Barnett Shale

Pool Road Coalition looks for deal by end of May

About 300 members of the Pool Road Coalition, in Colleyville, met last night at the Highland Meadows Christian Church to hear dueling presentiations from Chesapeake Energy and XTO Energy, according to a press release that the group just distributed.

Among other things recently accomplished, the group has hired Mark Nastri of the law firm Munch Hardt to represent it.

Michael Muhm, lead organizer for the Pool Road Coalition, said in the release that his group hopes to sign a deal by the end of May.

But at this point, the group still hasn't chosen any drilling company to endorse.

"You will clearly know when we have reached a recommendation and who we have endorsed," Muhm said.

Click here to check out the group's website.

And click here for past stories on this group.

--David Wethe

Another Southlake group emerges

The Dove Area Gas Group, in Southlake, has popped up on our radar, and it plans to hold a meeting tomorrow with presentations by XTO Energy and Chesapeake Energy.

The meeting will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Johnson Elementary auditorium.

According to the DAGG website, "everyone is welcome to attend." The group says new members can turn in their non-binding letters of intent at the meeting.

Here are the neighborhoods and subdivisions that make up DAGG, according to its site:

• Carmel Bay
• Carroll Meadows
• Dove Estates
• Emerald Estates
• Harbor Oaks
• Huntwick
• Lakes on Dove
• Lakeside Estates
• Loch Meadow
• Lonesome Dove Estates
• The Madison
• Oak Pointe
• Quail Creek
• South Lake Park
• Trail Lake

The group's site also reports that property owners in Lonesome Dove Estates have been offered a bonus of $17,000-per-acre. It's unclear who made the offer, but Dale Resources, on behalf of Chesapeake Energy, made that kind of an offer to a large group of property owners representing about 5,000 acres southwest of 114 in primarily Southlake and Colleyville.

DAGG, which says its mission is to represent more than 800 homeowners, lists its boundaries as:

• White Chapel Boulevard on the west
• Dove Road on the south
• Kimball on the east
• Grapevine Lake on the north

More to come as we hear about it.

--David Wethe

XTO meets with CAMRA and others in NE Tarrant

The Colleyville Area Mineral Rights Association held its long-awaited meeting earlier this week with officials from XTO Energy and its land company, Colt Exploration.

Grady Walker described the meeting as more informational than that of a sales pitch. XTO is currently sitting with the highest offer to many northeast Tarrant County neighborhoods, with an $18,500 bonus offer, a 25 percent royalty and a three-year primary and two-year secondary term. Dale Resources, on behalf of Chesapeake Energy, had previously made an offer for $17,000 an acre, with all of the other terms being the same as XTO's offer.

Walker's group invited representatives from about six of the largest neighborhood groups to XTO's meeting. They included:

• Continental Park Estates, in Southlake
• Pool Road Coalition, in Colleyville
• Hidden Lakes, in Keller
• D/FW West, in Grapevine and Euless
• Southlake Park Oil and Gas Group
• North Keller Neighbors Together, in Keller, Westlake and Southlake
• White Chapel Corridor, in Southlake

There were about 60 people at the meeting, a little more than the number of people who showed up a couple weeks earlier to Dale's presentation at the Southlake Hilton Hotel.

"Now comes the hard part," Walker wrote in a release issued today. "We need to work with these companies to get behind the presentations, lofty words and 'contract examples' to see what specifically they are willing to offer CAMRA members in terms of financial and other contractual commitments."

Walker said after the two-hour meeting, that XTO and Chesapeake are now both considered "excellent companies." He said he now expects "a lot of activity over the next several weeks."

--David Wethe

Saltwater well fire in Erath County

A saltwater disposal well caught fire in Erath County on Sunday. Fort Worth has a moratorium on the wells, which are used to which are used to dispose of the waste from natural gas drilling. Their safety is a key point in negotiations over whether to allow them inside the city limits.

Industry officials have said that the waste is mostly saltwater, and that the wells are the most effective way to dispose of it. Opponents, including residents of Wise, Parker and Erath counties, have been fighting the wells for years. They claim the water is contaminated with crude oil and other hydrocarbons, and that the wells are dangerous.

