did the comment "more death mean"? If I was in this for the money I would have signed long ago. I've stated this before. I've had every opportunity. Get your facts straight. And by the way I have promoted working together since day one. Are you a member of a land owner group/coalition ? Or are you afraid you might actually become better educated by doing so. To me all you want to do is continue to watch the news and read your online leftist articles that are against drilling. You have a choice. Now step up and join a non-profit landowner group. They are not for drilling. They are for responsible drilling and for the benefit of landowners. In these meetings you hear both sides of the story.

Marie? Show us your solar panels baby! Since your life is such a nightmare living so close to development, show us how you are changing minds through living what you believe in. Post some pics of your panels! I wanna see them! : )

You are just as whacked out as Carolyn. You make very little sense with REAL facts and it's always the same scenario with you--the sky is falling! If you hate where you live, MOVE! Take your solar panels with you though--unless you think your place will sell better if you include them.

Keep us posted WITH FACTS from your court hearings.

Thanks!

LOL! Yeah. It's about me. LOL!! You crack me up. You are no different than the people still waiting for government to save them in their FEMA trailer. Get off your rear and do something with some real FACTS or watch another re-run of "Springer". It doesn't really matter to me, but you look like a fool spouting your BS.

Hey Carolyn, yeah, nice job using the copy & paste functions! Whew! You are so smart when you post! Maybe if you just paste the link so we can all see the source of what you slather all over this site would be better?

Marie, I see you have the ability to copy and paste too! Great job! At least your latest post seems somewhat reasonable--for a news article! Kudos to you! I was wondering if you could look up and see what the TDS are for the average sewage plant. I'm just curious.....

You two are so much smarter than everyone else...Glad I'm just a "Country Bumkin"... LOL!! I's not mart enuff 2 undrsand dis tuff. tank u....

Hey folks, let's get back to the reason most of us are here - the discussion and promotion of legal gas leasing, drilling and production. As far as I can tell that is the purpose, not to defeat it, or spew insults.
If I need to hear some of that, I can listen to my teenagers! Take your personal battles to private messages!

My point has been made...Bye!

Carolyn and Marie. Wouldn't you be better off getting your points accross by letting people know what happend to you and your area and then giving advice to people with regard to the things landowners should do differently ? In other words.... Instead of posting all negatives, tell us what has happened to you and tell us what you would have done differently or what your neighbors could have done differently to make the situation a little better. Hindsight is 20/20. I think what turns people off is that you completely denounce the industry and the process. You do not help your cause by being 100% negative. People on here want to do the right thing and most people are pretty intelligent and have some common sense. I truly do not believe and most do not believe that everyone in Susquenhanna county that has leased their property feels the way you guys do. In fact I beleive most have had a positive experience. Just like everywhere else in all shale plays.

It sounds to me like nobody in Dimmock had pre drilling water tests done. Did you or any of your neighbors ? Do you think that Cabot would have denied all leases if you would have demanded the tests prior to drilling ? This should have been one of the single most important factors for all who leased. It should have been mandated by the community. That's why landowner groups are so important. Since you didn't, it makes the situation 1000 times worse. The gas industry is considerd guilty until proven innocent with regard to water contamination. I heard this right from DEP and from the head of the SRBC. Gas companies actually prefer to do pre drill water testing so they can defend themselves if needed. They want that baseline as much as we do. Cabot was actually pretty dumb not to do any pre drilling testing in Dimmock. It would have been beneficial to the landowners and to the gas company.

The problem is that you guys seem to want to do everything in your power to tarnish the industry and label it as taboo. You fail to recognize or even consider anyone elses points. Do you think we all want to blindly lease our land and have water contamination, spills, environmental disaster etc... ? We don't. We recongize the possibilities so we want to do everything we can to minimize the risks. We're looking at the big picture and trying to figure out what the biggest risks are and then trying to protect ourselves, via the lease or proposed legislation etc... Nobody is buying into you way of thinking. It's not effective in any way. It brings out the worst in all of us actually. Maybe you would like to try to bend a little. You get much more accomplished and you get your points accross much more effectively when you compromise. I'm guilty of it too, but my posts about you guys being left wing radicals is a direct result of you acting that way. Beleive me when I say I'm more middle of the road. I see many benefits from gas drilling and I see potential negatives. I'm just trying to recognize the negatives and the risks and learn what I can so when it comes time I am educated and so are my neighbors. We can then make an informed well educated decision. Please do not try to completely sway people here. We are smarter than that.

I think you have effectively communicated that Cabot should not be on the top of our list when it comes to companies we should lease our land to. They make all the headlines...

Marie, again I have never seen a post from other than to completely discredit the gas industry. I'm sure you were given a raw deal. The timing for you and your area was bad alo. You were very early on in this play. I still think the lack of homework that was done by the people of Dimmock coupled with Cabot and their landmen selling you on the boiler plate leases is the main problem. As the play progresses landowners will become better educated and make better decisions.

Marie, just share with all of us what you have gone through. Tell us in detail. Explain what has happened. Offer advice so that when it comes time for us to decide what is best we can use your information to make an educated decision. That's what's great about these forums. Now please, offer any information you think will help us to learn. Tell us what the gas company could have done differently and what the landowners in your area could have done differntly.

John and Country Bumkin: I wish I could see all the positives that you see with the gas industry coming to NEPA. I have tried everday to do just that but I have seen and heard way too much negative. The landmen that the companies are letting loose on the landowners are making me sick! I have heard of so many expereinces from a variety of people at different times that it is way too impossible to be staged.

John as far as I am concerned even if DImock was "early on in this play" does not make it right or acceptable for us to allow this. What happened in DImock can happen anywhere and will.

There was a hearing in Ulster on Thursday at which the gas companies are asking for forced pooling and not to be subject to zoning ordinances. They do not want to be subject to zonng ordinances because that would make them more responsible, for example in relation to air emissions. I do not know how many of you have been on any of the wells pads in Bradford County, but the majority of those that I have been on have problems with air pollution, soil pollution and water pollution.

My advice to people is to ask the DEP to require the gas companies to slow down their process. There is no rush to get this all done ASAP for us. For the gas companies it is about locking the leases in, our lives, environmental future, and potential clean up should not be subject to the need to increase their corporate profits. We need to take control and let them do it right, because no matter what anyone says they can and should be conducting business better, better for us not better for their coporate profits. Corners shoud not and cannot be cut to make more money for their shareholders, we the landowners are the biggest "stakeholders" in this operation and we will be the ones that are here after all is said and done.
It isn't just about negogiating a better lease agreement. If your neighbor was not properly advised in entering into a lease, the gas companies can and will take advantage of them and that might be a problem for the community not just a single landowner that entered into a "bad lease arrangement" we are and should be considering communities not just individual plots of land. What you do and the gas companies do will and has effecting communities.
We need to be thinking about all of this way differently. Unfortunately until it hits home in an adverse way people will not react. We are generally reactive and we need to be proactive in this circumstance. I understand that we need to give this play a chance but we need to let the people set the pace not the gas companies. We are the ones that have more long term issues at risk. They are playing with our money that they have gained from our resource.

CJK, I have heard all the landman stories. Basically, we all need to just laugh them off. (the landmen not the stories) Unfortunately, those who don't know any better fall for their sales pitches. That's exactly what they are. They are hired salesmen who try to obtain the cheapest most benefical (to the gas company) lease as possible. They have a script that they follow which does not differ greatly from company to company. They will absolutely take advantage of anyone and everyone if given the chance. What salesman is not going to try to get you to buy into something that is most advantageous to him/her and the company they are working for ? The better job they do the more they get paid. I know it doesn't make it right but it is reality. I really doubt there is anything we can do other than to use some common sense and become educated. Again, unfortunately many people fall for their tactics. I have said all along and I hate to be redundant, we have so much more power than we realize. We should be the ones selling what we have. If someone wants something bad enough, which they do, they will bend over backwards to get it. Look at the Friendsville and Wyoming County lease agreements. $5750.00/acre with a 20% royalty with pretty darn good protections. Each landowner also had a choice to add further protections. They may have sacraficed a few dollars to get the added protections but they probably didn't need to do that. They were both in landowner groups which really helped in the negotiating. Nobody should try to go this alone. As this play evolves expect to see numbers and protections get much better. See the Barnett and Haynesville play numbers. As the infrastructure grows and the ability to gas to market become more feasible the better the numbers and protections will get. I have made hundreds of phone calls to my neighbors, went door to door, set up one on one meetings with them in an attempt to educate them. I have sent hundred of letters to my neighbors to explain what is and will be going on and what to expect from a landmean. I am no expert, but I have done alot to become educated. A very small percentage of my township has signed a lease agreement. Everyone has the opportunity to sign right now. I think the job our landowner group has done to help educate is going a long way. Our land owner group is made up of over 80,000 acres. Some have strayed and signed with various oil/gas companies, but most have stayed loyal and true and realize the true worth of their gas and their property.

