I am new to this forum so forgive me if this is a repeat question. Here is my problem I am buying a house/land from this couple that is on 16 acres located in beaver county Pennsylvania and they will not sign over there mineral rights to the property which is ok I suppose. As far as I know or can get out of there Realtor is there is a gas lease no drill. The sellers are giving me the timber rights but my main concern is them keeping the mineral rights and one day waking up to a rig on my land dong whatever they want. What things should I be concerned about what are my rights? What things should I put in place to protect my family. Or is there anything I don't know about or thinking about that could help me. Any advice or help would be great.
Gabriel:
I would contact the Pennsylvania Oil & Gas MGT. office at (717) 772-2199. Direct your question to their office as rules vary in different States in regards drilling procedures. In some States, there are rules in place as to the proximity to a residence where oil field activity (wells, tank batteries, etc.) may be conducted. If or when a well is planned for the area, most likely you would be contacted by the oil company in regards to surface access to the property and at this time, terms and conditions for such activity should be addressed.
Read the small print in the lease.
As per an article I read in the NY Times about a lease that allowed drilling on a property in northeastern Pennsylvania ... the landowner said he felt certain the lease required the company to leave the property as good as new, but he discovered that fewer than half the leases require companies to compensate landowners for water contamination after drilling begins. And only about half the documents have language that lawyers suggest should be included to require payment for damages to livestock or crops.
¶ Most leases grant gas companies broad rights to decide where they can cut down trees, store chemicals, build roads and drill. Companies are also permitted to operate generators and spotlights through the night near homes during drilling.
¶ In the leases, drilling companies rarely describe to landowners the potential environmental and other risks that federal laws require them to disclose in filings to investors.
In Pennsylvania, Colorado and West Virginia, some landowners have had to spend hundreds of dollars a month to buy bottled water or maintain large tanks, known as water buffaloes, for drinking water in their front yards. They said they learned only after the fact that the leases did not require gas companies to pay for replacement drinking water if their wells were contaminated, and despite state regulations, not all costs were covered.
Etc., etc., etc.
I don't know how the law reads in Pennsylvania, but, here, in Texas, mineral owners "trump" over surface owners.
You could be buying a "nightmare."
In closing, and this is only my personal opinion ... don't "place any bets" on what the Realtor tells you.
Good luck.
Pat
Charles and Ms. Pat thank you both for your feedback. I will be looking into the advice you both have listed in you post. Thanks again
Yes, definitely read the Lease, which will be filed at the County Clerk's Office. If you're lucky, there will be a clause in there already stating that the Lessee (the oil-and-gas company) cannot drill or conduct surface operations on the property you are considering buying. If neither clause is in the Lease, then the Lessee probably will have unfettered access to the property, within the law and regulations.
And no, definitely do NOT believe anything a Realtor tells you about minerals. Mine told me that the house I bought did not come with minerals, turns out I DO own the minerals, I researched it myself after being approached by a Landman wanting to lease them. The Realtor probably just said "No" because she did not want to go figure it out and did not want to say "Yes" if in fact it was "No." Better to say "No" and have it turn out "Yes" than vice-versa.