Sally, that lease was with Antero. The other companies working up there are EQT and Northeast Natural Energy. It's always a good idea to shop around if you can. The acreage was over 100, but I don't remember the details. I had my associate negotiating that one.
Sally Swenk, I have just learned I have minerals in Battelle, about 20 net acres too. I worked with Northeast and have signed a lease with them. My grandfather was a Brookover from WV. I live in TX, but also have minerals in OK.
Carol, Congratulations. We are in the negotiation process with Precision working on behalf of Northeast. Were you able to get acceptable lease terms, bonus and royalty?
Yes, but it took two addendums. We got about 90% of what I wanted. The only thing I didn't like was the 5 year lease. Never have done that.
I just heard back from Mark S Kidder from the Honor Resources Company working for EQT. And after getting him the signed and sealed affidavits he just called me to tell me that EQT just called him and told him to suspend the project…I was just on the phone with him 5 minutes prior to him calling me back and we were discussing when we would be getting the contract and stuff…is this normal??? Why would we be contacted, go though all this heirship stuff and then they back out??? Help! Just nervous now that we were being scammed…
Angela, maybe call owner relations at EQT and ask if and why they are suspending leases in this district in this county. Also, ask if they have your lease and has it been filed? Don't know if you can, but ask for the lease back?!
Carol I will have to look up the phone number for EQT because when I originally looked online all I saw was an international number. We had not signed a contract yet...we were in the process of getting the mineral property into our names so that the contract could be written up. We had just mailed Mark the signed and sealed affidavits of heirship that he said he had received......Here is what I just messaged some one on this site who sent me a friend request from this site:
We were contacted back in May about possibly being heirs to some mineral property in the Cass district of Monongalia County in WV. I have been in communication with a landman named Mark S Kidder who works for the Honor Resources Company in WV and he was representing EQT. After months of trying to get this stuff figured out we finally got affidavits to sign and seal and get back to him. I called him today and we talked for about a half hour or so and he informed me that he had received the affidavits and had just spent the day yesterday looking into more of our families background to see if he could find any wills or anything. He could not so the next step was to use the affidavits and get the property into my Dad's and my Dad's half sister's names and then draw up the contracts. After getting off the phone with him he emailed me to verify if my Dad's sister was a widow and I confirmed that yes she was. No more than 5 minutes later he called me back and said that EQT had just contacted him and told him to suspend the project. Then he sent us this email:
Kevin,
I wanted to take a moment and thank you for all your help on putting together the information of your family. I regret that I didn’t get it put together a little quicker as EQT has just contacted me and has suspended this prospect area. They have decided to change their focus to other areas in the state. The work that has been done so far will be retained by EQT and possibly reopened in the future. Thanks again, I hope that at least the information you gained from the research will be beneficial.
Mark S. Kidder, RPL
So is this normal???? Does this happen often??? We still need to get the mineral property in our names.....how do we go about getting that done soon?
Carol I just contacted EQT's owner relations department. I left them a voicemail and an email. Thanks so much for the info....I hope to hear back from them soon.
Ok so I am going to look it up online but does anyone know how to complete the process of getting the mineral property that we are heirs to in our names? We were already in the process of doing so until today when the land man we were working with informed us that the project was suspended.......so he has the signed and sealed affidavits....who do I contact in the county to finish this process and getting the property in our names.....does anyone know? I thought Mark was going to do it for us since he was the middle man for EQT but now thats not gonna happen... :(
Angela, I don't know the laws in WV. I am in TX and know alittle about OK. I would suggest you get in touch with the county clerk of Monongalia County, Carye Blaney, (304) 291-7233. You might go online and google the county and state and click on county clerk and look at the everything that has been filed since 1881. Put in the name of person you inherited the mineral from. You really need to have the affidavit filed.
Carol I am in Ohio Lived in Elpaso TX years ago when my Dad was stationed at Fort Bliss. I will call her tomorrow thank you so much. I will also go search for that information now. They have the affidavits but I do have the PDF's of them so I can reprint them, get them notarized and get them filed....
Angela, you can file the Affidavit yourself. It's a good idea to do so because if another company comes looking for your mineral rights they'll be able to find you much quicker than EQT did. The filing fees shouldn't be too much, maybe $15-$25. I'd have to ask my secretary to be sure. She handles anything we file.
As to EQT pulling the plug on the project; yes, that happens in the industry. I worked as a landman for about four years before hanging out my shingle and was transferred three times with one company in about two years. The first time was about seven weeks after I started on the project. You're working in one county one day and the next day you're in another. Usually there's either no indication a change is coming or just a little bit of speculation among the landman team for a couple days to a week. It's weird when you experience it the first couple times, but it's the way the industry works.
Back before the bust in 2014 a lot of companies would go ahead and honor the agreements they had started working out with people, especially if the people would sign and get them back quickly. This is because the companies swap properties regularly, and in this case there are other companies working in Mon County who would probably be interested in the property. Which reminds me--you should reach out to Antero Resources and Northeast Natural Energy to see if they're interested in your property. I know they're working in Mon County.
Kyle thank u so much for the information. I got the affidavits back yesterday. Do I need to drive to WV to file them or do I mail them?
I would trust what Kyle says, but I called the county clerk and ask how much the filing fee was. I mail the affidavit, check, and ask her to return the stamped affidavit. They didn't charge for the return. It took about 2-3 weeks.
Ok great Carol thanks. I called and had to leave a message so hopefully they call back soon 
I was contacted today by a landman for Northeast energy. Apparently I am an heir to mineral rights there. (We also have inherited a few parcels in OK). The last few years I have become well versed in the inheritance laws in OK regarding mineral rights, but I am not sure about Oklahoma.
Does leaving all property to someone in a will include mineral rights (without surface ownership)? In Oklahoma, it does not. Therefore all surviving members of a family own a piece unless names are specified in the mineral rights deed.