Advice for common situations / Updates to Guide

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
• Going on Land Where There is Drilling Activity

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

• ATTENTION: Read this first about the Industry/Governor's
  "Natural Gas Horizontal Well Control Act" affecting most Marcellus Shale drilling.
   
• 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!
   
• If the driller’s proposed well pad is in a FEMA 100-year “flood hazard” zone, you may be able to block it or make them move it!
   
• 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?

Going on Land Where There is Drilling Activity

• Legal opinion on the right of interested citizens to go on to the surface of land they do not own that is being used for oil or gas well drilling and related activities (Updated 5/8/2013)