Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Doug Pierson on August 12, 2011 at 3:51am

Hi Preston. That's close to us. Are you talking about the one on the right as you go south on Mudge from 660, near where the pipeline crosses Mudge? If so, that's the Fish well. The pad is done and is waiting for the rig to get there as I understand the status. It is supposed to be the same rig that is presently up at the Knowlton well off Smith Rd.  They've been up at Knowlton for a good while now and you'd think they would be just about finished.

Permalink Reply by E. Preston Rice on August 12, 2011 at 4:12am

Yes that is the well. I was up yesterday, and watched them remove the last of the equipment from the site. There are several things of interest here. 1) They didn't notify my dad for the water test, 2) His lease ran out April 15th, and they have not renewed.

 

Does anyone know what the Methane levels are inherently in that area? We have had a water test done by Williamsport firm.

Permalink Reply by Doug Pierson on August 12, 2011 at 6:53am

Then, that would be the Fish 301 well. As it turns out, that's the well that forms the unit that our property is in. We don't live in the area, though, but try to keep up with it. If your Dad's property was part of that unit, he should have received an amended pooling document and map around the first week of June. I don't know the date of the initial pooling document or when the pad construction actually started. But, either one of those items would have locked your Dad's lease in if they had started before April 15th. In other words, the Primary Term would expire on April 15th, but "production activities" would lock in the lease and it would enter the Secondary Term.

 

I'm looking through my unit map list of names and I don't see the name Rice. I also see that the boundaries of the Unit don't extend to 660. So, it might be worth confirming that this is the well and unit for your Dad's lease. The well map shows that all of the horizontal runs are going southeast, away from 660. The folks up at the Wellsboro office, just up at the corner of 6 and 660, would have the number for the right person at the main office you could talk to. With the lease number and tax ID of the property they can tell you what you need to know about the lease status and unit.

 

I know for sure that they haven't started the drilling yet, so there is still time to deal with the water testing. I don't have any info for you about normal methane levels, though.

Permalink Reply by Doug Pierson on August 12, 2011 at 7:01am

Here Preston, I'll see if I can upload the map.

Attachments:

• Fish 301 map.pdf, 112 KB

Permalink Reply by E. Preston Rice on August 12, 2011 at 2:53pm

Thank you for the information-especially the map. He had thought that he was in the Unit for that well, but looking at the map he is 29 on the map and 20 and some of the area west of 21. I was afraid that the well meant that he was locked into the lease he had, and that was a pittance. What out of curiosity did the amended pooling doe to you?

 

He is dealing with someone in the area from Shell, but he was told they were negotiating on the other side of Wellsboro and wouldn't be i the area for a while. I was hoping he wasn't being broadsided. I guess maybe not. However, it will be interesting to see what happens from here. He did lease a small part of land for the road pad off of Mudge Road as it turns right into the field.

Permalink Reply by Doug Pierson on August 13, 2011 at 1:28am

Glad it helped. I never saw the original pooling document, so I don't know what was amended. They may have simply redefined some boundaries once they developed the actual drilling plat.  Our property is completely included in this unit. It could very well be that his lease is locked in, just in a different well unit, or that it did expire. So, if it was me, I'd be talking to Shell to find the status. The receptionist up at the Wellsboro office has always been friendly to us and could give you the number of the right person to talk to about that lease. And probably, if his water well is over 1000 feet from this gas well, that Shell won't contact him about water testing. Best to be proactive like it looks like your are and handle that on your own. If you're lucky and do get to negotiate a new lease from scratch, a Google search will yield you all kinds of information on what to look for and hints for lease negotiation. Good luck.

Permalink Reply by E. Preston Rice on August 13, 2011 at 2:57am

Looks like from here we have to find out what unit we are in if in one. thanks again for all of your help.

Permalink Reply by Doug Pierson on August 13, 2011 at 3:49am

Oh, one more thing, getting to what Ann alluded to. If you're going to help your Dad out with all of this, then a resource for you is the state's DEP web site. In the Licensing, Permits area, there is a section called eFACTS. I'll paste in a couple of links. In that eFACTS section you can search for permits in a particular county and township. There is also a gizmo called eMAP. It is the most god-awful, non-user friendly application ever invented for a computer, but if you have a rainy day and don't have anything better to so, it is worth while to try to figure it out. I'll spare you a tutorial here. But, once a permit is issued for a facility, and once they catch up on their backlog, they update that facility on the map. So, as an example, if we select oil and gas well on the left side and zoom in to the proper level, you can see all of the gas wells around your Dad's place. They are depicted as little blue dots. Since the horizontal runs for a well seem to go northwest to southeast, there seems to be a void in that area with respect to where your Dad is. Attached is the screen shot. Good luck.

 

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

http://www.ahs2.dep.state.pa.us/eFACTSWeb/criteria_sitesbymuni.aspx

http://www.emappa.dep.state.pa.us/emappa/viewer.htm

Attachments:

• emap screen shot.jpg, 729 KB

Permalink Reply by E. Preston Rice on August 13, 2011 at 4:19am

Yes, that does seem to be the case here. I wonder why nothing is set up for that particular tract of land? It would seem that everything is all around him, but not really including him. Parts of his land extend to RT 6 and beyond what used to be the A. Chalmers place-now a church.

Permalink Reply by Doug Pierson on August 13, 2011 at 4:53am

Well, there still could be wells in the works, just that the permits haven't been approved. The Shell/SWEPI folks could tell you for sure. If I remember right, the fairgrounds is around there somewhere, and maybe they can't get drilling permits. Perhaps one of your top priority things is to determine the status of the lease, right now.  Here's a couple more links that might be helpful.

 

http://www.hh-law.com/userfiles/file/docs/Gas%20Lease%20Termination...

http://www.michfb.com/ecology/minerals

http://www.mbm-law.net/newsletter-articles/issues-to-consider-when-...

 

Permalink Reply by paleface on August 13, 2011 at 6:10am

  Doug good web sights you put there that will help alot of people understand that part of leasing better. THANKS AGAIN

Permalink Reply by E. Preston Rice on August 24, 2011 at 2:46am

They  had a rig up there last week, but in a day it was gone also. Now everything is stripped off the site except for a few structures. does that mean they are done drilling and getting ready to frack? We still haven't found out about the status of our acreage. Seems there have been some vacation time with key individuals.

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