Here's a clip from the Stephenville Empire Tribune: http://www.empiretribune.com/articles/2008/04/29/news/doc4817276960d9b251704506.txt

For more information, including previous accidents in North Texas, check this story from November's Star-Telegram: Well_plan_injects_pressure_into_wastewater_dispute.htm

-- Mike Lee

XTO Energy offers leases in Haltom City

An S-T staffer who lives in Haltom City's Browning Heights neighborhood says XTO Energy has now entered the leasing picture there, joining two competitors for leases.

A postcard received on Monday advertised an offer that appeared to match a previous offer by Dale Resources. The terms: $12,500 per net mineral acre, 25 percent royalty, and a 3-year primary term with 2 year option at $10,000 per acre.

The postcard reads: "XTO wishes to announce the expansion of its Barnett Shale leasing project to include the Haltom City Area of Tarrant County, Texas. Please contact us for more information."

-- Scott Nishimura

DFW West (Grapevine) gets lease deal with XTO

The DFW West Homeowners group in Grapevine reports it has accepted a lease deal with XTO Energy and its representative, Colt Exploration.

The terms: $18,500 signing bonus, four-year primary lease term, one-year extension option for $11,500 per acre, and a 25 percent royalty. The drill site would be north of Highway 26, Kevin Rhodes, one of DFW West's organizers, told homeowners in an email message.

"We will notify you as soon as the final lease is negotiated," Rhodes says in the email. "We anticipate having multiple lease signing meetings and possibly mailings for those who cannot make it to the meetings."

Click here to visit DFW West's web site.

-- Scott Nishimura

North Keller group organized, waiting for an offer

There's a group that's up and running in the Keller area that includes more than 1,000 acres. Now all it needs is an offer.

The North Keller Neighbors Together group, which includes property owners in Keller, Westlake and Southlake, has been together for about a year, but is not currently considering any offers, said Melanie Belcheff, an organizer of the NKNT.

Some members of the NKNT received offers last year of about $5,500 per acre and a 25 percent royalty, with costs included, from Hillwood Energy and its representative Doyle Land Services. But the companies didn't want to negotiate, so the group rejected the offer "as insufficient," Belcheff wrote in an e-mail to the Star-Telegram. The offer didn't include environmental or royalty fairness terms, she wrote.

Meanwhile, the group continues to meet and add more property owners. Belcheff said NKNT could soon grow to more than 2,000 acres in size.

You can check out the group's website here.

Here's a look at what the Keller Citizen wrote about this neighborhood group.

--David Wethe

Chesapeake's ad campaign

Fort Worth isn't the only regiona where Chesapeake Energy is mounting a big ad campaign. This article from the online journal ClimateWire says Chesapeake is mounting a PR campaign in Washington, D.C., too.

Click here to view the article: Climatewire.doc

Update: Here's part 2: Climatewire_part 2.doc

-- Mike

CATS endorses Titan Resources/Caffey contract

CATS, the southwest Arlington group representing homeowners immediately east of Lake Arlington, said Monday it endorsed a lease with Titan Resources/Caffey Group and will hold informational meetings at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Monday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 5819 W. Pleasant Ridge Dr. The CATS lease pays a $26,000/acre bonus and 25.5 percent royalty for a 3-year term (and a commitment to drill within 30 months), said organizer Jim MacDowell. He said the extra half-point royalty came from the owner of a planned drill site, near Bowman Springs and Shorewood, who contributed a portion of his override on the lease. Titan is affiliated with Hollis R. Sullivan, MacDowell said. He said the deal was the outcome of discussions with five parties that eventually came down to Titan and Paloma Resources, acting on behalf of Chesapeake Energy.

-- Jim Fuquay

Barnett Shale Newsletter offers information map

The Powell Barnett Shale Newsletter, a subscription-only electronic publication aimed at industry insiders, has created the Barnett Shale PowerMap©, which allows users to view production data for individual wells that can be searched for by location. The map covers the Barnett Shale and other fields in the Fort Worth Basin. To give it a try, visit the newsletter at http://www.barnettshalenews.com. There is a link to the map, along with instructions on how to use it.

The map displays Texas Railroad Commission data, but people who have attempted to use the Railroad Commission's own production information system (http://gis2.rrc.state.tx.us/public/) should find the newsletter's map vastly easier to use. The map will be free through June 15, after which it will require a subscription.

-- Jim Fuquay