So Marcus, you and I are distant cousins as my mother was born in New Martinsville, WV. I know my heritage goes back to Col Morgan Morgan, David and Daniel's father, although I do not have the book readily at hand to look up whether it was David or Daniel that is my linage.

I will caution you that Wetzel county is a hotsopt for Marcellus shale leases. I inherited mineral rights on 25% of 415 acres in Wetzel county and have a more recent lease (2002) that does NOT include unitization & pooling. I have talked to an attorney and he has advised that not only are all provisions of the lease negotiable, so is a bonus payment. For Wetzel county, that bonus value has been between $1,000 and $3,000 per acre (obviously for me that translates into 25% of that bonus). If you have an active well on the property, it is not likely that the term of the lease will be negotiable but all the other provisions are. GoMarcellusshale.com has a document with recommended provisions, I encourage you to read that document and incorporate as many provisions as possible. We have a well but it is shut-in and there is no time limit on the shut-in clause (my error) but we are not pooled and Gastar (the gas company) wants to pool us - all provisions are up for negotiations.

One other thing we found - the shale is narrow in Wetzel County, only about 45 feet thick but it is rich. What that means is the BTU content is higher (gas price is based on BTU content). The upside is we will see higher royalties. The downside, most of the pipelines will only take up to 1050 BTU gas which means we are not producing and are shut-in until a pipeline that takes higher BTUs is extended into the county. We are told that will be close to a year from now.

I would be happy to share my personal leasing experiences with you. Feel free to contact me at my personal email (dan@bezilla.net).