Marshall County, WV oil & gas discussion group. Share your experience regarding lease bonus, royalty rates, drilling activity, and oil & gas news.
Do you know of anything going on in Liberty District, Marshall CO.
Location the Cecil Underwood State Park on RT 250. South of Cameron, and North of Georgetown Road.
THANK YOU PMD
Does anybody have information on the going rate for leases in Marshall County right now?
So this isn't a very active group? Is that because no one knows about this or there isn't anything to discuss? Confused.
I'd have to say it's mostly because West Virginians aren't as active online in general as people in PA and OH.
As a rule of thumb, don't settle for less than $4,000 in Marshall. It's in the 2nd Judicial District, and the judge is making companies pay that much for any acreage they acquire in a partition suit.
There should be a little more activity up in Marshall County lately. Statoil, Chevron, EQT, and a couple other all seem to be taking leases or drilling wells up there. Anybody have any other information to share?
Also, I'd stick with my previous statement of being able to get $4000/acre up there if you're willing to negotiate some.
I would just like to know a ballpark figure for selling mineral rights in Marshall County, Franklin District. I own 105 acres, along with four other people. My sister and I control 40% of the mineral rights, or about 42 acres total. I've heard ranges from $4000 to $12000. Can anybody be more specific?
Hi Chris, it's going to depend on which company you end up selling to. Some will be more willing to pay more than others. I wouldn't settle anywhere close to $4,000/acre. You can lease for that and more in Marshall. Keep in mind that there's the Utica and the Marcellus, and people are starting to talk about the Burket which is just above the Marcellus, so if all those formations were developed the royalties paid out could be tremendous.
Gastar leases gave us $1800 apiece for five individuals who shared 105 acres in Marshal county. I know, I know now it was a seriously bad deal. We were all newbies at the time. Still that's no excuse.
I also don't know whether it's better to sell the mineral rights through a reputable auction house, or have them sold straight to a buyer. It looks like $4000 is a bare minimum for these rights in that area. Of course, the energy industry will no doubt rebound within a year or so and drive prices higher once wells are started again. Jeeze, it certainly can't get any worse than it is. Also, I've heard that Gastar is in financial trouble--they leased from us. Perhaps a large gas and oil company might buy them out if it comes to it. And that transition might take time.
Yeah, if Gastar goes under their leases will end up in somebody else's hands. The leases are a valuable asset and won't just disappear in a bankruptcy proceeding.
There's no shame in signing a lease that's not great. I think everybody here has been there.
I'm not so confident that the oil and gas industry is going to rebound much in the next year or so. Maybe three to five years, when there are some new pipelines, power plants, and cracker plants. Anything could happen, though.
Thanks, Kyle, for setting me straight and helping this newbie out. I've learned a lot here and plan to visit often.
I just joined this group hoping to find out information about leasing minerals in Marshall County. I just found out that my ancestor bought minerals back in 1907 and Gastar tracked me down and is offering to lease the minerals. I will own only 5.555% of the minerals and they are offering me 17% royalty and over $5500 to sign the lease with option to extend the lease. I do not know if this is a good deal and need an attorney to look over the lease before I sign.
Liz, I had the same lease from Gastar and I shared 105 acres with four other people. Mine too was willed to me from a great grandfather. We only got $1,600 apiece. So, I would say you're in much better shape with a $5500 to sign. But wait until Kyle comes along and gives you a better insight.
Thanks Chris for responding to my comment. This is all so new to me but exciting to learn about my ancestors. My Mom was born in Moundsville but never took me there. I always wanted to know about my McHenry background.
Hi Liz, sorry it took so long to get to this. 5.555% of how big of a parcel? If it's 100 acres then you're being offered way, way too little. The 17% isn't bad, but you can do better. Negotiating up to 18% is pretty much standard any more. I am an attorney and practice in oil and gas, so if you want to you can give the office a call and we can discuss it a little more in depth. If you don't there are a couple of things you should ask for. Gross Proceeds (so they don't deduct post-production costs from your royalty), Indemnification (to keep you out of legal troubles) and No Warranty of Title (so you don't have to pay for title work, and you have less chance of having to pay back bonus amounts if they decide you don't actually own the minerals). Also look for where it says that you warrant that there are no old oil and gas wells and no old leases and scratch that language out of the lease. That's my basic recommendation for everybody.
Thanks Kyle for responding back to my post. The parcel is 40.9 gross acres; 2.2 net acres so the bonus amount they are offering is $2500 per acre ($5685). They offered 16% royalty and I asked if they could do 20% and they told me 17% was the highest they could offer.
Hi, Kyle,
Our first offer from Chad Dillie--he's either PP Royalties or American Land and Minerals (lost that info) is $6,000 per acre. That's for 42 acres. The low-ball is $5,750. My auction bids from Mineral Auctions, haven't come in yet. So, I'm holding out. Does those figures sound about right so far? I want to hold out for more and play these companies against each other. Of course, I don't want to upset them or lead them.
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Those are pretty decent offers, if you want to sell. I think you're doing the right thing getting them into a bidding war. If you're nice, they'll be willing to keep working with you. Of course, you have to balance nice with tough, because if they think you're a pushover they won't offer top dollar at any point.
My opinion on the value of the minerals in a sale is that most people sell for a lot less than the minerals are actually worth. Usually there's a tradeoff, with the convenience of not owning a small interest and getting a lump sum of money right now getting balanced with the inconvenience of owning a small interest and getting small payments over time. The smaller the net mineral interest, the more interesting it is to sell.
Thanks, Kyle
You're providing a valuable service to us greenhorns. I've had a literary agent for years, actually three of them over a period of 27 years. I'm an accomplished novelist. Believe it or not, literary contracts are VERY similar to land and mineral contracts. I'm in negotiation right now for the highest advance among several publishers in a small press bidding war.
I'll always treat these buyers with respect and courtesy. I'll not lead them on disrespectfully. I'm an ex-federal police officer--we call it "good cop,bad cop" negotiations. Yes, sweet and tough.
Well, if I make it big, I'll send you a nice little bonus for helping all of us out. We're lucky to have you.