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Links of Interest

Scientists say lots of oil and gas wells are leaking a lot of methane in W.Va.

Award Winning Article Showing Looks and Sounds of Horizontal Drilling

CBSnews/ProPublica documentary on the winning surface use case, EQT vs. Crowder.

Go to New Resources and Advice

The West Virginia Land Reunion Song

Current Issues and Events

WVSORO comments to Bureau of Land Management on new federal lands oil and gas leasing bonding rule that will guarantee future orphaned wells.
Blog WVSORO Oct 31 2023
WVSORO can find no examples of where bonding paid the full cost of plugging when a well owner goes out of business.  Instead the driller should stat setting aside money when the well first goes not line (when there is money).  And blanket/statewide bonding is sure to fail. More
A judge rules surface owners with unplugged, inactive wells on them can sue the driller to make them plug the well or sue for money to plug the well
Leasing / Amendment Advice WVSORO Apr 22 2023
Diversified and EQT say that surface owners can't sue about unplugged wells because the drillers have entered into well plugging consent orders with the DEP. Because the consent order of Diversified would only require the plugging of wells in 400 years and for other reasons the judge ruled that surface owners can sue. More
Issues: Oil and Gas
WVSORO comments on newest proposed EPA methane rule.
Blog WVSORO Feb 20 2023
EPA's proposed rule only requires inspections of well sites by "AVO" -- audio, visual, and olfactory means.  We are not making this up!  Methane has no smell, and can't be seen, and only big leaks make sounds!   Handheld methane detectors start at $31 to $100 dollars and should be used! More
Issues: EPA, Methane, Oil and Gas
WVSORO Points Out that Much More Funding Is Needed for Many More Inspectors
Blog WVSORO Feb 7 2023
See the latest under Newslinks for where we are February 4, 2023.  Right now the Legislation will only give us half the inspectors per wells that Pennsylvania and Ohio have. Contact your legislators and ask for more -- at least 45 -- at this web site. More
Issues: DEP, Oil and Gas
WVSORO comments to EPA about how Inflation Reduction Act money should be used.
Abandoned Well Advice WVSORO Jan 17 2023
Here is an op-ed written by WVSORO co-founder that appeared in the Charleston Gazette-Mail.  The op-ed mimics comments that were made to EPA about how the money should be used to find and reduce methane leaks on surface owners' land and not subsidize drillers who have wells they should already be plugging. More
Issues: Abandoned wells, Orphaned wells

New Resources and Advice

Surface Owners’ News – 2023 Annual Print Edition
Newsletter Julie Archer Nov 30 2023
In this issue: Surface Owners Can Sue Drillers to Plug Non-Producing Wells; Advocacy on Federal Regulations including the Third Payout of Federal Methane Reduction Funds, EPA's Methane Rule, and Federal Leasing; 2023 Legislative Update; Kanawha State Forest Gas Well Tour with WV Legislators and Staff; Farmland Preservation Now An Option for Surface-Only Owners; Citizen Air Monitoring Project; 2024 Legislative Priorities More
Issues: Abandoned wells, DEP, EPA, Horizontal wells, Land use, Orphaned wells
Have  you been threatened with forced pooling/unitization?  Have your received papers giving you notice of a forced pooling/unitization hearing? 
Leasing / Amendment Advice WVSORO Jun 7 2022
This is WVSORO's advice to mineral owners (and assurance to surface owners) after passage of forced pooling/unitization legislation effective June, 2022. More
Issues: Pooling
Surface Owners’ News – 2022 Annual Print Edition
Newsletter Julie Archer Nov 19 2022
In this issue: Some Orphaned Wells Are Starting to Get Plugged, But We Need Orphened Well Prevention Legislation; Plugging On You; Why the EPA Should Use Inflation Reduction Act Money to Find Fugitive Methane; 2022 Forced Pooling/Unitization Bill Protects Surface Owners; What to Do If You're Threatened with Forced Pooling/Unitization/Co-Tenancy; 2023 Legislative Priorities More
Issues: Abandoned wells, EPA, Orphaned wells, Pooling
Why an old well is plugged, not “capped”; and how a well is supposed to be plugged; and why a lot of oversight of well pluggers is needed.
Resource Gallery WVSORO May 4 2022
WVSORO has created a new slide show on its website that shows how well plugging should be done, to show how plugging it is not “capping” a well, and to explain why plugging companies need lots of oversight to prevent well pluggers from yielding to the financial temptation to do an easily hidden bad job. More
Drillers can NOT pool a mineral owner’s lease without authorization!
Leasing / Amendment Advice WVSORO Nov 8 2016
UPDATE: WE WERE RIGHT! There is no "implied right to pool" in a lease.
If a driller tries to talk you into a lease amendment (some of our members also owns minerals) by saying this, you really need to educate yourself on this web page. More
Issues: Horizontal wells, Leasing, Pooling
WVSORO Sample Answer to a Partition Suit
Partition Suit Advice Kayla Young Aug 19 2020
Our co-founder lawyer has drafted a sample that can be used to fight a partition suit filed in Circuit Court that attempts to take a mineral owner's interest in their land from them. More
Issues: Partition suits

Special Reports and Commentary

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