Folks, I felt I needed to post a portion of an email I received from an Antero representative last night. This is apparently Antero's response to Vortex Energy making a very good lease offer to the Middle Island Landowners Group. Draw your own conclusion!
#1 Vortex Energy has drilled zero Marcellus wells in WV and it is unclear if they have ever drilled a well at all. Antero has drilled 156 in 2013 alone. We are by far the most active operator in the Marcellus Shale with 15 rigs. The next most is CHK with 8. You don't want your acreage to be a learning process for a company that has never drilled a well
#2 Antero has firm take away and processing capacity. Vortex will get pushed out once capacity fills up and they will be forced to shut-in your wells for extended periods
#3 Antero will have a water line infrastructure in place by year end 2013 greatly reducing truck traffic. Antero has 15 rigs under contract.
Vortex will have to ship a rig in and will be forced to truck all of your water, limiting their ability to complete wells during the winter months due to poor road conditions.
#4 Antero will not be working any trades/acquisitions with Vortex. Any acreage signed up to Vortex will be excluded from our drilling program. All excluded acreage will be sterilized as to Marcellus development once Antero's drilling program is in full effect by year end 2014.
#5 Vortex is unfamiliar with WV title and will be defecting acreage that should be approved based on misinterpretations of royalty reservations.
#6 Vortex will not have the man-power to approve all of this acreage during the time frame given.
Can anyone tell me which is better in a lease? Royalty at the wellhead or the getting royalties after some deductions are made from the "Market Enhancement Clause" for processing the gas at a cracker plant? Has anyone received royalties from both that could tell me which opportunity pays out the most? Or the pros and cons of each? Thank you.
Mr. White: last year around Christmas time, you and I talked by phone about an issue on a well in Doddridge County Central Dist, referred to as the piggott well. The problem was going to Court, Do you know what the outcome was?
The old rule of thumb was $1/inch/foot. The old rule of thumb is not applicable any more. Prices are much higher. You can also get them to pay for things like building a fence. Spend some time figuring out if they already have RoWs purchased from your neighbors. If you're the last piece to the puzzle, and they can't go around you easily, you can get a lot more than their original offer. I negotiated a RoW for a client in Tyler County last year, and ended up getting him about 3x the original offer. Time is on your side. You'll get more money if you just say no a couple times. Also, find out when the bats are nesting. They have to work around that time, so that gives them a deadline.
When a company leases your property and runs the certified title. Do they change the title at the county? If not, do you know how much it cost to change the title so it is in our names instead of our Great - Great Grandparents?
flyingls, you should ask the company. I think they can do it or you can do it but you need to know how the title came from great-grandparents to you. If you have wills for everybody involved you can file them at the Tyler County courthouse. The probate clerk there can help you. But first you should ask the company. I don't think the cost is more than filing the appropriate copies of the wills, and death certificates. Otherwise things get more complicated.
Dave, If I understand the question and your spreadsheet, if the Mother left a will to all 5 children equally, then the other heirs probably have rights. If no will, I think under WV law all the children would inherit equally (I am not a lawyer).
If the oil / gas rights are not documented on a will that is not a problem. If Mother owned rights, and says all her property is to be inherited, then all of it is.
That is how I see it. You could ask the oil company what they know about it.
flyingls - Nancy's right, as usual. Also, they usually won't change the tax tickets until there is gas being produced. They're so busy, and the taxes are so small, that it's just not worth their time. As far as the actual ownership being reflected properly in the deed books, the company will help out with that to a certain extent, like Nancy said. They'll put together Affidavits of Heirship as needed, and help get wills and things filed.
Hey folks! I'm trying to find out what leases are going for in the Tyler county-middlebourne area? I have heard antero is active? Do they separate Marcellus and Utica? Any help would be great, esp bonus payment and royalty %. Thanks
Aaron, I've had several clients get $4,000/acre for the bonus in Tyler County, and have recently had some people tell me they got $4,500/acre. I'm now asking for $5,000/acre, and I think I'll get it. When they make an offer, just say "no". You'll be surprised how quickly they increase their offers. Antero, Statoil, JayBee, are all active there. There are one or two others that I can't bring to mind at the moment. Antero and Statoil definitely want both Utica and Marcellus. If you can get a formation lease or a Pugh clause, let us all know so that we know what they're willing to give in the future. Royalty should start at 18% and go up. I'm expecting a 20% lease for one of my clients any day now.
