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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

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
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

New Resources and Advice

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
I own a share of a mineral tract and I have been included in (or threatened with) a partition suit. What should I do? A West Virginia Supreme Court case stops mineral partition suits. Use it!
Partition Suit Advice WVSORO Apr 2 2020
If you are sued for partition of your interest in a mineral tract, or if you are just threatened with such a lawsuit to try to get you to sign a lease or to sign a lease with terms that you do not want, do not be alarmed.  You should know that the West Virginia Supreme Court has made a decision which we believe says that minerals are not subject to partition. More
Issues: Partition suits
The Provisions Needed by Surface Owners In Surface Use Agreements
Advice Kayla Young Aug 26 2019
This page on our website has been updated to include the effect of a recent West Virginia Supreme Court case that in essence says that surface owners’ agreement is needed for the placement of well sites for horizontal wells on their land. In particular the updated page links to advice to surface owners who might agree to use of their land for the right price and with the right protections. More
Have you been sued, or threatened to be sued, for partition of your minerals?
Advice, Leasing / Amendment Advice Kayla Young Dec 17 2019
Drillers have to get all of the co-owners (usually heirs of family property, and technically "cotenants") to sign a lease or a pooling amendment to a lease, before they can drill.  What if the driller cannot get all the co-owners to sign but the driller still wants to drill? More
Issues: Leasing, Minerals-Royalties, Oil and Gas

Special Reports and Commentary

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