Pa. bill makes it harder to terminate expired leases
Monday, December 18, 2017
Section 1610 of the Pennsylvania Fiscal Code will make it easier for oil and gas companies to restart old and expired leases, according to Farm and Dairy.
The bill, which passed in October, will make it harder for landowners to terminate a lease after a well has stopped producing if a royalty payment has been accepted from a company that has restarted production on an old lease or from a company that drilled a new well on the lease after giving the landowner 90 days to object.
The director of media and strategic communications for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Mark O’Neill, urges landowners with an old or expired oil and gas lease who receive a royalty check out of the blue not to cash anything. The suggested course of action would be to call a lawyer and challenge the validity of the check.
Learn more: Farm and Dairy > Pa. landowners: Don’t cash that royalty check
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Shale FAQ
What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
Is it safe?
What most concerns people about fracturing is ground water contamination. The worry is that fractures underground, caused by the process, will extending upwards and into aquifers, releasing gas and chemicals into the ground water supply. There’s been no confirmed reports of such a thing happening. Though surface spills and drill site blowouts can lead to localized environmental concerns.
Will my water catch on fire?
Flammable water is caused by the release of methane gas into a drinking water supply. Methane gas occurs naturally and can be released by any kind of drilling, including water wells. In Pennsylvania officials fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million for contaminating ground water with methane. It was determined that the company had not properly cemented it’s boreholes and gas migrated up the well, between rock and into aquifers.