Nancy: you are right, the permits that showed up today in the weekly report are the only one's that I have seen. I went to the Oil & Gas web site for permits, and it only shows what we see today on the weekly report. I know there will be more as I signed a modification to an old lease from them last month.Good things continue to happen in our neck of the woods.
Siltstone is a group of Chinese investors doing the middleman thing. I have dealt with them and they seem to shoot straight with decent money if you want to go that route. I have never actually signed a lease with them.
Hi ! Newbie here, so if these questions have already been asked, I apologize.
We recently ( December 2014) signed a 5 year lease agreement with Statoil for 30 acres in Tyler Co. for Marcellus shale. They indicated that they wanted to start drilling immediately, but so far we haven't heard anything. What I'm inquiring about is:
* I heard that Statoil flipped some leases to Southwest Energy and / or Chesapeake. Is this true and will this have any bearing on estimated drill dates?
* I know that NG has taken quite a tumble price wise, but Statoil REALLY wanted our property. Is this the old "hurry up and wait" game or is Statoil sincere in their intent?
If you already signed then and bad answer to your questions will just spurn on anxiety and regret. But to test the hurry up and wait tactics is to only offer a 1 year lease. If theybare so ready to drill then they only need 1 year to do it in. Not sure how much flipping statoil does but all the companies flip based on need and side deals to complete drill units. Wish you the best of luck.
Thank you Jacob. I had a hunch it was "hurry up and wait". Statoil may have just wanted to lease our land to play "Let's Make A Deal" with another company.
William Dotson, the bonus rate they've been offering has been going down lately, and I haven't seen a lease from Tyler in a couple of months, but the last offer I saw was for $3,500/acre. I did see a lease offer for $3,500/acre in Pleasants County the other day, from JayBee. 15% royalty. If the folks hire me to negotiate for them I'm going to be asking for more, of course. I had heard that Antero wasn't taking leases in Tyler any more, but JayBee, Statoil, and EQT should still be operating there.
Kyle. . any handle on value if you are selling acres. . old HBP lease about 100 a month in income in Tyler . . I think union district. . i belive its at 1/8th about 17 net acres. .
DM, my idea of value for a mineral acre is way out of line with what companies seem to be willing to pay. I wouldn't let something go for less than $6,000 per acre, especially considering that there's both Utica and Marcellus to be developed in Tyler. Finding a company willing to pay that seems to be a challenge, though. If your net acres are close to the gross acres, then maybe you can get considerably more. I haven't had the chance to work with someone who has a large net to gross ratio yet, though.
Two other family members and I, owners of mineral rights on 70 acres in Tyler County, have received a notice from JB, our Lessee, that they have drilled a well that affects our parcel.
Before we sign the Division Order they sent, are there any questions we should be asking them? It would seem like we are pretty much constrained to the conditions of the lease at this point.
I strongly suggest you read the DO very closely. Jay-Bee has been sending out DOs with non-typical clauses, such as an 'Indemnity' clause. While the DO does state it does NOT amend the original lease, I do not see any reason for additional clause that may cloud an issue. Contact the NJ office and request a traditional DO.
The other thing I've seen with a lot of DOs, even the most simple ones, is that they ask you to certify that you own 0.xxxxxxxx in the unit. You don't have the numbers necessary to calculate that number, so it's not right for them to ask you to certify it. I recommend that you cross out "certify", initial the change, sign the DO, and send it back like that. They may make a fuss, but tell them you can't certify something you can't figure out on your own.
Things seem to have really slowed down in Tyler recently. You can still lease for $3000-$4000/acre and 18%, but getting an offer is far less common that it used to be. Anybody seeing otherwise?
It depends on the length of your lease. Traditionally, leases in WV are for 5 years, but there are some 3 year leases. Additionally, many leases include an automatic renewal for one or two terms.
I'm curious if anyone has any information on BRMR using the Spencer pad to drill a Utica well. They state that in will be TIL (turn in line) by mid- Sept.
"DO" is probably a Division Order, which is some document that the company prepares to show how the mineral interest is divided, who gets what share in a particular well or unit.
