Barnett Shale

NETGLO neighborhoods back Chesapeake lease

Residents of neighborhoods in northeast Tarrant County are moving toward executing a final Barnett Shale natural gas leasing agreement with Chesapeake Energy after having overwhelmingly approved the proposed terms in a Saturday election. Nearly 95 percent of the 1,591 households voting cast ballots in favor of the leasing deal, said Doug Inscho of Keller, chairman of the research team for the Northeast Tarrant Gas Leasing Organization (NETGLO). It comprises about 40 neighborhoods in Keller, North Richland Hills and a small portion of Colleyville. The lease proposal calls for a bonus of $5,250 per acre for a three-year primary term, with a $2,500 bonus for an optional second two-year term. The royalty rate would be 25 percent.

Inscho said he believes the proposal received lopsided approval because “people looked at the terms that were offered and it certainly is better than the current market rate...what companies are offering just going door to door.” Some recent offers have been for bonuses of only about $1,000 to $2,000 an acre and a royalty rate of only 20 percent. Inscho said he believes that northeast Tarrant residents also backed the lease proposal because they “were interested in moving on...they’ve been dealing with this, waiting and waiting and waiting, for almost a couple of years.” The next step, Inscho said, will be to meet with Chesapeake officials and see what follow-up actions are needed to move toward getting leases with individual property owners executed.

-- Jack Z. Smith

Drillers may face tighter deadlines in North Richland Hills

City officials in North Richland Hills are struggling with a problem other cities are also facing with high-impact wells: the lag between when the permit is approved and when the drilling actually begins.

As that can sometimes take months, new homes and commercial buildings may be built in the meantime that are within 600 feet of a gas well. The city's current rules don't require those new property owners to be notified, meaning someone could build a new home within 600 feet of an already approved gas well and not even know it.

To address this issue, officials suggested to the city council this week that they approve two changes to the city's gas ordinance.

First off, clarify that gas companies that haven't started drilling within 90 days of permit approval may only get one 90-day extension. If 180 days go by and a company still hasn't started drilling, it will have to get another approval from the Gas Board of Appeals which will in turn have to notify all property owners within 600 feet.

Secondly, the city may start requiring gas companies to file "Gas Well Vicinity Notices" with Tarrant County at the time of the drilling permit to make sure all new property owners in the area are notified. The city may go as far as attaching a copy of those notices to all future building permits and on all future subdivision plats within 600 feet of the well site.

City spokeswoman Mary Peters said the city council was generally supportive of the ordinance changes and will likely vote on them sometime next month.

-Aman Batheja

Northeast Tarrant Gas Leasing Organization moves ahead

A new group representing property owners in North Richland Hills and south Keller is up an running as Northeast Tarrant Gas Leasing Organization, or NETGLO. Organizers say NETGLO has a goal of 2,400 acres. The group's rough boundaries are Rufe Snow Drive on the west, to Davis Boulevard on the east, to Shady Grove Road on the north to Bursey Road on the south, although neighborhoods outside that area are already on board. For more information, visit the group's Web site at www.netglo.org.

-- Jim Fuquay

Dale goes after leases in NE Tarrant County

  Here's the full story from S-T staffer David Wethe on Dale Resources' pitch to neighborhood groups in Colleyville, Southlake, North Richland Hills, and Keller for leases. The offer could apply broadly to people in Colleyville and Southlake. Don't have a lease offer from Dale? Read this story to find out more on what you can do to find out if you're eligible.

Here's S-T staffer Adrienne Nettles' story from earlier this week on the Southlake City Council's consideration of changes that would allow drilling closer to homes.

Pictured is a map of drill sites that Dale Resources says Chesapeake has secured in the affected Northeast Tarrant County area. Dale reps handed the map out to neighborhood leaders at a meeting Tuesday night.

-- Scott Nishimura

Dale makes broad pitch for $17,000 in NE Tarrant

Dale Resources made an unusual and far-flung pitch last night to lease mineral rights for about 5,000 acres in Northeast Tarrant County.

The offer is for a bonus of $17,000 an acre and a 25 percent royalty. The lease term is for three years and an option for a two-year renewal.