As far as air pollution this is a touchy subject. I recently read an article from a mayor in NM who states NG exploration has been nothing but a positive experience for his area and his state. It was a rebuttal to the article written by the mayor if Dish Tx. He states that the environmental groups and the mayor of Dish greatly over stated the air pollution readings. The air was monitored and sampled for an adequate time period to arrive at the conclusion that NG drilling did not have a negative impact on the air quality. He gave concrete hard numbers to support this. In other words he was saying that the mayor of Dish and the environmental groups that he supports are inflating and sensationalizing their numbers to try and scare people. They have an agenda. I tried to paste the article but I couldn't. I'll try to find it and get it out here somehow. If you can, please supply us with some hard numbers to support your claim of air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution. I need numbers. What you are saying is far to generic for me to grasp.

http://www.oilgasfind.com/pdf_downloads/Farmington%20NM%20Mayor%20B...

Try this and see if it works. Farmington NM Mayor Bill Standley. THis is a piece of what I spoke of below

http://www.sanjuanregional.com/assets//PDFs/2008%20Community%20Heal...

This is a link with real numbers. Ther's a lot to go through but you can see various health related topics with numbers that are compared to national averages. Again, this is in an area that has been subject to NG drilling for over 50 years. This link is at the very bottom of the mayors letter as well.

John: Thanks I will look at this today. Here is an interesting read as well:
http://www.declineoftheempire.com/2010/04/a-miracle-in-the-marcellu...

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I would like to offer some advice in response to CJK's comments about not rushing the development of this play. One thing you can do to ensure that drilling is not rushed on your property is to offer a longer lease term. Companies will drill acerage to hold their leases, even if it is not economical to drill at that time. Consider that the going rate for property now is around 5k an acre and 20% royalties on a 3-5 year lease. The leases vary, perhaphs they need a commerical well within 5 years, perhaphs you just have to spud within 5 years, either way if the operator hasn't meet that requirement within 5 years they will loose their lease. If you don't want drilling rushed on your property offer a 10 year lease. For this exchange you can probably negotiate a higher upfront bonus payment, or more protections. OF course if you are a gambler you can always sign the 3-5 year deal hope they don't get to you and re-lease once the inital one expires. The bonus and / or royalties may be much better in 3-5 years. That's up to YOU.

Now since this is a landowners forum I would like to see if their is any interest in Harding PA to group together some acerage (Falls as well, I understand you are ahead of the game there, hell anywhere in Luzerne county.) I am currently working with two smaller comapnies based in the Denver area who are interested in the Marcellus play. Both companies are willing to work with us in regards to safeguarding our water. Some ideas I have had are mentioned in previous posts, they have been accepted or even suggested by the companies I'm working with (it's great working with the independents.) Marie any advice you have will be welcome. John you are right we are in the drivers seat here, so lets work together and do this right.

Look forward to hearing from everyone.

Eberhard

Eberhard, you are more than welcome to come to our Landowners Meetings. Out next meeting is on Tuesday, May 25th at 6:00 PM in the Benton High School Auditorium. These metting are open to the public, and you are under no obligation to join the group. You can simply show up, listen and ask questions. The landowner group is the Columbia County Land Owners Coalition. The areas we have include all of Columbia and most of Luzerne County. The meetings are very informative. There is no charge at anytime to anyone. We are basically just a group of concernced landowners with no ties to gas companies. Our focus is to educate landowners and to obtain a fair and protective lease agreement. The website is columbiacoalition.org

The most active companies in our group acreage areas are Encana and William Oil and Gas. Can you share the companies you refer to in your post ?

If you get close to signing I would suggest you review the lease agreements used by various landowner groups from around NEPA as a bare minimum baseline. Not so much the financial terms but the protective terms. Also, obviously do no utilize the standard boiler plate company lease. You should also seek a good oil/gas attorney. I would absolutely ask any company to do predrilling water testing for a mimimum of 1 square mile from any proposed well site. Also, periodic post drilling testing is a must. Make sure you get access to the test results so you have a baseline. It would also be a great idea if "you indepently" have your water tested prior and post drilling. The predrilling testing should be done as close to the drilling date as possible. Ther are many other protective terms to talk about going forward.

