U.S. Fracking's Larger Implications

[The Irish Ram]

Energy boom a windfall for U.S. family income: IHS | Reuters

Robust energy production will increase wages, cut energy and manufacturing costs, and add as much as $2,000 a year to each family's income by 2015, IHS said.

Last year, an average U.S. household earned $1,200 more because of the energy boom as oil and gas companies produced nearly 2 million barrels-per-day of oil, the report said.

The rush has added 2.1 million jobs to the U.S. economy in 2012, both directly and indirectly, and that number is expected to balloon to 3.3 million by 2020, a boon for an economy struggling with stubbornly high unemployment.

"This is a great story for jobs, for the tax base and now for the average household," said John Larson, a vice president of the firm that co-authored the report.

And now for the flip side of that "great" story:

The Gas companies are ruthless, lying, thieving, cutthroats. We have the wreck of the day, the detour of the day, the death of the day, the spill of the day.
The reason for that is using workers from out of state instead of using the local workers they promised to hire. Texans aren't used to hills and turns in Ohio, W.V., and Pa.

Chesapeake Gas and Oil made a deal to buy some of a city's water for fracking, and now the townspeople turn their faucets on and not one drop comes out. The gas company's response was a not so surprising, "tough shit." City officials are now scrambling to try to get some of their water back. They have been unsuccessful.

To keep from paying the people whose property they are destroying, the royalty checks they owe as per the contracts they signed, simply don't get sent for the gas and oil they are stealing!
Instead the homeowners get a bill for removing or "gathering" the gas, or for "misc" charges unnamed, and if any royalty is left after that, the gas company sells the gas for pennies to a subsidiary that they own, pay the landowner from that sale and then keep the profits for themselves when the subsidiary sells to market for the actual value of the gas. The bilking has run into the billions so far. And the only landowner that is getting anywhere in court is the government.

There is no windfall for the families that actually own the gas. It is stolen from us and then sold to you at an inflated price. It is a real nightmare.

 

[Mr. H.]

That's a lot of bad sounding stuff. You must have gotten it from somewhere, I assume.

 

[The Irish Ram]

Lawsuits are flooding the courts. And the lawyers are thrilled. We pay them to rewrite the gas contracts, then we pay them to sue when the contracts are breached. It's is a real mess H.
And it doesn't have to be. Statoil of Norway reviews each contract they sign to keep from harming the landowners, and deducts nothing from the royalty checks. Their partner Chesapeake, is as dishonest as Statoil is honest. And Chesapeake is running the show in this tri state area.

I am all for this country and energy independence, but these weasels are just helping themselves to whatever they want, and daring the landowners to spend tens of thousands of dollars in court to try to stop them. It is an everyday ongoing story here on the news and in the papers.

I just picked up the farm and dairy paper from the feed store and there is page after page describing the "unfair share" Chesapeake is helping themselves to, and the inability to stop them in court. It is in the billions of dollars already that they have bilked us out of. And they're just getting started here!
farmanddairy.com. is one paper's web site. I've never gone to the website, but you should be able to read about a lot of the problems there. It's sad.

 

[RGR]

And now for the flip side of that "great" story:

The Gas companies are ruthless, lying, thieving, cutthroats. We have the wreck of the day, the detour of the day, the death of the day, the spill of the day.
The reason for that is using workers from out of state instead of using the local workers they promised to hire. Texans aren't used to hills and turns in Ohio, W.V., and Pa.

I know of a company who hires 6 locals about every week. Why? Because that is the amount of time locals, looking for work, are CAPABLE of working. Turns out, working 12 on, 12 off is really really HARD to those raised by their mommys and daddys to wimp out at the first opportunity. I've seen some of these guys not last a single tower.

You want locals to be hired? Try raising some capable of working without becoming blubbering whiners who quit. God knows that 36" pipe wrench is heavy, OMG!! You mean I actually have to USE it!! WWWHHHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Texans are familiar with oil field work, and when they show up for work it sure isn't because A) they can't drive the meager "hills" of Ohio, WV and PA or B) are whining babies about what work in the oil field means.

To keep from paying the people whose property they are destroying, the royalty checks they owe as per the contracts they signed, simply don't get sent for the gas and oil they are stealing!
Instead the homeowners get a bill for removing or "gathering" the gas, or for "misc" charges unnamed, and if any royalty is left after that, the gas company sells the gas for pennies to a subsidiary that they own, pay the landowner from that sale and then keep the profits for themselves when the subsidiary sells to market for the actual value of the gas.

Don't like the terms of the lease? DON'T SIGN IT. This isn't hard Irish, it starts with READING, and understanding what the companies themselves are charged for transporting their gas to market. Don't want to participate in the energy extraction biz? Good for you...DON'T SIGN THE LEASE!!!

While I understand that your argument basically consists of "Gee the locals are really stupid, them not understand leases and all" I have news....it isn't Chesapeake's fault that the local union dominated school systems in states like Pennsylvania raise mineral rights owners without the ability to think and understand.

Don't like eating your portion of transportation costs, JUST LIKE THE GAS COMPANIES PAY, fine. Ask for an override instead of a traditional royalty check. But you can't fix STUPID, and it isn't Chesapeake's job to correct what public education has done to the citizens of places like Pennsylvania. Not that WV is any better. Ohio...maybe not all them are ignorant, hard to say. Certainly I've met more than a few who qualify, but I've only worked the oil field in that state, so them being only slightly below average might be a personal bias.

There is no windfall for the families that actually own the gas. It is stolen from us and then sold to you at an inflated price. It is a real nightmare.

No...it is the consequences of ignorance in a complex business which the "poor" landowners don't understand...they see that check for $5000/acre and lose control of their bowels, and senses. I recommend that critical thinking and analysis be taught in the public schools so that these folks don't let raw greed overwhelm them, and then ***** like schoolgirls when they discover that their date for prom really wasn't interested in their charming personality.

Sorry Ram, but it isn't the oil and gas companies job to cure stupid on the part of the mineral rights owners, and all the other problems associated with proximity to Appalachia.

 

[The Irish Ram]

Your out of line, ignorant, and wrong. Stupid has nothing to do with it.
We have qualified, ready to work, trained personnel, that have and do prefer hard work to losing their homes. This is blue collar territory. Pipe fitters, welders, mechanics, electricians, engineers, drillers, diggers, what ever you need. Hard work isn't a problem for this area and never has been. You get up at 3am to feed the livestock, and bring in a field of hay before you go to work building a house, and then come home and put up the livestock, feed them, bail more hay........... I don't even know you, but I know my husband. As far as hard work is concerned, you'd never keep up.