The offer was made to a packed room full of about 40 community leaders from Colleyville, Southlake, and parts of North Richland Hills and Keller. As neighborhood group leaders and HOA presidents spilled out of the small conference room at the Southlake Hilton after the meeting, at least one expressed intrigue and possible interest in the offer.

Michael Muhm, leader of the Pool Road Coalition, called the offer "very interesting." He said XTO Energy has a competing offer out to property owners in his group's area for a bonus of roughly $12,500 an acre. But he said his group is looking at not only the best dollar amount but who would also be the best drilling company for property owners to partner with, and he said Chesapeake is looking strong.

Dale has also proposed 11 signing dates throughout the month of May in Colleyville.

Dale officials said the offer is good for anyone living in a large swath of northeast Tarrant, mainly southwest of 114. But the land company also did say that if there was not enough people that started signing, the offer could go down. A deadline date was not given for how long the offer would be good for.

Among the affected areas are the upscale, 1,100-acre Timarron community in Southlake, the Pool Road Coalition and the Colleyville Area Mineral Rights Association.

Stay tuned to this space for more updates, and to the S-T print edition Thursday for a full story. We're trying to get a handle on who was in the room Tuesday night, and how broad the area is that we're talking about.

If you were in the room and you have a perspective, we'd love to hear it. Just drop us an email at dwethe@star-telegram.com or call us!

-- David Wethe

(Photo: Southlake trolley)

North Richland Hills, Watauga homeowners organize

Property owners in North Richland Hills and Watauga are organizing to try and improve their lease offers.

The North Richland Hills Mineral Alliance is meeting 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Life Church, 7850 Davis Boulevard in North Richland Hills. Bob West, an oil and gas attorney fresh off of assisting in the negotiation of a community lease in North Benbrook, is speaking.

Lease offers in the North Richland Hills-Watauga area offer signing bonuses of $1,500 to $4,000 per acre, 18-25 percent royalties, and five-year terms, the group reports. "The lease form that you will be required to use will be vague, will probably leave you open for potential problems in the future, and will probably give the gas company the right to charge a greater portion of the production and sales costs to you before calculating your royalties," the group says on its web site. Click here to visit the site.

The group says it wants to improve on the bonus and royalty offers and negotiate "customized leases designed to protect the mineral rights owner."

-- Scott Nishimura

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

Petrocasa/Hardin leasing in North Richland Hills

North Richland Hills resident Michaela Starrett, who last week received a lease offer from Petrocasa on behalf of Harding Co., wants her Foster Village Addition to get organized, and has taken the first step to do just that: a Yahoo Groups page at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NRHMOA/.

"I called this weekend and found out that the offer is $1,500/acre bonus, 20% royalty, and 3-year primary term," Michaela tells us. She invites all interested neighbors to check out the page "to join and discuss."

In a related note, another NRH resident tells us he has received a similar offer from Petrocasa, which says its drilling site is on the Graham Ranch on Hightower Drive. Incidentally, Harding has a partnership with Exxon Mobil in the Barnett Shale, so you might occasionally see the Exxon name as well.

Click here to read all of Blogging the Barnett Shale's posts about North Richland Hills.

-- Jim

(Photo: First graders at Foster Village Elementary in North Richland Hills)

Iron Horse homeowners get Dale offer

The Iron Horse Homeowners Association in North Richland Hills reports receiving an offer from Dale Property Services for $2,500 per acre, or $400 per lot, and a 20 percent royalty for a 5-year primary term and no surface use. There is a community meeting scheduled for Nov. 29, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Haltom City Recreation Center, 4839 Broadway Ave in Haltom City. The Iron Horse Homeowners Association says officers will attend the meet for information purposes with the aim of gaining the best lease for its members.

-- Jim

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(photo: "Syringing" the greens at Iron Horse golf course)

More from North Richland Hills' Smithfield Acres

Property owners in NRH's Smithfield Acres are learning more about the terms of their offer from Chesapeake Energy. A property owner who received a flier with no specifics on lease terms last week says the Chesapeake rep got back to him today with the terms: $600 total signing bonus on a 0.4-acre lot, 20 percent royalties, 3-year term. The drill site would be near Davis Boulevard and Hightower.

-- Scott

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)