Eberhard, scratch that date THe meeting has been postponed until June 1st.

I asked around for you Eberhard. I don't believe there are are any groups accepting acreage in the Harding area. I may be wrong but I asked several people. The Falls are you could probably get into a group.

Thank you for the comments. The operators I am working with are Cordillera Energy Partners and Olmar Energy. Olmar Energy is awaiting funding before they move forward. My situation is slightly different than that of most people in NEPA. I work as a sales engineer for a service company, Calfrac, in Denver. Generally it will come up as a "by the way conversation" with many of these operators that my family and I have land in the Marcellus. I work with the completions, reservoir, and drilling engineers directly, there are no landmen involved. There is mixed interest in our property mostly depending on proximity to the given operators current acerage.

I worked as an in house engineer in encana's office for two years and have a pretty good relationship there. John you are correct, they are not interested in the Harding area at this time. As for Williams I have never discussed the possibility of leasing with the, but it is my understanding that their area is more to the west.

The operators I mentioned earlier are interested in the Marcellus and do not currently have any holdings. A large block of continuous acreage would be beneficial for them to properly develop this reservoir. What I would like to do is form a landowners association in Harding. I would also like to align with the established landowners associations to establish a larger acreage offering. Anyone interested please let me know.

Thank you,
Eberhard

Yes Ebergard. Williams interest right now in our area is northern Columbia. It is my understanding that the Harding area interest is low due to it's proximity to the Lackawanna Syclinorium.

In my travels in and around the Falls neighborhood I find there are several folks in the greater Falls, Harding, Exeter, North Moreland area that did not initially sign with the Wyoming County Group last year for a variety of reasons. Most are not large land owners, 20-100 acres each is the norm. Problem is most of these folks aren't "plugged in" and expect someone to come knocking on their door and offer them some exhorbtatant amount of money.

The Wyoming County Group did not do a very good job of getting the word out that they existed. I was online since early 2008 and didn't hear of the group until a neighbor told me. Even then there was no easy way to contact them, the communication was terrible, people got annoyed. Several times I inquired about joining and was told they were not accepting new members (I still have the emails) so I can understand how people were not part of the group when they could have been. Too many issues surfaced, people got "attitude" when they should have gotten help. Oh well, such is life.

Notice of Meeting:
Meeting by third party water testing company:
"TESTING YOUR WELL WATER---A LICENSED PROFESSIONAL
GEOLOGIST ANSWERS QUESTIONS"

Are you concerned about the impact gas drilling could have on your water sources? And want to learn why and how you should have your water sources tested by a third party.

Speaker: George E. Turner, P.G.
Website: geturner.tripod.com


Place: Sheshequin-Ulster Recreation Center
Ulster, PA

Date: June 18th, 2010

Time: 7PM – Short presentation, followed by Questions & Answers, Mr. Turner will stay until all questions are answered.

Everyone is welcome!

Any one have information on leasing activity in Cambria County?

If you are looking to hold an session to discuss baseline water testing for your community - please vist our website. We are happy to conduct sessions and education program for citizens
http://www.bfenvironmental.com

Interesting...

Watch what they DO, pay no attention to what they SAY.

Does anyone know anything about a company named" Statoil "
the name came up on some paper work about our lease
On google it is a company out of Norway. Chesapeake is also in the paper work
I'm just no sure what agreement they have. From what I read Statoil transports the gas I think ???

Statoil is a company just like Chesapeake, and they bought into a percentage of Chesapeake leases (because Chk needed the money). Your lease must be one of the many if you are seeing their name on your paperwork now. There will also be an assignment of your lease in the county courthouse to show Statoil's interest.

This is not a bad thing, it is normal gas company stuff. If you have a well or are in a unit, you will possibly get part of your royalties from Chk and part from statoil, and so on.

There is a lot of information about the assignments out on the internet in other locations. Just google chesapeake and statoil and marcellus to find it.

House Bill 1410 currently in committee:

 

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txt...

Doug,

PA bill has 15% royalty as the state minimum?!  Let's hope this passes.

Wow maybe WV could get on board with this one too!

It's been 12.5% for WV forever!