If your boys know how to drive, why is there a wreck du jour? Drinkers?
A wonderful family man and community leader was was our latest casualty, run down after pulling off the road with engine trouble. The big rigger was tired or "something", and strayed onto the side of road and crushed the man to death under the wheels. Kudo's to your drivers, cus weuns just ain't learned how to not kill people when we drive yet.

We have no problems with the terms of the leases, and gosh dern it, sum uf us kin axly read. But just to make sure, we have lawyers that have been dealing with these leases for a long while now and know what pitfalls to look for, double check, just in case we morons missed something.

This isn't the first time we landowners have leased our land to gas companies, the copper industry, the coal industry..... We get leases alright. Leases aren't the problem. Liars are. Greedy thieves are.

Chesapeake dumping waste in secluded areas of our farms, because it is more convenient, is a breach of the leases you think we can't comprehend. Paying for some water, as per contract, and then taking it all because they need it all, isn't a reading comprehension problem. It is a bathing problem.

Gee you'd think we'd understand that if you don't want to be involved with the gas company nightmare, we WOULDN'T SIGN THE LEASE as you point out.
You don't have to sign to be screwed! Here's what you forgot to point out, that in those "hold out" cases, they sit at your boundary line and suck your gas and oil right out from underneath you anyway. Do you need actual court cases of these little Chesapeake quirks? I be purdy shure I can perduce em for ya. The courts er filled wth em.

How about those of us who depend on our own water sources on our own property, for our livestock.
Contract or not I'll be forced to walk away from my home and my property if and probably when they foul the creek or my water wells. We may be rel dum right cheer in these har parts, but no one is stupid enough to buy property surrounded by poison water. And no one here is evil enough to sell it that way. What do you suggest big shot? A remedial reading course for my livestock? Then can they drink their water?

We see the, "we'll protect your wells, clean water is our goal, we will be responsible for........"in those contracts, but damn if I could find the, "tough shit, your on your own" clause anywhere on the pages. That quirky little addition comes after the water is unusable.

What do you think a contract that specifies that any and all lumber that is cut or removed from a property by the grantee without the expressed written consent of the grantor, that the grantee shall reimburse the grantor at fair market value interprets as?
Do you really think that means, "Tough shit, we'll cut whatever we want and pile your English Walnut trees up on the side of your drive way?"

Same thing with the fence provisions we made sure to include in the agreement. Splain this for me, me being so slow and all:
'Grantee will repair all gates and fences they remove or damage. All fences and gates replaced must be of equal or greater quality'. I never thought that meant, "tough shit about your cow that someone just plowed into and is now suing you, cause we're dozing every fence we consider an obstacle down, and leaving them down".

So now, you arrogant know it all, riddle me this, how is it that we can read Statoil contracts with clarity and don't encounter these Chesapeake pitfalls in the areas Statoil is leasing?
How cum us dumb asses get the royalty checks agreed upon with the Norwegian company? They gather also but consider the process part of their cost of doing business, not the landowners. As well they should.
No where in Chesapeake contracts do they shift that responsibility onto the landowner. Cus ifen they did we mental midgets wouldn't sign up.

It's a little trick they pull down the road, even though we idjots have the foresight to make provisions in the contracts we do sign that the grantee expenses are not to be transferred to the grantor.
It's that invisible "tough shit" clause that has the courts tied up and the lawyers giddy.

And if you think "Appalachia" mentality is the problem, (you asshole) then explain the same lawsuits in every state Chesapeake is involved? Our illiterate stupid government has recouped over 4 billion they were entitled to but defrauded out of. And they only reason is because the Dept. of the Interior can audit them and get the proof they need in court.

 

[RGR]

Your out of line, ignorant, and wrong. Stupid has nothing to do with it.

Out of line, maybe, depending on how dainty you were raised. But I am paid to keep tabs on various aspects of the oil and gas industry, and while I am certainly on occasion wrong, those of us who have done this for a living get fired for being wrong on this area, and I've never been fired from a job yet. As far as how oil and gas leases work, or on how the locals can't be counted on to do the same, I have experience on the ground in both the Marcellus and Utica plays.

We have qualified, ready to work, trained personnel, that have and do prefer hard work to losing their homes.

Maybe. I know of 6 hired just last month, some of whom didn't last the shift. Young, strapping men, asked to do no more in the oil field than I did as a young college student.

This is blue collar territory. Pipe fitters, welders, mechanics, electricians, engineers, drillers, diggers, what ever you need. Hard work isn't a problem for this area and never has been.

Then those should show up at new job positions rather than the most recent 6 I mentioned. And the oil field isn't union coal mining, or mechanicing, or welding. It is OIL FIELD. The rig doesn't stop because some union worker needs to take a piss, there aren't union pipe fitters who can't be bothered to also do something else to get the job done, when you work the rigs, you do what it takes to get the job done. Union mentalities in the states in question have never appeared to understand this.

Texans do.

You get up at 3am to feed the livestock, and bring in a field of hay before you go to work building a house, and then come home and put up the livestock, feed them, bail more hay........... I don't even know you, but I know my husband. As far as hard work is concerned, you'd never keep up.

The livestock don't blow up and kill you and your friends. They don't produce enough poison gas to kill everyone on the rig in 10 seconds or less if you can't get to the scube gear. They don't usually fall on your head from distance of 30 yards and weigh 10 tons when they do. If you drop one on your foot, it doesn't crush every bone in it.

Livestock....please....give me a break...this is OIL FIELD.

We have no problems with the terms of the leases, and gosh dern it, sum uf us kin axly read. But just to make sure, we have lawyers that have been dealing with these leases for a long while now and know what pitfalls to look for, double check, just in case we morons missed something.

THEN STOP WHINING WHEN THE TERMS OF THE LEASE ARE MET!!!

This isn't the first time we landowners have leased our land to gas companies, the copper industry, the coal industry..... We get leases alright. Leases aren't the problem. Liars are. Greedy thieves are.

That is exactly what I've seen people claim for 30 years....and the ones doing it...are the ones who didn't read the lease!!

You don't have to sign to be screwed! Here's what you forgot to point out, that in those "hold out" cases, they sit at your boundary line and suck your gas and oil right out from underneath you anyway. Do you need actual court cases of these little Chesapeake quirks? I be purdy shure I can perduce em for ya. The courts er filled wth em.

It is called Right of Capture. Don't like the laws in your county/state/country? Vote for other ones! This isn't HARD Irish. If you don't like the rules you live under in the US, or Pennsylvania or Ohio or New York, MOVE!

Contract or not I'll be forced to walk away from my home and my property if and probably when they foul the creek or my water wells. We may be rel dum right cheer in these har parts, but no one is stupid enough to buy property surrounded by poison water. And no one here is evil enough to sell it that way. What do you suggest big shot? A remedial reading course for my livestock? Then can they drink their water?