My family owns mineral rights handed down from generation to generation from my GGG parents Thomas & Rachel Anderson and GG Grandparents Robert & Ollie Anderson in the Ellsworth District Tyler County WV. Have been contacted by a company Antero. Does anyone here know anything about this company. The two former companies that had our lease agreements StatOil and EQT allowed the contracts to expire. Now Antero is knocking at door for information.
My understanding EQT lost against Antero in WV Supreme Court for the Tyler mineral rights leases that lapsed. EQT did not provide our family information to Antero now Texhoma LLC is redoing all the Genealogical work. Since I am a Certified Genealogist and the most information on our ancestor and descendants with documents. They made contact with me through family cousins for all information that covers close to 400 pages.
My ancestors were wild catting oil and gas wells from Tyler, Harrison, Doddridge, Wetzel on there land and all produced.
Never a bad thing when an old lease expires! Time to renegotiate and get another signing bonus. Even EQT, which is requesting Delay Rental leases now, will negotiate to a Paid-Up Lease in most cases.
Has anyone here ever heard of David E. Bowery Oil and Gas who's been buying well heads through back door negotiation's before a tax notice is filed to Land and Mineral Rights owners. From the information I have gathered he covers Tyler, Doddridge and Wetzel counties.
Bob Donaghy
Jul 15, 2013
flyingls
Can anyone tell me which is better in a lease? Royalty at the wellhead or the getting royalties after some deductions are made from the "Market Enhancement Clause" for processing the gas at a cracker plant? Has anyone received royalties from both that could tell me which opportunity pays out the most? Or the pros and cons of each? Thank you.
May 2, 2014
Nancy Mosley
Link to discussion about American Energy Partners purchasing leases in Tyler and a few other counties
http://gomarcellusshale.com/forum/topics/mcclendon-buys-48-000-acre...
Jun 9, 2014
david starcher
Antero wants to put a 16'' pipe line from the Nalley pad through my property. I would like to know what the going rate is for right of way.
Jun 25, 2014
Arnold L Stuart
Mr. White: last year around Christmas time, you and I talked by phone about an issue on a well in Doddridge County Central Dist, referred to as the piggott well. The problem was going to Court, Do you know what the outcome was?
Jun 26, 2014
Kyle Nuttall
David Starcher,
The old rule of thumb was $1/inch/foot. The old rule of thumb is not applicable any more. Prices are much higher. You can also get them to pay for things like building a fence. Spend some time figuring out if they already have RoWs purchased from your neighbors. If you're the last piece to the puzzle, and they can't go around you easily, you can get a lot more than their original offer. I negotiated a RoW for a client in Tyler County last year, and ended up getting him about 3x the original offer. Time is on your side. You'll get more money if you just say no a couple times. Also, find out when the bats are nesting. They have to work around that time, so that gives them a deadline.
Jul 9, 2014
flyingls
Kyle:
When a company leases your property and runs the certified title. Do they change the title at the county? If not, do you know how much it cost to change the title so it is in our names instead of our Great - Great Grandparents?
Jul 9, 2014
Nancy Mosley
flyingls, you should ask the company. I think they can do it or you can do it but you need to know how the title came from great-grandparents to you. If you have wills for everybody involved you can file them at the Tyler County courthouse. The probate clerk there can help you. But first you should ask the company. I don't think the cost is more than filing the appropriate copies of the wills, and death certificates. Otherwise things get more complicated.
Jul 9, 2014
flyingls
Thank you Nancy
Jul 9, 2014
Nancy Mosley
Dave, If I understand the question and your spreadsheet, if the Mother left a will to all 5 children equally, then the other heirs probably have rights. If no will, I think under WV law all the children would inherit equally (I am not a lawyer).
If the oil / gas rights are not documented on a will that is not a problem. If Mother owned rights, and says all her property is to be inherited, then all of it is.
That is how I see it. You could ask the oil company what they know about it.
Jul 11, 2014
Kyle Nuttall
flyingls - Nancy's right, as usual. Also, they usually won't change the tax tickets until there is gas being produced. They're so busy, and the taxes are so small, that it's just not worth their time. As far as the actual ownership being reflected properly in the deed books, the company will help out with that to a certain extent, like Nancy said. They'll put together Affidavits of Heirship as needed, and help get wills and things filed.
