Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Shmiller on April 13, 2010 at 8:17am

Thanks. Where the heck is Chesapeake? That's who we signed with. I'm hoping we didn't make a mistake...

Permalink Reply by Lease Expert on May 12, 2010 at 4:30am

If you are leased with Chesapeake and surrounded by Range, I would say you made a mistake unless Chesapeake trades with Range and Range puts you in the unit being drilled. People its not all about the "bonus" money, make sure when you sign a lease the company has plans to add you to a unit or drill on your property, not just add your land to their huge coffers..

Most Landowners base their WHOLE decision on who to lease with on bonus amounts, heck half the threads on this website discuss bonus amounts..

Ok I will offer 5k per acre and 18 % royalty to every land owner, all you have to do is sign my lease that can extend for ever (in the fine print) and that 18% is off the net by the way.

Permalink Reply by Shmiller on May 12, 2010 at 4:45am

Will the person who sent me the link to the map with photos please send it again? I can't find it anywhere. Thanks.

Permalink Reply by Shmiller on June 1, 2010 at 1:07am

Thanks Jim. No one has been able to sufficiently answer this question for me. I'm under the impression that Chesapeake is raking us over the coals here since they're not even close to drilling near us and we're surrounded on three sides by Range wells. I should have followed my gut with those Dale Property Services guys. What a mess.

Permalink Reply by Lease Expert on June 1, 2010 at 2:11am

Its not Dale's fault.. They offered you $$$ for your lease and you took it, They will honestly show you a map with all their land holdings and whats around you if you will ask. A simple question as to what they are drilling in the area will get you an honest answer.. nothing...

Look at the Chesapeake lease page 2

LEASE DEVELOPMENT. There is no implied covenant to drill, prevent drainage, further develop or market production within the primary term or any extension of term of this Lease. There shall be no Leasehold forfeiture, termination, expiration or cancellation for failure to comply with said implied covenants. Provisions herein, including, but not limited to the prescribed payments, constitute full compensation for the privileges herein granted.


Is this Lease Development clause in the lease you signed?? If so why did you sign it??

Please accept my apology if I come across as harsh or not caring. Its just people continue to sign leases without reading them closely and asking questions of your Landman. And the big joke comes when the landowner spends good money on an attorney who still doesn't read the lease closely and feels they are doing their client a service by cutting and pasting a bunch of addendum's into the lease that they have collected along the way. Ive got some funny leases back from attorneys ...... Shame really...

Permalink Reply by Shmiller on June 1, 2010 at 2:50am

You are harsh and that's the second time you've implied that I'm not intelligent enough to read my lease or ask questions of my Landman. I've done both, thank you very much, and still don't have adequate answers. We spent hours in Dale's office--on two different occasions--looking at maps and talking about where they were and what progress they were making coming towards us. We did our research, asked lots of questions, and thought we made the right decision.

And as soon as we signed, our Landman disappeared. No more answers. He returns phone calls tersely and only to our answering machine--conveniently when we're at work--and is never "in" the office when we stop in to get the answers we can't seem to get over the phone. Not sure what else you think we ought to have done or what you think we should do now. And not sure how such lousy customer service is anything but Dale's fault. It's certainly not mine.

I'm glad you're an "expert" but most people who are being faced with these big companies and their big talk aren't. We're doing the best we can to educate ourselves the only ways we know how. The information to be found to be a savy landowner is contradictory and biased at best. As you said, even our attorneys are ill-equipped to handle what's going on around here. Not everyone who signs a gas lease is a greedy, ignorant, country bumpkin with dollar signs in their eyes, and I, for one, would appreciate if you didn't treat us like we are.

Permalink Reply by Lease Expert on June 1, 2010 at 3:15am

Listen, my reply wasn't meant to be a personal attack. And I apologize if it came off as that. You see, you signed a lease which is in fact a business "partnership" with Chesapeake. The Lease development clause as I stated above states what is expected of them which is actually nothing. If gas drilling was your interest I don't understand why you left that (if in fact you did) in the lease. Simple...

I may paint with a broad brush but here is why, my company handled the leases of 7,000 acres last year, Ive dealt with 54 land owners in the month of may and have over 200 to deal with in June. We will handle the transaction of 12,500 acres this summer so I have a pretty good handle on what local people are after. I spend many hours a day looking over leases for free to help people out. Probably 80% of them still sign with the same terms when the companies offer more bonus .. I am glad your not greedy, but I am in the business and spend every day, 12 + hours talking with Land Owners.. I know what they want :-) and its $$$$

Maybe 10% of the landowners I deal with really care about the lease. In 10 years from now they all will...

And for the record, I DO NOT work for an energy company.. however have worked with all of them when representing the land owner...

One more thing.. If you want the manager of Washington county Dale office number I can get it to you. If that doesn't work I have the Manager of all of Dale's Pennsylvania offices number as well.

Permalink Reply by Stephen Fox on June 3, 2010 at 12:56am

What are your thoughts on the oil spill in LA affecting drilling in Green county going forward? Positives and Negatives.

Permalink Reply by Shmiller on June 3, 2010 at 1:10am

Considering this, and considering the President's "no more fossil fuels" speech at Carnegie Mellon yesterday, and considering the moratorium some members of the PA congress are trying to push, I'm guessing drilling everywhere is going to be under greater scrutiny than ever. Which is good, I think. I just wish there was better communication all around.

Permalink Reply by Shmiller on August 19, 2010 at 9:28am

Crooks, in my opinion. I had a bad feeling after our first meeting, but from what I could tell back then, we didn't have much choice. Hindsight. Wish I knew what the hell they were doing. By the time chesepeake gets here, range will have already taken all the gas. their wells are poppong up like weeds as far as the eye can see from my back porch.

Permalink Reply by Lease Expert on August 20, 2010 at 2:28am

Here is what happened, Dale has been moved out of the area. They are now leasing in Ohio. I find it a disgrace they pack up and leave without filling in the public and who they leased. Its kind of funny in a way their billboards say "with you from the beginning" it should say "with you in the beginning" .

Chesapeake leased land up here with the intent of holding and farming it out. Its obvious with their "shotgun" leasing technique. As I stated above and got chewed out, the lease most people signed with Dale implies there will be no drilling so chances are their wont, unless you are a large tract of land or have a drilling commitment in the lease.

I own two parcels of land leased with Dale and Chesapeake in Texas (leased in 2005) even in the Barnett I am not drilled on yet.

One problem with being a Landman is things change all the time, areas are shut down over night and the landman are asked to leave. It would be close to impossible to contact everyone and explain as they are in contact with thousands of people each, But it sure hurts the landmans reputation to "disappear"

Permalink Reply by Shmiller on August 20, 2010 at 3:17am

They sure didn't have trouble contacting us all when they wanted us to sign. Really lousy and unethical business practices all around. I'm beginning to think the environmentalists are right. Likely everything they told us was a lie and now our water supplies really are in jeopardy.

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