Fortunately for you, fracking fouls neither water wells nor fresh water aquifers without causing a condition known and understood by state regulators, and which companies are required to fix. So you are safe on this one.

What do you think a contract that specifies that any and all lumber that is cut or removed from a property by the grantee without the expressed written consent of the grantor, that the grantee shall reimburse the grantor at fair market value interprets as?
Do you really think that means, "Tough shit, we'll cut whatever we want and pile your English Walnut trees up on the side of your drive way?"

Depends on the other clauses in the lease now doesn't it? Do they reserve the right to lay pipe, gathering systems, and anything else they might need during the course of mineral extraction? Want to bet they do, and how I know this without even seeing your lease? Because they ALL have it, the company isn't about to hamstrung in their operations by the locals who know nothing to begin with, can't work hard enough to even join in on the jobs side, and aren't educated well enough to understand the right of capture nor what "fair market value" might be for trees! They are trees!

Fortunately for you, you can hire one of those stupid attorneys to sue for termination of the lease under the particular provision you have a beef about, under the laws of the land you live in, and then be happy once the local judge figures out what part of the lease you and lawyer didn't understand in the first place, and signed willingly in advance of all this happening.

So now, you arrogant know it all, riddle me this, how is it that we can read Statoil contracts with clarity and don't encounter these Chesapeake pitfalls in the areas Statoil is leasing?

Statoil contracts aren't any different than Chesapeake contracts. And if you didn't want to lease to one, versus the other, you can also put that in the lease you apparently signed...what...those smart lawyers didn't mention this particular modification to you? Imagine that...and then you want to blame the companies versus the ignorance of you, the local workers who can't hold their own for a week of solid work, and your really really really smart lawyers?

It's that invisible "tough shit" clause that has the courts tied up and the lawyers giddy.

Perhaps now you see the problem. You expected those lawyers to 'splain all this to you honestly, taking your money, and then taking Chesapeakes to defend their rights under the same lease? That really is evidence of how dumbass the locals are, pretending to trust the lawyers not to switch sides later in the game.

And if you think "Appalachia" mentality is the problem, (you asshole) then explain the same lawsuits in every state Chesapeake is involved?

I was raised in Appalachia, I know damn well what the mentality is. As far as "same" lawsuits, I seriously doubt Chesapeake has near the hard on for Walnut tree's that you make out.

Our illiterate stupid government has recouped over 4 billion they were entitled to but defrauded out of. And they only reason is because the Dept. of the Interior can audit them and get the proof they need in court.

Please...I've worked for and with the Department of Interior as well, and they do their homework up front, and don't have their trees getting torn up because they specify the rules in advance, they think it through, and more importantly, most of their land isn't in Appalachia. You want to be treated like the DOI, then do your homework like the DOI, and do what the DOI does when the leases are broken, you take everyone to court and get it settled.

So stop whining and get your case in front of a judge and demand what you think the lease guarantees you. I hope you win, certainly I've been involved in lawsuits on the oil company side that were lost. Assert yourself and go get that money for your walnut trees!

 

[The Irish Ram]

We do our homework and it exposes people just like you, that pretend the evils of big gas and oil companies don't exist.
The work our Gov. does is by way of after the fact audits, and has nothing to do with homework, and everything to do with fraud. Auditing gives the Gov. access to the machinations behind the curtain, that we have to sue to discover.
Specifying the rules in advance is what we all do. Suing them for breaching the contracts is what we are all doing and that includes the Gov.
If specifying is all we need to do and the Gov. does it's homework before and not after, why are they standing in court right beside us? So much for placing the blame on our ignorance and lack of homework.

Landowners don't have that audit option. So when a royalty check comes and it says, "sorry we took your money" it costs tens of thousands of dollars for us to find out what misc. is referring to this time. You can't homework "misc". until it shows up in the mail because misc rights are nowhere to be found in the contracts. They have no misc. rights under the contracts we submit and they sign. We covered that the last time they drilled through here. Buying our gas isn't new for them or us. Raping is new.

Ahh, the old, Right to Capture. It's actual name is theft. We say, "no thanks to your contract, you can't have my oil and gas", and they say, "tough shit, we're entitled. We take what we want".
If I buy the house next to yours, and your garage is next to my property, according to you I have the right to your garage simply because of it's proximity. No lease or contract required!

They said right to capture to Marion Stone, they said it to Brian Corwin in Brook County, W.Va. Did you live there too?
Chesapeake stole 217 acres worth of their gas, then petitioned the court to drop the landowners suit because the "rule of capture" applied. The judge didn't call it that. He called it trespass, drainage and a benefit Chesapeake wasn't untitled to. Finally the little guy that owns all the renewable energy you covet, is being heard and our "rights" upheld.
A jury has ordered Chesapeake to pay 404 mil in damages for cheating leaseholders in W.Va.
Shell was ordered to pay 66 mil to landowners for hiding prolific wells and intentionally misleading landowners. It appears that stupidity is not the problem. Shady business practices seem to be the problem. How is lying about prolific wells in order to bilk the owner of the gas out of his royalty checks a lack of homework? Do they have a "right to hide rule" too?
We have no data available to us to surmise what a well might produce before it's drilled. For that we must rely on good faith, or sue them for the figures.
Right to capture my a**.
Are you honestly, < pun intended, trying to convince us that if Chesapeake gives it a name other than theft that it somehow becomes something other than theft?
You can call it gimme, gimme gimme, if you want but that doesn't change the fact that it's take take takie of something that they don't own and haven't paid for and have absolutely no "right" to.

Chesapeake has a hard on for money, and if trees that we specified are not to be removed are in their way, they use a little known rule of theirs called "right to remove, anyway". < Also finally not boding well for them in court.

And you are wrong again. Livestock, and farms and people's front yards are what we are talking about here. NOT OIL FIELDS.
Letting our animals out of our fences is a liability to us if someone is harmed by a bull or has an accident on the road because of a loose horse. And homework dictated we cover that problem beforehand. Unfortunately, homework can't make big business comply.

After destroying a Rod and Gun club in the next county over, with a little known, "we need to plow right through your business to get to our our business, rule" Chessy was stopped dead in their tracks.

When they destroyed Bill Blakley's well on property not under contract by Bill, they did the usual. They delivered water to him and his family for a year and then said, "tough shit, we are tired of giving you clean water. Pay for a new well if you want water". Old Bill didn't need to do homework. He opted out of the whole mess from the git go. Now he has a home with poison water, a hearty "tough shit". And a lawyer's bill. Explain to me like I'm 5, the legalities of his situation. And why he should spend thousands of dollars for justice and a new well?