Jul 15, 2014
Aaron
Jul 25, 2014
Kyle Nuttall
Aaron, I've had several clients get $4,000/acre for the bonus in Tyler County, and have recently had some people tell me they got $4,500/acre. I'm now asking for $5,000/acre, and I think I'll get it. When they make an offer, just say "no". You'll be surprised how quickly they increase their offers. Antero, Statoil, JayBee, are all active there. There are one or two others that I can't bring to mind at the moment. Antero and Statoil definitely want both Utica and Marcellus. If you can get a formation lease or a Pugh clause, let us all know so that we know what they're willing to give in the future. Royalty should start at 18% and go up. I'm expecting a 20% lease for one of my clients any day now.
Jul 28, 2014
Nancy Mosley
Kyle, I think Noble is also active in Tyler.
Jul 28, 2014
Arnold L Stuart
Nancy: Noble is also active in Doddridge, Look at today's Weekly Report.
Jul 28, 2014
Nancy Mosley
Yes I saw that Arnold. I don't remember Noble there until now, I am probably wrong.
Jul 28, 2014
Arnold L Stuart
Nancy: you are right, the permits that showed up today in the weekly report are the only one's that I have seen. I went to the Oil & Gas web site for permits, and it only shows what we see today on the weekly report. I know there will be more as I signed a modification to an old lease from them last month.Good things continue to happen in our neck of the woods.
Jul 28, 2014
Dave Henderson
Aug 2, 2014
jed davis
Has anyone heard of a Mike Stanley who may be doing some leasing?
Sep 24, 2014
Jim White
Siltstone is a group of Chinese investors doing the middleman thing. I have dealt with them and they seem to shoot straight with decent money if you want to go that route. I have never actually signed a lease with them.
Sep 27, 2014
brandon
Anyone dealing with the ET Rover line. Next meeting is at the Tyler County Log house on the Fairgrounds @ 7:00 pm Feb. 3rd.
Jan 15, 2015
Dolly Lama
Hi ! Newbie here, so if these questions have already been asked, I apologize.
We recently ( December 2014) signed a 5 year lease agreement with Statoil for 30 acres in Tyler Co. for Marcellus shale. They indicated that they wanted to start drilling immediately, but so far we haven't heard anything. What I'm inquiring about is:
* I heard that Statoil flipped some leases to Southwest Energy and / or Chesapeake. Is this true and will this have any bearing on estimated drill dates?
* I know that NG has taken quite a tumble price wise, but Statoil REALLY wanted our property. Is this the old "hurry up and wait" game or is Statoil sincere in their intent?
TIA for all of your help. :0)
Jan 23, 2015
Jacob Fewx
Jan 23, 2015
Dolly Lama
Thank you Jacob. I had a hunch it was "hurry up and wait". Statoil may have just wanted to lease our land to play "Let's Make A Deal" with another company.
Jan 24, 2015
Dan Warner
Statoil was just granted permits for wells on Gorrels Run on 2/18/2015:
http://alerts.skytruth.org/report/ff4eaf80-e7a9-3527-a7c4-b9879cb56...
Feb 20, 2015
Bob Donaghy
Dan Warner If you don't mind telling me, how did you learn of the permit so quickly?
Feb 20, 2015
flyingls
If you register on the link Dan posted, they send you an email when permits are approved. They posted the Statoil permit yesterday.
Feb 20, 2015
William Dotson
Anyone know what the current bonus rate is per acre for Tyler Co. acreage?
Mar 3, 2016
Kyle Nuttall
William Dotson, the bonus rate they've been offering has been going down lately, and I haven't seen a lease from Tyler in a couple of months, but the last offer I saw was for $3,500/acre. I did see a lease offer for $3,500/acre in Pleasants County the other day, from JayBee. 15% royalty. If the folks hire me to negotiate for them I'm going to be asking for more, of course. I had heard that Antero wasn't taking leases in Tyler any more, but JayBee, Statoil, and EQT should still be operating there.
Mar 3, 2016
William Dotson
Thanx Kyle
Mar 3, 2016
DM
Kyle. . any handle on value if you are selling acres. . old HBP lease about 100 a month in income in Tyler . . I think union district. . i belive its at 1/8th about 17 net acres. .
Thanks!
