Bedford, NRH, Haltom City getting offers

The Bedford City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a new ordinance that would allow gas drilling in the city.

Lease offers apparently are already drifting into the city. A Bedford homeowner living near Harris HEB Hospital, between Texas 183 and Highway 10, reports to Blogging the Barnett Shale that she's just received a lease offer from Dale Resources. Dale, acting on behalf of Chesapeake Energy, proposed a $2,000-per-acre signing bonus, $400 minimum, 20 percent royalty, 5-year term, and no surface access rights.

As neighborhood leasing has spread, Bedford officials began to debate whether to change the city's unusual ordinance that banned drilling. Thursday, the council scheduled the new ordinance for a vote at their regular meeting, 7 p.m. Tuesday at the City Hall. The ordinance allows drilling, but regulates it to protect the city's neighborhoods.

Blogging the Barnett Shale is also hearing that more lease offers are popping up elsewhere in Northeast Tarrant County.

A homeowner in the Smithfield Acres neighborhood, between Smithfield and Davis Boulevard, in North Richland Hills reports an inquiry from a land broker acting on behalf of Chesapeake. The Smithfield lots are unusual, about a half-acre in size. The broker didn't specify terms in his letter, but invited the homeowner to call back. Drilling is underway elsewhere in North Richland Hills.

And this just in from an S-T staffer who lives north of Broadway and west of Haltom Road in Haltom City: she reports a landman acting on behalf of Snow Oil Co. in Fort Worth dropped a letter in her mailbox Wednesday. It offered a signing bonus of $405 (she says she has a quarter-acre lot), with no specifics on royalty or term. The letter invites the property owner to come by Snow's office to sign up, and promises the bonus would be paid immediately upon signing.

--- Scott

(Photo: High school football at Pennington Field)

Comments

[Lynda Cooper]

How much longer are the homeowners in Haltom going to have to wait for their checks that have been promised. We could really use the money. Thank you,

[Doug Miller]

If you live in North Richland Hills, before you sign a gas lease please consider the advantages of negotiating as a group. Many neighborhoods have substantially improved the terms of the offers by negotiating as a group.

Such a group is being formed in NRH and a community meeting is being arranged very soon where mineral rights attorney Bob West will speak about the pros and cons of organizing neighborhoods for negoitiations.

Please vistit the web site: www.nrhminerals.com ;

also visit the group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NRHMOA/ for further info.

Please consider joining this new group.
odm

[R. Worsham]

The problem with delay is that gas is controlled by the Rule of Capture, and these pockets of gas do not stop at the City limits sign. If they pump all the gas out of the gas pocket through a well in Hurst, and it just happens to drain gas out of Bedford, that's just too bad for Bedford.

[Clayton]

If D.H. had his way, the gas would never go anywhere EVER. Get active, get togeather and get your just deserts. You have power in numbers, but don't let some self-proclaimed leader do your learning and takling for you, do it as a group, vote together and win together.

[Deidre]

If any neighbors in the Oakmont Addition in Bedford are trying to get people together to discuss as a group, I would love to be contacted. bedfordbilling@att.net is my email address. Thanks!

[D.H.]

What's the hurry. Time will give you more money. All the money you are missing out on. Let see Wood Haven neighborhood recieved $25.00 from April 2006 - April 2007 WOW a whole $2.00 a month. Now I heard another Neighbor was getting about $50.00 a month. WOW a whole $600.00 a year. I know that is a lot to miss out of. As time goes by the more money you will make. Only the landman want you to make a quick decission. Hold out, the gas is not going anywhere.

I sent a proposal myself to Dale whom are pressing Haltom City residents. They ignored my proposel. A week later they had a meeting in a church for all to come and spread the hours for the meeting for a walk in between the 4 hours. This way they can pressure the elderly which is in high volume over there on a one on one situtation. Then they had another 4 hour window for people to come to in to be pressured at the churh the next week. This community has not had a chance to organize. Some elderly I have talked to are so confused they are tired of being pressured. These lots in Haltom City are much larger than the norm. The gas companies are offering much less because it is an older comunity, and know they have no fight on their hand like the newer communities whom are informed on the better offers out there and are young enough to fight big drillers.

[T.W. Fredrick]

Several Bedford Homeowners Associations and others met last evening. At this meeting an attorney and a representative from Dale Resources explained various factors regarding possible drilling in Bedford. Bedford's city staff and members of the City Council have dithered and taken no, or ineffective, action on drilling in Bedford, while other cities surroundering the city have actually participated in gas recovery for more than a year, claims to be "working" on an ordinance to accomodate drilling. In the first place, unbelievably, they didn't know Bedford had an ordinance prohibiting drilling in Bedford. Since that time last spring, city staff had "studied the issue" to the point of exhaustion, dragged their feet and will not share any information when asked for a progress report, meanwhile all cities which surround Bedford are actively participating in the drilling program and most are actually deriving income for their citizens and city coffers. I find it very odd that drilling outside of Bedford city limits can extract gas from under Bedford and Bedford as a city does not benefit.

In my opinion the City Council is not exerting enough pressure on city staff to develope realistic regulatory standards to accomodate drilling in our city. Since all other surrounding cities have actually participated in the drilling program, with similar congested areas, I find it inexcusable the Council has not acted. With our 10 square miles available, if only 1/2 of our acreage were involved it is possible, with current bonus payments, that Bedford could realize up to $32,000,000 cash inflow, plus royalties. If our elected Council members are not acting in the citizens best interest I believe I know where the problem lies.