The point is it shouldn't be necessary for us to have to sue Chesapeake for them to understand that they too, not just us, have to abide by the rules of the contracts they sign.
Maybe you should school them instead of Appalachia, Pa, Ala, Co. Alabama, N. Dakota N.Y., W.V. and others being raped across the country, because the ones getting smarter are our judges. Finally and thank God.

And If you think that you, or anyone else is entitled to what I own, come get some boy, and see where it gets you. That threat has become our "right to capture", thieves, trespassers, and corrupt liars. Unfortunate, but necessary.
And if you were as smart as you think you are, you wouldn't be sucking in all that Denver smog. Cripple Creek's air is fresh and clean, and we have gold.

 

[RGR]

We do our homework and it exposes people just like you, that pretend the evils of big gas and oil companies don't exist.

I didn't say evil doesn't exist, I said that the easiest solution in the WORLD, and one completely available to the mineral owner, is to NOT...SIGN...THE...LEASE!!!

Everything after that is buyers remorse, the consequences of your decision, and what your greed is going to cost you...both good and bad. All you had to do, the EASIEST thing in the world, was REFUSE to put your name on that paper. Game over. Done deal.

Auditing gives the Gov. access to the machinations behind the curtain, that we have to sue to discover.

Easy solution. You shouldn't have signed the lease.

Specifying the rules in advance is what we all do. Suing them for breaching the contracts is what we are all doing and that includes the Gov.

Bummer. You shouldn't have signed the lease.

If specifying is all we need to do and the Gov. does it's homework before and not after, why are they standing in court right beside us? So much for placing the blame on our ignorance and lack of homework.

You are ignorant. Because if you weren't expecting both the good, and bad, of mineral extraction, you would have known TO NOT SIGN THE LEASE.

They have no misc. rights under the contracts we submit and they sign. We covered that the last time they drilled through here. Buying our gas isn't new for them or us. Raping is new.

Raping is illegal, and gives you a cause of action. Everything else you said means you really shouldn't have signed the lease.

They said right to capture to Marion Stone, they said it to Brian Corwin in Brook County, W.Va. Did you live there too?

Nope.

Chesapeake stole 217 acres worth of their gas, then petitioned the court to drop the landowners suit because the "rule of capture" applied. The judge didn't call it that. He called it trespass, drainage and a benefit Chesapeake wasn't untitled to. Finally the little guy that owns all the renewable energy you covet, is being heard and our "rights" upheld.

Sounds like the judge did exactly what judges are supposed to do. Good for him. So why are you whining about your recourse under the law? You took the money, don't like the deal you signed? Shouldn't have signed it, and if you did and are getting ripped off, sue.

A jury has ordered Chesapeake to pay 404 mil in damages for cheating leaseholders in W.Va.
Shell was ordered to pay 66 mil to landowners for hiding prolific wells and intentionally misleading landowners.

Excellent! I recommend you get your $100 for walnut trees!

How is lying about prolific wells in order to bilk the owner of the gas out of his royalty checks a lack of homework? Do they have a "right to hide rule" too?

Of course not. They have the rights you gave them under the lease. Don't like paying the same kinds of transportation costs the companies do? Sure them. Throw in your walnut trees to boot!

We have no data available to us to surmise what a well might produce before it's drilled. For that we must rely on good faith, or sue them for the figures.
Right to capture my a**.

Sue! Local judges are handing out millions! Your walnut trees must be worth at least that!

Are you honestly, < pun intended, trying to convince us that if Chesapeake gives it a name other than theft that it somehow becomes something other than theft?

I don't have a clue what Chesapeake calls their field operations. Never ran field operations for Chesapeake, I did it for operators who have been around much longer. But you certainly don't get to pin one operators actions on all of them. If you didn't like signing with Chesapeake, you should have said to in your lease. If you signed the lease and didn't make that exclusion, who exactly is stupid? Them for taking full advantage of the rights you gave them, or you for not hiring the right smart lawyer and being suckered in by greed to not do the one, fail safe thing you could have done?

After destroying a Rod and Gun club in the next county over, with a little known, "we need to plow right through your business to get to our our business, rule" Chessy was stopped dead in their tracks.

Good for them who vanquished Chesapeake! With all these David versus Goliath victories, what in the hell are YOU worried about? Stop bitching! Sue for the trees! The judge will undoubtedly shower you with cash!!!

When they destroyed Bill Blakley's well on property not under contract by Bill, they did the usual. They delivered water to him and his family for a year and then said, "tough shit, we are tired of giving you clean water. Pay for a new well if you want water". Old Bill didn't need to do homework. He opted out of the whole mess from the git go. Now he has a home with poison water, a hearty "tough shit". And a lawyer's bill. Explain to me like I'm 5, the legalities of his situation. And why he should spend thousands of dollars for justice and a new well?

I don't have a clue about Old Bill's situation. And apparently I do have to explain to you like you are five....who is the fool, those utilizing the lease to the full extent of the law, or the moron who signed it in the first place allowing such shenanigans to happen?

Don't sign the lease! Rush out and tell old Bill before he does it again!

The point is it shouldn't be necessary for us to have to sue Chesapeake for them to understand that they too, not just us, have to abide by the rules of the contracts they sign.

YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE SIGNED THE LEASE!! What part of YOUR responsibility in this mess do you not understand? If you don't want to buy a car, you don't sign the contract. Don't want a mortgage? Don't sign the contract! Don't want to get married! DON'T APPLY FOR THE LICENSE!!

This isn't hard Irish, it simply requires you have HALF the brains you claim to have.

And If you think that you, or anyone else is entitled to what I own, come get some boy, and see where it gets you.

I'm not entitled to anything you own. Unless you sign a contract with me. So the solution is...again...you never should have been so STUPID as to sign the lease. But the greed, it must have been powerful, eh Irish? That check, the whispers of your neighbors over the riches, ah yes, the Dark Side was STRONG that day you made your Faustian bargain, wasn't it?

And now you see what mineral extraction means, the walnut trees are down, the check has been cashed, the money spent on , and your soul...your soul has been sold.

Your made your bed Irish. Now lie in it, and stop demonstrating instead exactly those characteristics of Appalachia I fled upon graduation from high school. Unions for protection from poor work performance, farming as something other than a life sentence for those without 3 neurons firing in the correct order, lust for one's cousins, and a history notable primarily for illegal whiskey?

That threat has become our "right to capture", thieves, trespassers, and corrupt liars. Unfortunate, but necessary.
And if you were as smart as you think you are, you wouldn't be sucking in all that Denver smog. Cripple Creek's air is fresh and clean, and we have gold.

What did you sell your soul for Irish? Manhattan went for some beads and whiskey and whatnot, what was your soul, and mineral rights, worth? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Hundreds?

You made your bed. Now lie in it. Enjoy your gains, and enjoy the consequences. Because for all your whining and moaning, all you had to do was be as smart and well informed as you claim to be and you would have known the answer to your problem before it ever started.