Mar 3, 2016
Kyle Nuttall
DM, my idea of value for a mineral acre is way out of line with what companies seem to be willing to pay. I wouldn't let something go for less than $6,000 per acre, especially considering that there's both Utica and Marcellus to be developed in Tyler. Finding a company willing to pay that seems to be a challenge, though. If your net acres are close to the gross acres, then maybe you can get considerably more. I haven't had the chance to work with someone who has a large net to gross ratio yet, though.
Mar 4, 2016
Tim Woodburn
Before we sign the Division Order they sent, are there any questions we should be asking them? It would seem like we are pretty much constrained to the conditions of the lease at this point.
Mar 7, 2016
WV Mineral Owner
Tim,
I strongly suggest you read the DO very closely. Jay-Bee has been sending out DOs with non-typical clauses, such as an 'Indemnity' clause. While the DO does state it does NOT amend the original lease, I do not see any reason for additional clause that may cloud an issue. Contact the NJ office and request a traditional DO.
Best of luck,
Mar 7, 2016
Tim Woodburn
Mar 7, 2016
Kyle Nuttall
The other thing I've seen with a lot of DOs, even the most simple ones, is that they ask you to certify that you own 0.xxxxxxxx in the unit. You don't have the numbers necessary to calculate that number, so it's not right for them to ask you to certify it. I recommend that you cross out "certify", initial the change, sign the DO, and send it back like that. They may make a fuss, but tell them you can't certify something you can't figure out on your own.
Mar 7, 2016
Tim Woodburn
Mar 7, 2016
Kyle Nuttall
Things seem to have really slowed down in Tyler recently. You can still lease for $3000-$4000/acre and 18%, but getting an offer is far less common that it used to be. Anybody seeing otherwise?
Jun 4, 2018
Shelly Stubblefield
After the permit is issued is there a certain amount of time the have to drill before they have to do a new lease
Sep 4, 2018
WV Mineral Owner
Shelly,
It depends on the length of your lease. Traditionally, leases in WV are for 5 years, but there are some 3 year leases. Additionally, many leases include an automatic renewal for one or two terms.
Sep 4, 2018
Bob Donaghy
I think if there is no activity after two years, they have to reapply.
Sep 4, 2018
George M Downing
Q2 2018 Presentation
I'm curious if anyone has any information on BRMR using the Spencer pad to drill a Utica well. They state that in will be TIL (turn in line) by mid- Sept.
Oct 4, 2018
Debra Bretz
Hi,
Looking for some of my relatives for discussion WEEKLY name mostly.
Jun 25, 2020
Debra Bretz
What is a DO?
Jun 26, 2020
Nancy Mosley
"DO" is probably a Division Order, which is some document that the company prepares to show how the mineral interest is divided, who gets what share in a particular well or unit.
Jun 26, 2020
Barnes
My family owns mineral rights handed down from generation to generation from my GGG parents Thomas & Rachel Anderson and GG Grandparents Robert & Ollie Anderson in the Ellsworth District Tyler County WV. Have been contacted by a company Antero. Does anyone here know anything about this company. The two former companies that had our lease agreements StatOil and EQT allowed the contracts to expire. Now Antero is knocking at door for information.
Mar 3, 2021
Nancy Mosley
Antero is a very active company. Reputable. I know they are active in the Ellsworth area.
Always a good idea to consult an attorney before signing paperwork.
Mar 3, 2021
Barnes
My understanding EQT lost against Antero in WV Supreme Court for the Tyler mineral rights leases that lapsed. EQT did not provide our family information to Antero now Texhoma LLC is redoing all the Genealogical work. Since I am a Certified Genealogist and the most information on our ancestor and descendants with documents. They made contact with me through family cousins for all information that covers close to 400 pages.
My ancestors were wild catting oil and gas wells from Tyler, Harrison, Doddridge, Wetzel on there land and all produced.
Mar 3, 2021
Kyle Nuttall
Never a bad thing when an old lease expires! Time to renegotiate and get another signing bonus. Even EQT, which is requesting Delay Rental leases now, will negotiate to a Paid-Up Lease in most cases.
Mar 9, 2021
Barnes
Has anyone here ever heard of David E. Bowery Oil and Gas who's been buying well heads through back door negotiation's before a tax notice is filed to Land and Mineral Rights owners. From the information I have gathered he covers Tyler, Doddridge and Wetzel counties.
Aug 12, 2021