New Resources and Advice

WVSORO’s Very Newest Gas Leasing (and Lease Amendment) Royalty Advice
Leasing / Amendment Advice WVSORO Aug 18 2025
New leasing dynamics plus the passage of the "cotenancy and "forced pooling" laws have made some of our leasing advice on this website a little stale. Please go here for the newest advice and for links to more updated advice on leasing and on pooling and unitization and cotenancy. More
Issues: Leasing, Oil and Gas

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

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

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

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