This article originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

Octoboer 18, 2010

W.Va. property owners sue over canceled gas leases

By The Associated Press

WHEELING, W.Va. -- More than 100 northern West Virginia property owners are accusing Range Resources Corp. in a federal lawsuit of cheating them on natural gas leases.

The lawsuit claims Fort Worth, Texas-based Range reneged on leases offering $3,500 per acre and a 17 percent royalty on production, The Intelligencer reported Monday. Range canceled the agreements after oil and gas prices began falling in 2008, according to the lawsuit.

Representatives of Range gave landowners the impression they'd be receiving six-figure checks before the company even drilled, said lawyer Edgar Heiskell, who filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Wheeling.

The plaintiffs are property owners from Monongalia, Preston, Marion and Harrison counties. All the leases involve the Marcellus Shale, a vast rock formation holding trillions of cubic feet of natural gas beneath much of Pennsylvania, New York and parts of Ohio and West Virginia.

"These plaintiffs believe they have been the victims of consumer fraud," Heiskell said. "We are seeking the amount that was originally offered to them."

Range spokesman Matt Pitzarella said the company did nothing wrong. While landowners signed deals with company representatives, Pitzarella says the contracts required management approval and that never happened.

"All of our leases, upon signature, require management approval," he said.

The lawsuit contends the landowners were told language to that effect was a "mere formality" by Range representatives known in the gas industry as "landmen." The lawsuit further claims property owners turned down offers of $1,000 per acre and a 15 percent royalty from other producers because they thought they had a deal with Range.

Pitzarella denied that claim as well. Landowners were free to sign leases with other gas companies until their deals were final, he said.