 

[The Irish Ram]

Oh Dummy, my soul is intact.
You are assuming I signed a lease. And again, you are wrong. Those catastrophes are happening around me, not to me. My contract is sitting on my lawyer's desk. Chesapeake hasn't signed any leases for over a year, and yet they call me every other week with, "What's it going to take." They are up to something they haven't in good faith, "shared" with us. Probably a misc. something or other. lol.
So you can stick your smug assumption. There is a reason why they want this property and my neighbor is scared to death. Out of his 350 acres, he set the acres around his home and hay fields apart, with no gas co. access what so ever. I think I know why my land is so important, and if I sign, and my neighbor's lawyer missed one specific little sentence in his lease, they may be able to plow right through his property.

I decided to sign awhile ago and my contract was on it's way out the lawyer's door before I changed my mind.
I keep telling the gas company when they call that I'd pay them that much to stay out of my front yard, and John laughs and says he'll check in with me in a few weeks. We are talking about a lot of money. But I'd rather stay put and watch my ducks playing in the creek, the deer that were born in the pasture and my horse running through the water splashing as she goes, than watch a gas truck go by. It's why I live in the middle of nowhere, and my Cripple Creek windfall makes that possible, so I don't have to sell my soul to anyone. But they are up to something or they wouldn't keep calling.

So what part of NO LEASE SIGNED, don't you get? They already have permission to capture on leased land. Right to capture is a stunt used in court against those WHO DON"T SIGN LEASES AND ARE ROBBED ANYWAY.
Old Bill DIDN'T SIGN ANY LEASE. HE HAS NO WATER ANYWAY.

But you see I have 2 problems.
I'm surrounded. If I don't SIGN THE LEASE RGR, they will sit at my other neighbors and suck MY GAS right out from under me. They'll call it the right to capture, when I'm forced to sue them for benefits they are not entitled to. On my dime by the way, EVEN THOUGH I DIDN"T SIGN THE LEASE RGR.

So, how smart am I to turn down the money and lose my gas anyway, just as if I had SIGNED THE LEASE?

Problem 2. One drilling site is way up on the top of the hill behind my house on someone else's property. My well is directly beneath the site at the bottom of the hill, on my property. What do you think the chances are that my well isn't going to make it? Nil? Cause I'm pretty sure of it.

And they don't have to be on my property to destroy the creek. They can do that around the bend, and make my property worthless. This creek was dead for 10 years after the copper mine 15 miles away leaked into it.

So oh smart one, do I take their money and move from my home, before they destroy it, or do I walk away with nothing but a bill from my lawyer when they do?

Oh look there's you shaking hands with your boss.

 

[RGR]

Oh Dummy, my soul is intact.
You are assuming I signed a lease. And again, you are wrong. Those catastrophes are happening around me, not to me. My contract is sitting on my lawyer's desk. Chesapeake hasn't signed any leases for over a year, and yet they call me every other week with, "What's it going to take." They are up to something they haven't in good faith, "shared" with us. Probably a misc. something or other. lol.

Then Irish, you are SAVED!!!!! Keep your soul, fight the good fight, fend off interlopers on your property at gunpoint, let those white devils keep their whiskey and beads, and be proud!!!

But I am forced to ask, what in the hell is all the WHINING about if you haven't signed yet? Not everyone is going to have your high moral standards, and that statement includes both your neighbors and the people who you sign a lease with.

Sounds like you still have the opportunity in front of you to do EXACTLY what you need to do. Which means whining and bitching about it is just wasted effort.

So you can stick your smug assumption. There is a reason why they want this property and my neighbor is scared to death. Out of his 350 acres, he set the acres around his home and hay fields apart, with no gas co. access what so ever. I think I know why my land is so important, and if I sign, and my neighbor's lawyer missed one specific little sentence in his lease, they may be able to plow right through his property.

You are not your neighbor's keeper. Don't sign the lease. Be the hero!! And for Christ's sake, stop WHINING about it already.

We are talking about a lot of money.

For YOU maybe. If you thought the gas was worth all that much, you can always go drill it yourself. But you certainly don't get to whine ever again AFTER you sign the lease, knowing what you already know.

Read it carefully Irish, there are usually little beauties in there like this one: Once upon a time I got into a pissing contest with a landowner. My response was to do a 360 day pressure buildup test of the well, allowing no domestic gas to be produced for the landowners use, nor gas volumes to be sold into the pipeline. Guess what? I'll bet your lease doesn't preclude that kind of behavior, because you have ZERO ability to change company operations at the well level. The company, unlike the landowner, can afford to shut in a well for a majority of the year, the gas isn't going anywhere, but for the landowner, the sudden loss in royalty income combined with no free gas for the house can be devastating.

Want to bet your inability to stop this kind of behavior isn't included in your lease? Tread carefully Irish, you and your lawyer are most likely exactly the kind of rubes remaining in Appalachia after those with brains and ambition fled.

So what part of NO LEASE SIGNED, don't you get? They already have permission to capture on leased land. Right to capture is a stunt used in court against those WHO DON"T SIGN LEASES AND ARE ROBBED ANYWAY.
Old Bill DIDN'T SIGN ANY LEASE. HE HAS NO WATER ANYWAY.

So what? I don't care about Old Bill any more than I do about you whining about a legal concept which probably predates the foundation of America. Don't like it, move to Somalia, see how well your holier than thou attitude plays with those locals.

I'm surrounded. If I don't SIGN THE LEASE RGR, they will sit at my other neighbors and suck MY GAS right out from under me.

Depends on the amount of acres you have. A reasonable Marcellus well can be counted on to drain some 100-200 acres around the well bore. If the gas companies drilled wells parallel to your property line on all 4 sides, they would certainly be pulling gas from your pore space, but the question is, how much? If Old Bill has you covered from one side, you are likely to retain a nice amount of original reservoir pressure towards that side of the property, even if the companies drill close by your line on all 3 other sides. Which means your property would still have gas under it, and still have value. But if they can get to all 4 sides, and you have a small acreage position, then your solution would be to drill your own well and produce the gas, just as you are allowed to shoot deer on your property and turn it into hamburger patties. But once that deer runs off somewhere else, well, you can't blame your neighbor for doing the same.

Problem 2. One drilling site is way up on the top of the hill behind my house on someone else's property. My well is directly beneath the site at the bottom of the hill, on my property. What do you think the chances are that my well isn't going to make it? Nil? Cause I'm pretty sure of it.

What well? It is unlikely you know any more about reservoir dynamics than you do the ability of an oil and gas company to exercise the full rights afforded them under the lease you haven't signed yet. Are you talking about water wells which currently exist? Might exist in the future? Your potential future gas well? The beauty of drilling into a resource play is the wells nearly all make gas, unless you live on the edge of the geologic formation. Some are certainly better than others, and the first wells in tend to make more than those which follow.

