Advice for common situations / Updates to Guide

ATTENTION: Read this first about the Industry/Governor's
"Natural Gas Horizontal Well Control Act" affecting most Marcellus Shale drilling.

• West Virginia Surface Owners Guide to Oil and Gas summary and updates
• Seismic and Geophysical
• Water
• Pipelines
• Leasing
• Gas Leaks
• Air
• Free Gas
• Buying Land
• Abandoned wells

West Virginia Surface Owners Guide to Oil and Gas summary and updates.

• Summary: I just got a notice of a driller’s application for a permit to drill a well on my land!  What should I do?
   
• You probably can to refuse (or maybe block) a horizontal well on your land.
   
• Top 10 Tips for Surface Owners Before/When the Oil and Gas Driller Shows Up
   
• Drill water wells as a strategy to protect your rights as a surface owner!
   
• Video Presentation on Surface Owners' Rights (approximately 30 minutes in 3 parts)
   
• Look for springs when commenting on well site locations!
   
• When commenting on a permit for a new nearby gas well, especially a horizontal well, maybe you should comment on existing gas wells in the area
  
  
• How much $ should I get for a well site?
  
  
• Information on roads for surface owners commenting on permits
  
  
• Are there other rules the driller has to follow regarding the gatherlines to my well, during permitting or afterwards?
  
  
• They are drilling or going to drill a well on my land.  I want to have it re-seeded with vegetation I want, not the fescue etc. that is in the State's soil erosion and sediment control manual.  What can I do?
  
  
• They are spraying water out of a drilling pit on to the land (or they propose to do so in a drilling permit I received).  Can they do that?
   
• Manual for Managing Oil and Gas Well Sites for Wildlife that a surface owner might ask driller to do.
   
• Native vegetation alternative study for logging roads.
   
• I want to find out whether a driller (“operator”) has any outstanding permit violations so that I can make that comment on the operator’s well drilling permit application.  How do I do that?
   
• There is a large, Olympic swimming pool sized, pond being built on/next to my land to drill a gas well.  Is there any danger from that?
   
• How Can I Get Ownership, Or a Chance at Ownership, Of the Minerals Under My Land?
   
• Information for lawyers
  

Seismic and Geophysical

• ION or some other company wants to do seismic testing on my land. What should I do?
   
• Dawson Geophysical or ION Technology wants permission to do seismic testing on my land! What should I do?
   
• The experience of one landowner in Upshur County who signed a permit.

Water

• Water Testing Before Drilling Starts: Why and How
   
  
• A driller is taking water from a stream to drill or "frac" an oil or gas well.  Can they do that?
   
• They are spraying water out of a drilling pit on to the land (or they propose to do so in a drilling permit I received).  Can they do that?
   
• I want to find out what is in the water they use to "frac" a wells when they put it down and when it flows back. Is there a way I can do that?
  
  
• One company doing frac jobs allows its frac water composition to be posted on OOG web site
  
  
• Different explanation of frac fluids (See page 10)
  
  
• Pennsylvania discloses frac fluids: article from Delaware Valley
  
  
• One company doing frac jobs allows its frac water composition to be posted on OOG web site 

Pipelines

• General Info on Gathering Pipelines
  
  
• Are there other rules the driller has to follow regarding the gatherlines to my well, during permitting or afterwards?
  
  
• There are gathering pipelines around me leaking gas.  What can I do?
   
• What Land/Surface Owners Should Know When a Landman Shows Up And Wants an Easement/Right of Way To Put a Pipeline Across Your Land
   
• An Interstate Natural Gas Facility on My Land? What Do I Need to Know?
   
• 250 Miles of Gas Pipelines Coming

Leasing/Amendments

• Top 6 Pieces of AdviceBefore Signing a Gas Lease
   
• Someone came and wants me to sign a lease to the oil and gas and other minerals under my land.  What should I do?
   
• A gas company wants me to sign an amendment to an old lease! I own the surface and the minerals. Should I sign it?
   
• I am considering signing a lease or doing other business with a driller or landman for a company.  Can I find out if that “operator” has a history of “violations” of state laws or rules?

Gas Leaks

• There are gathering pipelines around me leaking gas.  What can I do?
   
• What about Hydrogen Sulfide or "sour gas"?
   
• Breathing air near compressors, wells etc.

Air

• Breathing air near compressors, wells etc.

Free Gas

• Information about connecting
   
• Free Gas,and IRS Form 1099 and IRS Form W-9 

Buying Land

• WVSORO article on the need to change real estate transaction documents put in W.Va. lawyer magazine
   
• See Chapter 9 of the West Virginia Surface Owner's Guide to Oil and Gas
   
• How Can I Get Ownership, Or a Chance at Ownership, Of the Minerals Under My Land?

Abandoned wells

• Is there an exhausted, unplugged well on your surface or holding the lease on your mineral tract? What can you do about it?