Barnett Shale

New group forms in Grapevine

A new neighborhood gas group -- and another crazy acronym -- has emerged in Grapevine, by the name of East of Pool Road Owners Group.

That's EPROG, for those of you still working on the letters.

The group, which formed during the first week in March, consists of 212 members and covers about 400 acres. It's website is easy enough, www.pooleast.com.

And its boundaries, all within the city of Grapevine, are:

• Pool Road on the west
• Hall Johnson Road on the south
• High Meadow on the north
• High Countryside Drive on the east

The group hasn't received any offers yet, and only some of the individual homeowners have received any, said Jim Heckman, the group's leader.

But land companies representing XTO Energy and Chesapeake Energy have both expressed interest, Heckman said.

The group is wedged between two more prominent groups: DFW West Homeowners, which agreed in April to a deal with XTO for an per-acre bonus of $18,500 and a 25 percent royalty; and Pool Road Coalition, which recently merged with the Colleyville Area Mineral Rights Association, and is considering competing offers from XTO and Chesapeake. The highest offer is from XTO for a per-acre bonus of $18,500.

--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

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

Grapevine organizers move ahead

Organizers of DFW West Homeowners in Grapevine, a coalition of more than 20 neighborhoods west of Texas 121 and north of Hall Johnson, report they're moving ahead.

The group is broken down by subdivision, with one or two leaders per subdivision. DFW West says it has a group of seven "specialists" who work in the energy industry. It's up to each subdivision's leaders to organize their homeowners.

"We're just a few weeks away from negotiating," one of the group's leaders says.

He also says the group has spoken to organizers of a group of neighborhoods in Grapevine east of 121 that have organized and signed a letter of intent to be represented by two independent landmen. Chris Warton, a leader of that group, says both sides plan to meet soon.

The Grapevine neighborhoods and some in Euless, all just west of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, have received lease offers from Cimmaron Field Services on behalf of Chesapeake Energy. Click here to read our previous posts on Grapevine and here to read our previous posts on Euless. The offers: $3,000-per-acre signing bonus, 20 percent royalty.

Other tidbits from DFW West:

• Cimmaron is telling neighborhood organizers it's sent out 5,000 lease packets to the area.
• Neighborhood organizers say they control about 2,000 lots and 400 acres.
• On its web site, DFW West lists more than 20 neighborhoods that it's working with. In addition to the neighborhoods that Blogging the Barnett Shale has already reported, DFW West's site lists the Stonewood, Creekwood West, Los Robles, Walker Farms Timberline East, High Point, and Parkwood neighborhoods west of 121 and north of Hall-Johnsonin Grapevine. DFW West's site also lists the Glade Crossing group and the Euless neighborhoods of Glade Manor, Quail Run Estates, and Quali Creek Estates east of 121 off of Glade Road.

DFW West organizers are telling property owners they want to:

• Limit the size of the pooling unit to ensure the highest possible royalty payments.
• Negotiate no warranty of title into the lease, providing protection in cases of disputes over ownership of mineral rights.
• Limit the lease term, possibly to three years. The offered term is for five years.
• Ensure they know where the drill sites are.
• Negotiate protection on mortgage subordination.
• Negotiate protection on environmental concerns.

-- Scott Nishimura

(Photos: Grapevine's Great Wolf Lodge, traffic on Texas 114 at Texas 121)

Having a meeting on the Barnett Shale? Publicize it here, on our new Community Calendar!

Grapevine-Euless HOAs ask owners to hold off

Here's Jim Fuquay's story from today on leasing in Grapevine and Euless. And here are our previous posts on leasing in the two cities.

-- Scott Nishimura

Getting on the ball: Grapevine

Blogging the Barnett Shale continues to receive updates from property owners in Grapevine subdivisions west of Texas 121 and D/FW Airport, north of Hall Johnson Road, east of Pool Road and south of Mustang Drive. An increasing number of property owners also are interested in helping organize those neighborhoods.

For the sake of user-friendliness, as we hear about them, we're adding the new neighborhoods from that area on this post. You'll find comments from property owners who want to organize on that post, this second post and a third.

Additionally, you'll find updates from the nearby Euless/Glade Road neighborhoods in Euless and Grapevine that report receiving the same offer on this post. It also includes comments from property owners who want to organize.

All posts have updated contact info on Cimmaron Field Services. And, our apologies to Cimmaron for misspelling the company's name. All references are correct now.

Thanks again for reading us!

-- Scott Nishimura

Euless-GVine homeowners near D/FW report offers

Euless and Grapevine property owners in neighborhoods just west of D/FW Airport, east of Texas 121 and off of Glade Road report the same lease offer that residents of several nearby Grapevine neighborhoods have received from Cimmaron Field Services on behalf of Chesapeake Energy.

The neighborhoods that have reported their offers to Blogging the Barnett Shale:

• Arbormont Estates, east of Baze Road, north of Glade, west of Euless Grapevine Road and Texas 360, Grapevine.
• Cinnamon Ridge, east of 121, south of Glade Road, west of Texas 360, east of North Euless Main Street, Euless.
• Quail Run Estates, east of 121, south of Glade Road, and west of North Main Street, Euless.
• Glade Crossing, east of Baze Road, north of Glade Road, and west of Euless Grapevine Road and Texas 360, Grapevine.
• Glade Manor, east of North Euless Main Street, south of Glade Road, west of Texas 360, Euless.

The terms: $3,000-per-acre signing bonus, 20 percent royalty, five-year term, no surface access rights.

Homeowners report Cimmaron is holding a series of lease signing meetings. The last two are scheduled Dec. 17 and Dec. 19 at Colleyville Center.

Grapevine homeowners have reported a series of lease offers west of 121 that are identiical to the ones in Euless. The Grapevine homeowners believe the drill sites could be at D/FW Airport, where Chesapeake has been drilling.

