What are your opinions on Forced Pooling in West Virginia?
http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/551908/Forced-Pooling-Debated.html?nav=515
From my experience in Texas, operators almost never resort to this tactic. It can happen and will likely become more common in urban areas where someone only owns a very small percentage of the potential drilling unit. I believe it was used for the first time in Texas in 2008.
On another forum, the same subject came up, and I’ll repeat the comment I made there. I’m in favor of “forced pooling”. I feel that one or two holdouts in leasing their rights should not be allowed to determine the financial well-being of those owners who signed early because they need the money. This is especially true in some of the poorer areas of the Marcellus Shale, like some of the rural areas of West Virginia. I don’t care if the holdouts’ reasons are based on financial or environmental reasons. Besides, as Americans, we need to expedite the resolution of those impediments that are holding us back from energy Independence, and developing our natural gas resources is one of the best ways of doing that, along with more drilling of oil wells both on-land and off-shore and also nuclear energy. Solar and wind energy is not going to do it.
BULLETIN: