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Links of Interest

Go to New Resources and Advice

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

Tour of gas wells & their problems in Kanawha State Forest

Award Winning Article Showing Looks and Sounds of Horizontal Drilling

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

The West Virginia Land Reunion Song

Current Issues and Events

Tell the Legislature: Pass the Orphaned Well Prevention Act!
Updates and Alerts WVSORO Mar 24 2025
Irresponsible oil and gas well drillers have 12,000 idle wells that should already be plugged. We need to stop more wells from being orphaned. We need the Orphaned Well Prevention Act! More
Issues: Oil and Gas, Orphaned wells
GOOD NEWS, KINDA, ON THE DIVERSIFIED LAW SUIT TO GET IT (AND EQT) TO PLUG MORE WELLS.
News WVSORO Jan 17 2025
Diversified has been buying up wells from EQT and others -- wells that we know, based on calculations from its public disclosures, Diversified will not end up having the money to eventually plug. Diversified is milking the last gas and oil out of the declining wells and selling it to pay to itself and stockholders (and sponsor WVU sports) instead of using or banking the money to plug more of its wells. The "kinda" good news is that the law suit has settled. The bad news is that it is not all we had hoped for. If you have a Diversified well that is on your property what does this settlement mean for you? You may get a notice or see one in the paper which will give you the option to opt out of the class. Should you do so? More
WVSORO joins comments to EPA against West Virginia being given primacy for regulation of carbon sequestration injection wells because, in part, West Virginia’s has failed so miserably to regulate abandoned wells (and abandoned mine lands).
News WVSORO Jan 14 2025
Some say enabling carbon sequestration of CO2 from power plants and other industries is bad because it just delays total renewable energy.  Some say it is necessary as a bridge.  WVSORO says, IF it is going to be done, and indeed if it CAN be done, it should be done right.  More
Issues: Injection wells
WVSORO comments on Hope Gas line abandonment and alternatives for field tap gas customers.
Tap Gas WVSORO Jan 7 2025
[Updated February 25] This issue is not to be confused with “free gas”.  Free gas is what some surface homeowners get when there is a gas well on their property.  Field taps (often called "farm taps") are where rural surface owners with gathering or transmission lines across them are allowed to tap into the pipeline, set a meter, and pay for natural gas service.  More
Issues: Oil and Gas
WV SORO 2024 Legislative Summary; ALERT: Landmen Buying Pore Space Rights
Updates and Alerts WVSORO Mar 19 2024
Below is a summary of WV SORO's actions on bills during the 2024 West Virginia Legislature's regular session, which ended March 9. During the session we also learned that there are land agents going door to door trying to get surface owners to sign away rights to the pore space in the rock formations under their land, and we need to educate surface owners about that. So this is intended to kill two birds with one stone. We will start with the alert since it is shorter. More
Issues: Leasing, Legislation, Pore space

New Resources and Advice

Surface Owners’ News – Winter 2024-2025
Newsletter WVSORO Mar 26 2025
In this issue: Video Tour of Gas Wells in Kanawha State Forest; The WV Legislature: Looking Back on 2024, Ahead to 2025; Plugging the Leaks: West Virginia's Orphaned Well Crisis; Watching Out for Field Tap Customers When Gas Pipelines Get Abandoned; Good News (Kind, Sort of) on a Key Diversified Lawsuit; EPA Approves WV for Carbon Sequestration Despite Risks; Support Our Work More
Issues: Abandoned wells, EPA, Legislation, Orphaned wells
Should You Take Ownership of a Well to Keep Free Gas? If So, How?
Free Gas Advice WVSORO Oct 12 2024
WVSORO does not recommend having ownership of an old gas well transferred to the surface owner in order to keep free gas for a home.  Owning a well means that when the well needs to be plugged, it is you who will be responsible if the State acts. More
Issues: Oil and Gas
Should surface owners sign pore space lease etc. papers? If so, how much money should you get?
Advice WVSORO Mar 7 2024
What should you do if someone knocks on your door and wants to lease the pore space in the formations under your surface land? More
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
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

Special Reports and Commentary

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