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Why Multiple Horizontal Wells from centralized well pads should be used for the Marcellus Shale
AdviceBlogLeasing / Amendment Advice WVSORO July 8, 2019
The Marcellus Shale is the newest “play” in gas drilling in West Virginia and other states in the East. It is different from other plays in that it produces much more gas, and is under much more area (as explained below) than previous plays. More
Issues: Horizontal wellsLeasingMarcellus shale
You now CAN block a horizontal well pad from being placed on your land
WV Surface Owners' Guide Update WVSORO June 5, 2019
If you own the surface and the minerals, and in particular any of the coal, then owning the coal will work for you to block them from using your land for a well pad that will contains several horizontal wells. More
Issues: FloodplainsHorizontal wells
What are oil and gas wells’ “API” numbers? How to find them and use them to get info on wells.
Advice WVSORO October 2, 2018
To find information about a particular oil or gas well (or to talk to agencies or others about it) it is best if you have the well’s API number. The API number (short for American Petroleum Institute number). It is like a well’s social security number. More
Issues: Oil and Gas
Map of some pipelines
Pipeline Advice WVSORO September 25, 2018
The U.S. Department of Transportation which regulates pipeline safety has a web site with a map of where many interstate and some other pipelines are located. It does not include gathering lines owned by well drillers, or residential/commercial service distribution lines. More
Issues: Pipelines
Don’t Sell Your Surface Land in Horizontal/Shale Drilling Country!
Aquiring Mineral Rights Under Your LandSelling Land / Surface Owners Advice WVSORO August 2, 2018
Under the new 2018 Cotenancy statute, and even under an older statute that oil and gas well drillers sometimes use, surface owners could end up owning an interest in the oil and gas minerals under their surface tract! More
Issues: Minerals-Royalties
A well pad is going to be put near my house, and the driller is willing to buy me out. How much should I get?
Pads and Other Disturbance Advice WVSORO August 1, 2018
This page assumes you are the owner of the surface tract NEXT DOOR to the surface tract where the well pad is being placed. This page only applies to you if you are NOT the owner of the surface tract where the well pad is located (or significant disturbance actually occurs). More
Issues: Well pads
A driller is putting a well pad near my house/land. What can I do about it?
Pads and Other Disturbance Advice WVSORO August 1, 2018
When the driller files for a permit from the State Department of Environmental Protection, you can comment on certain aspects of it. Watch the paper for notices. Or call the DEP and ask if a permit application has been received yet. More
Issues: NoiseWell pads
The 2018 Cotenancy Law (HB 4268) Does Good Things for Surface Owners
AdviceWV Surface Owners' Guide Update WVSORO June 6, 2018
The 2018 cotenancy statute has significant benefits for surface owner. Most importantly, if the driller is using the 2018 cotenancy statute to drill a well, then the well pad and roads, etc. needed to drill that well cannot be placed on a surface owner’s land without the surface owner's consent! If you are a surface owner read this post to learn more about how the new cotenancy law affects you. More
Issues: Fence-line monitoringHorizontal wellsLand re-unionLand useOrphaned wellsPipelines
What the 2018 Cotenancy Law (HB 4268) Means for WV Mineral Owners/Leasing
Leasing / Amendment Advice WVSORO June 6, 2018
This web page explains the expected change in leasing dynamics that will occur after the 2018 cotenancy statute takes effect and the provisions  of the statute. More
Issues: Horizontal wellsLeasingMinerals-RoyaltiesPooling
Partition Decision by Circuit Court Judge Favors Mineral Owner
Partition Suit Advice WVSORO January 23, 2017
A new decision in E[Q]T Bluegrass vs. Blaney, Johnson and others has been issued by a Ritchie (and Doddridge and Pleasants) County Circuit Court Judge Sweeney. It favors a mineral owner over a driller. More
Issues: Partition suitsPooling
Eminent Domain Update
Pipeline Advice WVSORO December 16, 2016
In November 2016, The West Virginia Supreme Court has upheld the Monroe County Circuit Court judge saying Mountain Valley transmission pipeline conveying gas only out of State is not for a "public purpose" to West Virginians and so cannot use eminent domain (and cannot force access for surveying) More
Issues: Eminent domainPipelines
Drillers can NOT pool a mineral owner’s lease without authorization!
Leasing / Amendment Advice WVSORO November 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 wellsLeasingPooling
Eleven reasons why a judge was wrong to imply a lease covenant to pool
Leasing / Amendment Advice WVSORO November 8, 2016
Here Are the Eleven Reasons That The Tyler County Circuit Court Judge's Ruling Is Wrong, And Why No Other Circuit Court Judge nor the Supreme Court Should Agree With the Ruling. More
Issues: Horizontal wellsLeasingPooling
Enacting local city or county ordinances
Enacting Local City or County Ordinances - Advice WVSORO August 14, 2016
Enactment of city or county ordinances or land use regulations is very tricky legally in order to make them stick. And each situation is different. More
Issues: Land use
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
Pipeline Advice WVSORO May 31, 2016
By 2013 we found out that Marcellus Shale pipelines are worth way MORE than that. If you are only being offered $1 per inch per foot, you are getting underpaid. More
Issues: Pipelines
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?
WV Surface Owners' Guide Update WVSORO April 28, 2016
If you want re-vegetation with seeds other than that at page 32 of the State's Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Field Manual, then work on your driller before,during or after the comment period to use seed mixtures you get from your local soil conservation district More
Issues: Land useLegislationOil and Gas
If you own the coal you might be able to block or at least move a well site
WV Surface Owners' Guide Update WVSORO March 15, 2016
This strategy will probably be used mostly by people who own the surface and the minerals, but whose land is subject to an old (or new) oil and gas lease signed by the current surface owners or their predecessors, and that lease allows the drilling of gas wells on the property. More
Issues: LeasingOil and Gas
Someone contacted me and wants to buy my interest in mineral/oil or gas property. Should I sell?
Selling Land / Mineral Rights Advice WVSORO November 27, 2015
As a general rule it is not a good idea in the long run to sell interests in oil and gas or other mineral properties. Many people who do not have much interest in or knowledge of oil and gas drilling and leasing sometimes end up owning an interest in a tract of oil and gas -- often through inheritance. More
Issues: Oil and Gas
Top 6 Pieces of Advice Before Signing a Gas Lease
Leasing / Amendment Advice don_alejandro August 11, 2015
Do not be be rushed to sign a lease in a few days. Your grandchildren – no, your great-grandchildren, can be bound by what you sign. More
Issues: LeasingOil and Gas
About “Coal Bed Methane”
Coal Bed Methane Advice WVSORO July 25, 2015
Coal Bed Methane is a methane gas that is “adsorbed” into coal by the pressure of water in coal seams deeper than 100 feet or so. More
Issues: Coal bed methaneOil and Gas
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