Can a lateral for directional drilling be run under acreage not included in the drilling unit in order to get to land that is in the drilling unit?

Views: 735

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

No. A operator will propose a unit and once finalized, the operator will file a DPU (declaration of pooling and unit) in the county courthouse. If you’re not leased and they pulled you in, that’s trespassing. Unless you’re in West Virginia and you only own a percentage of minerals in that tract of land. The operator has to have 50% leased in the tract,  then the co tenancy kicks in. 

Thanks. Since ORC 1509.022 says that a rig for directional drilling can be placed on a parcel of land not included in the drilling unit, I wondered how far away from the drilling unit the rig could be placed.

as long as all the land between the drilling unit and the well pad is leased/under contract.... in theory the rig could be miles away from the drilling unit. but why would they want to drill under lands that they have no intention of producing from

Perhaps the land owner adjacent to the drilling unit  refuses to grant surface rights for the well pad and whose land is already involved in a lease denying unitization with any additional acres.

As long as they have approval of 65 percent of the land, they will put you in the unit even if you dont want to be. This is wording right out a unitization . 

a) No activity associated with the drilling, completion, or operation of the Sanor
Farms CL KNX SW Unit shall be conducted on the surface of any unleased
property without the prior written consent of the owner of the surface rights of the
unleased property.
b) Unleased mineral owners shall not incur liability for any personal or property
damage associated with any drilling, testing, completing, producing, operating, or
plugging and restoration activities within the Sanor Farms CL KNX SW Unit.
c) Each unleased mineral owner shall receive a monthly cash payment equal to a oneeighth share of the gross proceeds from production. Allocation of the one-eighth
share shall be based on the unit participation of each unleased mineral owner’s tract.
EAP shall make monthly cash payments to all unleased mineral owners at the same
time the royalty interest owners are paid.
d) In addition to the cash payment specified in paragraph 9(c) of this Order, each
unleased mineral owner shall receive a monthly cash payment equal to a seveneighths share of the net proceeds from production. Allocation of the seven-eighths
share shall be based on the unit participation of each unleased mineral owner’s tract.
After EAP recovers 200% of the cost of drilling, testing, and completing the initial
well, EAP shall begin making the monthly payments to the unleased mineral
owners for that well. For each additional well drilled in the unit area, EAP shall
begin making monthly payments equal to seven-eighths share of net proceeds from
production to each unleased mineral owner once the working interest owners have
recovered 150% of the cost of drilling, testing, and completing each additional well.
Once a specific cost is charged to the initial well, that same cost cannot be charged
to subsequent wells in the unit area

RSS

© 2024   Created by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service