And they don't have to be on my property to destroy the creek. They can do that around the bend, and make my property worthless. This creek was dead for 10 years after the copper mine 15 miles away leaked into it.

Sounds like picking property downstream from a copper mine is a bad move. I would recommend not doing it again. Fortunately for you, polluting surface and aquifer water supplies is what half of the wells steel and cement is designed to prevent. And surface water discharges are pretty heavily watched by the state, and they can become cranky on your behalf if the company pollutes local streams and whatnot. Fortunately, 60+ years of fracking now and sure, things do occasionally happen, but not very often. I've only blown up one well while fracking in my career, and none of the water made it to the local stream.

So oh smart one, do I take their money and move from my home, before they destroy it, or do I walk away with nothing but a bill from my lawyer when they do?

Oh look there's you shaking hands with your boss.

Sounds like you have a decision to make. My decision in your stead is easy....take the money, turn the place into a summer vacation spot and move the hell out of Appalachia. That is also the answer if someone doesn't hand you a nice sized windfall as well.

 

[The Irish Ram]

I may or may not be saved. You're still an idiot regardless of which choice I make.

You just jump to all kinds of assumptions in trying to extol the wonders of natural gas theft and greed.
Like me picking property down stream from a copper mine. Look at all the time you have wasted drawing your own conclusions, then offering up your own stupid suggestions.

It was my Dad that refused to buy a cabin out here because a copper mine had fouled the creek, many years ago dummy. It stayed fouled for years after the company was forced to cap the well. Fast forward to 1990, when the creek was clear again, and the bass were jumping, and the mining was long since concluded, and I bought my land.
We are all hero's here. We are fighting to keep the creek clear and the bass jumping, and our drinking water clean, as well as sharing our gas and oil with the rest of the country.

Contrary to your beads and selling my soul bullshit, Greed is a gas co. issue, not ours. We know what your boss is capable of, and the repercussions of the lies they use. We've heard, "steel and cement, and we'll be responsible for any damage", before. We are hearing it again now.
The ones that sign your checks used to be able to lie with impunity and buy off the judges. Unbridled greed has ended that practice. Even the judges can't overlook their carnage now.

Old Bill heard, "we'll be responsible" also, when they blew out his water well, and has poison water anyway. And you and your track record are no where to be found!!! Be a champ fracker, and tell your partners to dig Bill a new well. And hurry up, He's been holding his breath for over a year now, waiting for your bosses to do the right thing.

Maybe Big gas can't afford to dig Bill a new well. My suggestion in their stead is to take some of the profits from the wells they tried to hide from the landowners, and pay for a new water well for Bill.
Your boss thinks we are asking too much. They have your attitude. Bill's water is Bill's problem, his gas is our goal. We don't need no stinking badge. Their solution? > NO LEASE SIGNED, NO LEASE NECESSARY. Sue us Old Bill, or drink the water we left you with.

Their lying bullshit allowed you to put food on your table. Your narcissistic concern stops there.
We have other concerns, the environment being one. Being poisoned for another, just like the woman in Rifle who was told her water was safe to drink now.........

So true to form, you are wrong yet again. My decision is not an easy one. Your decision is mute. Fracking is your agenda. My gas and oil for free is your goal.
Being born and raised here, this town was built on a portion of my 12 great-grandfather's farm in the 1700's. I was educated in the schools my ancestors built. Worship in the church my ancestors built. My friends and family are here. The elderly ones rely on my help. In fact, I moved BACK here from Cripple when my dad became ill.
You can't make flippant decisions in my stead, because you lack understanding. FRACK FRACK and put clothes on my back, is your only concern. You shook hands with the devil, not I.

A summer vacation spot. lol.
For rent, lovely secluded vacation spot. No trees, dead creek, ear plugs needed due to blasting. Poison water, so no pets allowed. Comes highly recommended by RGR Mortis and co.....

Your, "I blew up a well, and shit happens" is little comfort to the "heroes" trying to make sure your shit doesn't happen here. Farther north 2 sites have blown up already, killing several. Forgive me if I don't buy believe your stellar record.

Stick to putting your hard hat on that hard head of yours, and do what Satan tells you. Leave the heroism to those of who aren't as greedy as you are, and care about this land.

 

[RGR]

I may or may not be saved. You're still an idiot regardless of which choice I make.

I am paid to know more than you, combined with everyone you know, and everyone you can afford to hire, in this particular regard. If I get called as the expert witness against your point of view, odds are you are about to have a very bad day. By the time I was 30 I was already fighting 100 million dollar lawsuits involving bankrupt companies larger than Chesapeake is now.

But fortunately for you, I am no longer in the expert witnessing game. So good news for Irish Ram and whatever nonsense you are being sold by your neighbors, your lawyer, the companies, your local goobermint, or whatever else you think protects you from the reality of the world.

We are fighting to keep the creek clear and the bass jumping, and our drinking water clean, as well as sharing our gas and oil with the rest of the country.

So sign the lease already and stop whining about what MIGHT happen! Fight for everything you'd like, and don't for a second think that you have protected yourself from all the things the company is permitted to do in the lease you may sign.

Contrary to your beads and selling my soul bullshit, Greed is a gas co. issue, not ours. We know what your boss is capable of, and the repercussions of the lies they use. We've heard, "steel and cement, and we'll be responsible for any damage", before. We are hearing it again now.

The truth can be inconvenient, if you are a true believer, I understand. I worked with Pennsylvania EPA a few years back on just these types of issues. The state was in need of independent experts...and they didn't call you, your lawyer, your neighbors or Chesapeake. Your inability to comprehend even the basics of how these things happen is exactly why positions like mine exist. I sometimes do public presentations (rarely on this topic however), and if I were to do one on this topic I would expect to be attacked by both the companies AND the landowners. Those of us who are expected to analyze and report the facts independently often cause this type of reaction.

Maybe Big gas can't afford to dig Bill a new well. My suggestion in their stead is to take some of the profits from the wells they tried to hide from the landowners, and pay for a new water well for Bill.

You have enumerated judges who fix exactly these kinds of things. Have them fix it. While I might be called in to solve the technical issues on events like this, it sounds like you already know how to fix it...harangue Bill with your knowledge and let him know what to do, you being so educated in these matters.

You shook hands with the devil, not I.

Now Irish, what I do doesn't require me to shake anyone's hands.