Getting organized: A Glade area property owner wants to organize property owners -- he says the Glade area has a high number of landlord-owned properties, which will make organizing more difficult -- to get the best possible terms. Contact Phil Huddleston at pdh6251@aol.com.

-- Scott Nishimura

(Photo: Shopping center goes up at southeast corner of Texas 121 and Glade Road)

Talking amongst themselves: Grapevine homeowners

By day, Bob Ball sells software for Success Factors, a San Mateo, Calif., company that's just gone public. As if he didn't have his hands full with that job, Ball, who lives in Grapevine and is president of the Windsor Forest Homeowner Association, is ready to jump into the Barnett Shale scrum. "I'm just multi-tasking," he says.

Windsor Forest is one of several Grapevine neighborhoods, just west of D/FW Airport and Texas 121, and north of Hall Johnson near Parr Park, that received gas lease offers in the last week from Cimmaron Field Services on behalf of Chesapeake Energy. To read our previous posts on Grapevine leasing, click here. And for a list of Grapevine neighborhood associations and contacts, click here.

Ball says about 25 Windsor Forest homeowners met Saturday to discuss what to do next. Among their first concerns: Figure out where Chesapeake wants to drill from. Given Grapevine's restrictive drilling ordinance, the homeowners believe Chesapeake may want to drill from its its sites at D/FW, which Ball figures is a mile or so "as the crow flies" from Windsor Forest.

The Windsor Forest association has just 45 homes and is interested in "uniting" with other Grapevine area associations to collectively negotiate lease terms, Ball says. To contact Ball, send him an email at rball@successfactors.com or call him at (817) 456-1144.

Other Grapevine homeowners are interested in getting organized. Read their comments at the end of this earlier blog post.

-- Scott

(Photos: Soccer drills at Parr Park, an American Eagle jet on approach to D/FW)

More Grapevine homeowners report lease offers

More Grapevine property owners in neighborhoods west of Texas 121, north of Hall Johnson, east of Pool Road, and south of Mustang Drive are reporting lease offers from Cimmaron Field Services on behalf of Chesapeake Energy. All are just west of D/FW Airport, where Chesapeake has been drilling.

Here's the latest, all on terms of $3,000-per-acre signing bonus, 20 percent royalty, 5-year term, and no surface access rights:

• Belfort Estates, Hall Johnson and Heritage
• Creekwood Estates, west of 121, south of Timberline, north of Parr Park.
• Heatherwilde, west of 121, north and south of Timberline Drive, northeast of Parr Park. 
• Oak Creek Estates, west of 121, north and east of Timberline Drive, south of Mustang Drive, northeast of Parr Park.
• O'Dell
• Timberline South, just south of Timberline Drive.
• Town Park, off of Mustang Drive east of Parr Park.
• Western Oaks Estates, sections I and II, west of 121, east of Heritage, north of Hall Johnson, southeast of Parr Park.
• Windsor Forest, west of 121, north of Hall Johnson, just southeast of Parr Park.
• Woodland Hills, west of 121, north of Hall Johnson, east of Pool Road, southeast of Parr Park.
• Yorkshire Meadows, west of 121 and Heritage, north of Hall Johnson, east of Parr Park.

And a homeowner in Glade Manor, in Euless bordering Grapevine between Texas 360 and Texas 121, and just south of Glade Road next to the airport, reports the same Cimarron-Chesapeake offer.

Homeowners also report that Cimmaron/Chesapeake have scheduled lease meetings Dec. 11, 17, and 19 at Colleyville Center.

Some of the homeowners who reported their lease offers are interested in helping with efforts to organize their Grapevine neighborhoods. They have posted comments on this post to get the conversation started. The president of one Grapevine HOA is willing to help organize neighborhoods.

Thank you to the property owners who let us know about their lease offers, and keep them coming. Send us an email to snishimura@star-telegram.com or use the "comments" section on the end of this post.

Here's what Blogging the Barnett Shale reported Friday on Grapevine lease offers.

-- Scott

(Photos: Ultimate frisbee at Parr Park, on the monkey bars at Parr Park)

Grapevine homeowners report lease offers

Property owners in two Grapevine neighborhoods are reporting lease offers. A homeowner in the Shadow Glen subdivision near Glade Road and Texas 121, behind Delaney Vineyard, reports a lease offer today from Cimmaron Field Services on behalf of Chesapeake Energy. The terms: $3,000-per-acre signing bonus, minimum $450 per lot, 5-year term, 20 percent royalty, and no surface access operations.

A homeowner in the Creekwood Estates subdivision north of Parr Park reports an offer of $3,000 per acre and a 20 percent royalty. Check back for more updates on this offer.

Grapevine has been anticipating drilling for some time. The City Council stiffened drilling regulations a year ago.  (Click here to read Grapevine's gas drilling ordinance; enter "gas drilling" in the search bar.) Earlier this year, the Grapevine-Colleyville School District agreed to a lease deal with Chesapeake. And drilling is underway at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, also under an agreement with Chesapeake.

Blogging the Barnett Shale wants to hear whether any offers are going out to your Grapevine neighborhood. Send an email to snishimura@star-telegram.com or use the "comments" section on the bottom of this blog post. Please give us the following information: bonus offer per acre, royalty, term, land company, drilling company, whether a specific drill site has been mentioned, and whether your neighborhood is organizing. If it is, please forward us the contact info for your neighborhood.

And, to really help us verify your offer, if you can, please fax us a copy of your cover sheet and lease form to (817) 390-7773. We won't publish information about your specific property.

Thank you,

-- Scott

(Archive photo: Annual Grape Stomp, Delaney Vineyards, Grapevine)