Monongalia County, WV oil & gas discussion group. Share your experience regarding lease bonus, royalty rates, drilling activity, and oil & gas news.
My name is James. I own 12 acres in Monongalia with 100% of the mineral rights both split 50/50 with my sister. We have recently been contacted to lease our mineral rights to EQT and should receive a lease agreement this week.
Welcome!
Leasing seems to be picking up just a bit in Monongalia County. It's interesting, because oil and gas companies abandoned the area pretty fast in 2009. I don't know what's driving the recent interest, but it seems like every couple of months now I get a call from someone with a lease or a modification in Mon County. Any insight from anyone?
Hello Kyle. I spoke to you about a lease months back but at the time your schedule was full and you got me in touch with someone else. It appears that at least one company may have interest in taking advantage of lower gas prices but we are not under contract at this time due to declining terms. It seems a few months can change things fairly substantially so while we are excited about the opportunity we will remain patient.
I think that oil prices will be up to about $70/bbl by the end of the year. Who knows what's going to happen at that point. Waiting could be a good strategy. Waiting could be a bad strategy. It's actually really hard to say right now. Good luck.
$70/bbl! Shows what I know.....
Hi all I’m new here because we got contacted about two weeks ago asking family history and names information. It looks like we will be inheriting mineral rights which is something I didn’t even know existed! So for a week all I did was research and make phone calls. Lost a lot of sleep with my research but now I feel much more informed! We are waiting to hear back for confirmation that we are in fact inheriting these rights or not and I can’t wait! Gonna be getting some extra money we never even dreamed about! Hope it all pans out and we become lessors soon! :). Fingers crossed!
I also got contacted last December that I had inherited minerals in this county.It was Northeast Natural Energy. The man said he had been looking for me for a year. They sent a lease, I hired a professional in WV. He looked over the lease, changed a lot, then I returned the changes. Have not heard back from him in a month. We will see!
Can anyone recommend a good lawyer in the area for lease negotiation? I would prefer contingency based. I have just received a contract offer from NNE. Thank you.
You might contact Bob Hart with HartPetro Global in Charleston, WV. He has done some work on leases in Mono. County. 877 341-3244.
Angela, I did hear back from the company. We did make changes to the lease. My family has been leasing minerals since 1920's. I think it is important for future family members to have good leases and today it may take more experienced professionals to read and help us. I was very pleased with the man. Glad you got what you wanted.
We have had mineral rights in Monongalia for several years now. We were just wondering what is a fair bonus/acre and royalty to expect?
Carol oh ok glad u got what you wanted. Lots of times it doesn’t work out so my fingers were crossed for you. Sally it really depends on where in Monongalia County your parcels are located but I’d say at least $1,500 an acre if not more.
Thanks Angela. Our mineral rights are in Clay and Battelle Township. What are the more active areas? Any ideas on fair royalty percentages and length of lease - 3yrs?
Sally our parcel is in the Cass district. You will have to google your district and see what you come up with. I really don’t know much about any of the other districts. A lot of info and other forums can be found online.
Thanks again Angela. Our Clay property is just west of Cass township line. Any info from your experience is appreciated…
Sally, the bonus/royalty kind of depends on where your property is located. So far, the general rule of thumb has been that if you're west of I-79 you'll be able to get a lot more than if you're east of I-79, but up in Monongalia County that may not quite hold true. I know we negotiated a lease back in January for $4000/acre and 18% no deductions in Battelle District. The closer you get to Morgantown the less you might be able to get. The farther east you go the less wet gas the Marcellus produces, and the less the companies expect to make. There are lots of other things to negotiate for too, such as a Pugh clause, formation limitations, shut-in provisions, notification provisions, and more. It's fun. The more you have the more the company wants you, and you can get more from them. Good luck, and keep posting. It's been a while since Monongalia County has seen activity and some of the older posts aren't as applicable as they used to be, so some new info is in order.
Are there any descendants of F.M. Brookover that have minerals in this county? I have some questions and need to connect.
Kyle, Thanks for the info. We also have minerals rights in Battelle, about 20 net acres. What drilling/E&P company was your mineral rights leased to and about how many net acres, if you don’t mind saying… Thanks.