 

[The Irish Ram]

Nor does mine. Your pic to suggest I had was out of line.
Nothing you say is of any value. You have no idea what's going on here, and have made that clear. And what you say is so bias it's not worth reading. The last sentence of your post is all I read so that's all I'm replying to. Your opinions are worthless and I doubt that anyone reading this is going to believe I made up any of the illegal practices the gas companies are trying to get away with here. Where you're not and I am.
Big gas and oil lie cheat and steal. We all pretty much know that already. That they put the food that's on your table is reason enough to take what you say with a grain of salt Mr. I blew a well and shit happens.

 

[RGR]

Nor does mine. Your pic to suggest I had was out of line.

You are correct. I apologize for assuming you had already made your deal with the devil and were just whining about the consequences your greed had led you to. I hereby offer this as a change to reflect your complaining in advance of signing the lease.

Nothing you say is of any value.

To those behaving in the way demonstrated above, you are correct. But I can assure you I make a reasonable living understanding both sides of the issue and explaining it to the adults.

Big gas and oil lie cheat and steal.

Your belief system is not in question. Matter of fact, you have made it quite clear it is cemented into place, and will remain that way regardless of the facts of the matter.

We all pretty much know that already. That they put the food that's on your table is reason enough to take what you say with a grain of salt Mr. I blew a well and shit happens.

While I am more than a little amused by your lack of understanding of the basic jargon of the oil field, I have no doubt that someone going on as long, loudly and incoherently as you have could undoubtedly "blow" a well. While some men might find that ability and mental image attractive, the character which accompanies that ability would undoubtedly take more than a little lead out of the average guy's pencil, but none of this will dampen the chuckling over those who don't even know the words necessary to make their point, instead choosing to leave a lasting impression of a different kind.

 

[American_Jihad]

Why Anti-Fracking Environmentalists Are Holding Back the U.S.

The real story on fracking, say scientists, is that the risks are small and the rewards immense.


John Stossel | March 13, 2013

Celebrities are now upset about fracking, the injection of chemicals into the ground to crack rocks to release oil and gas. With everyone saying they want alternatives to foreign oil, I'd think celebrities would love fracking.

I'd be wrong. Lady Gaga, Yoko Ono and their group, Artists Against Fracking, don't feel the love. Yoko sang, "Don't frack me!" on TV.

Stopping fracking is the latest cause of the silly people. They succeeded in getting scientifically ignorant politicians to ban fracking in New York, Maryland and Vermont.

Hollywood gave an Oscar to "Gasland," a documentary that suggests fracking will shove gas into some people's drinking water, so the water will burn. It's true that some water contains so much natural gas that you can light it.

But another documentary, "FrackNation," shows that gas got into plumbing long before fracking came. There's gas in the earth. That's why it's called "natural gas." Some gets into well water. Environmental officials investigated the flames shown in "Gasland" and concluded that the pollution had nothing to do with fracking.

"FrackNation" director Phelim McAleer tried to confront "Gasland" director Josh Fox about this, but Fox wouldn't answer his questions. Instead, he demanded to know whom McAleer works for. He also turned down my invitations to publicly debate fracking. Many activists don't like to answer questions that don't fit their narrative.

Even some homeowners who filed a lawsuit claiming that their water was poisoned by fracking weren't happy to learn that their water is safe. I'd think they would be delighted, but "FrackNation" shows a couple reacting with outrage when environmental officials test their water and find it clean.

...

So far, most regulators outside New York, Maryland and Vermont have ignored the silly people. So thanks to fracking, Americans pay less for heat (and everything else), the economy is helped, new jobs get created, we create less greenhouse gas, and for the first time since the 19th century, America may become a net exporter of energy.

Good things happen if the silly people can't convince all politicians to ban progress.

Why Anti-Fracking Environmentalists Are Holding Back the U.S. - Reason.com

 

[The Irish Ram]

Like I said Rgd, You have no idea what's going on here, you not being here, while, you know, I am.
I doubt anything amuses you, but the wells they are blowing out at present are our water wells and has nothing to do with oil field jargon. Stick to manual labor. Comprehension isn't your forte.

In fact, you sound a little envious, having to drag your ass out of bed every morning to make a buck, while we can sit on ours and make more than you do. LOL "Tough shit". LOL.

Hey there AJ. Not a tree huger, not a greenie, not against fracking. Thrilled that we have an energy source that isn't manipulated by an Arab nation.
Against lying and fraud.
Not thrilled about being manipulated and/or cheated by Chesapeake, especially when it isn't necessary.

NARO said it best:
They take it all and give back what they're forced to.
There's hardly a sizable piece of land here that isn't under lease. If we were anti fracking that wouldn't be the case.
We object to lying about a well's production, refusing to pay us for our gas and oil. Dumping hazardous chemicals on site. Poisoning our wells, and refusing to provide clean water after 12 months. Gathering on land they have no lease for. Refusing to abide by the terms of the contracts they sign, and forcing us to go to court to get what they owe us.

What on earth makes you or this country think that you are entitled to resources the we bought and paid for, just because you could benefit from it? I don't remember you chipping in on the payment when I bought the place. This is not an oil field. This is my front yard.
Having seen you stand up for what is right for awhile now, if you sacrificed your home and in return were to collect a % of the profits from that home, and they just refused to give you your share, would you tell them to just go ahead and take it for free?

If American's are paying less for heat, and fracking is the cause, sounds like we're doing OUR part. Why do you think they shouldn't have to uphold their part of the arrangement?

 

[RGR]

In fact, you sound a little envious, having to drag your ass out of bed every morning to make a buck, while we can sit on ours and make more than you do. LOL "Tough shit". LOL.

Oh...while that is certainly possible, you making more than I do, you really don't even understand the nature of my work, so you are not in a position to understand the conditions of it nor the value of even a single minute of my time. Your experience in dirt farming I will gladly concede. While noting that if it was worth as much as you indicate, the locals wouldn't have any trouble at all finding work in the oil field, as I did, versus your claim that they cannot.

Enjoy Appalachia, it isn't all bad, and certainly is rich in natural resources. Even if it doesn't have the quality of human capital to develop it, the parts of the country which have hardy working folk to spare are more than happy to supply them to develop your resources for you.

Hey there AJ. Not a tree huger, not a greenie, not against fracking. Thrilled that we have an energy source that isn't manipulated by an Arab nation.
Against lying and fraud.
Not thrilled about being manipulated and/or cheated by Chesapeake, especially when it isn't necessary.

You haven't signed a lease. So apparently you haven't been lied to or cheated by anyone yet. Do you have any experience with Chesapeake whatsoever, or are you just gossiping about what your neighbors (possibly just as ignorant of leases and mineral extraction as you) have told you?

We object to lying about a well's production, refusing to pay us for our gas and oil.

You said you haven't signed a lease. How could anyone lie to you about a well's production which hasn't happened yet?

Dumping hazardous chemicals on site. Poisoning our wells, and refusing to provide clean water after 12 months.

You said you haven't signed a lease. How could anyone poison your wells or refuse to clean up on your property if you haven't signed a lease?

Gathering on land they have no lease for. Refusing to abide by the terms of the contracts they sign, and forcing us to go to court to get what they owe us.

If you haven't signed a lease, what contracts have you signed with Chesapeake that require you to sue them?

Whats the deal Irish, you either signed a lease and things happened, or you didn't sign a lease and are perfectly capable of using the laws of trespass and private property against EVERYONE, including Chesapeake, Federal and State authorities without warrants, and just about everyone else on the planet.

So did you sign the lease, or have a real beef, or are you just whining because you were ignorant about some other paperwork you signed, or were STUPID enough to not defend your property against interlopers?

So which one is the truth?

If American's are paying less for heat, and fracking is the cause, sounds like we're doing OUR part. Why do you think they shouldn't have to uphold their part of the arrangement?

What arrangement? You said you haven't signed the lease? If you have an arrangement, then you certainly must have signed SOMETHING. So maybe you did pull a Faustian bargain of some sort? Oh Irish! Methinks you doth protest too much!

 

[The Irish Ram]

Me don't care what you think. You're big oil's dummy. You do what they tell you or you don't eat.
My home is at stake here, where I am and your not.
For verification there is plenty of media coverage of your boss's "indiscretions", if you'd like to check it out. As for signing me up, it all depends on how well they treat my neighbors. Unlike you, I like money I don't have to work for. I also like walking out of my front door and seeing nothing but nature.
You need them to stay off of welfare dummy, I don't. I'm fine with or without them.

In fact, I'll come back every day with a new story about you boss dummy, starting tonight. Let's let the readers here decide.

Why wait:
Pick one of my homework lessons, and we'll talk about it later..........

Chesapeake To Pay $7.5 Million Over Gas Royalty Controversy
SALEM, Ohio &#8212; Chesapeake Energy has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit alleging the company underpaid gas royalties to leaseholders. Chesapeake Energy has agreed to pay $7.5 million settle a lawsuit filed by 14 plaintiffs from Susquehanna, Northampton, Lehigh, &#8230;


Exxon Illegally Dumped Waste in Pennsylvania
Exxon Mobil Corp., the world&#8217;s largest energy company, was charged with dumping more than 50,000 gallons of waste water,

Yeah, my due diligence is way out of line.
Have their lease, may sign, may not. Just doing what you told me in your DO YOUR HOMEWORK post. Been doing it for over a year. Good faith nonexistent. You work for thieves.

 

[The Irish Ram]

MarkWest Energy in Hot Water for Spills


According to the Columbus Dispatch, Denver-based MarkWest Energy is facing state sanctions and fines for pipeline-construction spills in eastern Ohio.

The Dispatch reports that in a March 8 letter to MarkWest, from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Nally, director of the OEPA, called the repeated nature of four spills &#8220;unacceptable.&#8221;

There were more than four spills, however.

&#8220;As the EPA and the company negotiate penalties, agency reports show that MarkWest and its contractors have had 13 additional spills in Belmont, Harrison, Guernsey, Monroe and Noble counties, including a 1,200-gallon slurry spill that polluted a Monroe County wetland in July.&#8221;

Many of the spills stem from issues related to drilling in areas once used for strip-mining. Those areas, according to MarkWest attorney, Chris Jones, are difficult because soils and rocks are too loosely packed to contain slurry.

See buddy, it's not that shit happens occasionally, it's that shit happens constantly. If you KNOW the rocks are too loose to SAFELY proceed, and your options are move a little to the left where it is safe, or poison what ever you want to get what you want, is a problem for us. You drill in Ohio. We live in Ohio.
The problem isn't that shit happens, it's that you don't give a shit happens.
Full report at 11:00

 

[RGR]

Me don't care what you think.

Me know. And me already say why it is so easy to tell.

You're big oil's dummy. You do what they tell you or you don't eat.

Haven't worked in the oil industry proper for going on 2 decades now. My ability to eat is dependent on being able to handle both big oil reservoir engineering department, and and big and small goverments, and everyone in between, including landowners who don't even have the qualifications to swing a pipewrench in the oil field, let alone sort out issues on a state, national, or international scale.

My home is at stake here, where I am and your not.

Your home is not at stake, you said you haven't signed the lease yet. Unless you were lying about that of course.

For verification there is plenty of media coverage of your boss's "indiscretions", if you'd like to check it out.

My boss doesn't drill wells. Or frack them. Or produce them. But my boss pays quite handsomely for someone who knows how to do all of these things to WATCH what everyone else is doing, for good reason.

As for signing me up, it all depends on how well they treat my neighbors. Unlike you, I like money I don't have to work for.

Which is exactly why Appalachia is such a hotbed for people who can't handle oil field work, once you are raised with the attitude you have just expressed, working at a real job becomes nearly impossible. Workers comp claims, disability, quitting the same day they hire on, thank you for demonstrating exactly why you and your neighbors are not qualified for working for a living. Always looking for an easy out....

Why wait:
Pick one of my homework lessons, and we'll talk about it later..........

Chesapeake To Pay $7.5 Million Over Gas Royalty Controversy
SALEM, Ohio — Chesapeake Energy has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit alleging the company underpaid gas royalties to leaseholders. Chesapeake Energy has agreed to pay $7.5 million settle a lawsuit filed by 14 plaintiffs from Susquehanna, Northampton, Lehigh, …

I need a reference to the court documents please if you are seriously asking for a professionals opinion. From the companies perspective, if they were supposed to pay $100 million in royalties and are only now required to pay $7.5 million, this is as big a win as you can get, and only those in Appalachia would confuse it with WHO is doing the winning.

Exxon Illegally Dumped Waste in Pennsylvania
Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest energy company, was charged with dumping more than 50,000 gallons of waste water,

Yeah, my due diligence is way out of line.

Charged with. OJ was charged with murder, turns out, he didn't do it.

Are you seriously suggesting that out of the 5,000 Marcellus wells, 8,000 Bakken wells, 20,000 Barnett wells, and attendant other thousands in the Woodford and Fayetteville formations of the Anadarko and Arkoma Basins, this is it?

After millions of frack jobs, which is one of your main whining beefs, this is IT?

Take the money Irish, anyone who confuses that many wells, with that few in number and dollar problems, is really destined for one place, and you ALREADY being in Appalachia, you will be far ahead of your kin.

Have their lease, may sign, may not.

Then stop whining as though you already have the problems associated with it, when either you do, in which case you are a liar and are whining because you are stuck with the terms of it, or you don't, and can keep everyone off your property in perpetuity and shoot at them to boot with granddaddys' musket!!

But for the love of Pete, stop already.