Barnett Shale

Frack Attack Summit comes to Dallas

Opponents of hydraulic fracturing plan two days of workshops and education on the hazards of the widely used oil and gas production technique this coming Saturday and Sunday in Dallas. On the agenda are sessions on community organizing, health effects, environmental and climate consequences and the local impacts of pipelines, compressor stations and other oil and gas production infrastructure. Among confirmed speakers are: Fort Worth resident Deborah Rogers, who was recently named to a U.S. Department of Interior advisory committee on natural resource development; Anthony Ingraffea, a Cornell University professor who has done a number of studies on environmental impacts of drilling; and Wilma Subra, an environmental chemist who has been active helping Gulf Coast communities deal with petrochemical issues.

The Frack Attack National Summit is March 2-3 at the Best Western Plus Dallas Hotel & Conference Center, 8051 Lyndon B Johnson Fwy. The summit is open to the public, but there is a charge based on whether hotel, meal and other charges are included. For more information, click here.

-- Jim Fuquay

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

5 East Fort Worth neighborhoods to meet

Discussion of a community gas lease for five neighborhoods in east Fort Worth is the subject of a meeting set for 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Eastern Hills High School's auditorium. On the agenda is an information session describing the lease, put together by a negotiating task force authorized to research terms of a desireable lease, and time for questions and answers. The lease will be sent to interested drillers, who will be invited to submit offers. The neighborhood associations involved are in the meeting represent Brentwood-Oak Hills, Chimney Wood, Eastern Hills, Central Meadowbrook and West Meadowbrook.

The most recent lease offer was from Holland Acquisitions, on behalf of Paloma Resources, for $7,000 an acre ($1,200 minimum) and 25 percent royalty. That compared to Holland's offer in August of $3,000/acre ($500 minimum) and 20 percent royalty from Holland.

-- Jim Fuquay

(Photo: Eastern Hills football)

Share your success story!

It's Thanksgiving Week. And before you pass the turkey and trimmings around, share your success story on organizing your neighborhood! You can share your best tips, your best resources, your whole story!

We'll package them together and run them in Blogging the Barnett Shale later this week! It's easy. Just respond in the "comments" section at the end of this blog post, or send us an email at snishimura@star-telegram.com.

Thank you, and have a great holiday!

-- The blog authors

Neighborhoods organize for leasing

The Star-Telegram published an extensive report Nov. 11 detailing efforts by Tarrant County neighborhoods and associations to organize to deal with natural gas leasing. For a copy of the story, click this link: Download neighborhoods_organize.doc

Fresh advice for neighborhoods...

From the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods, the Top 10 tips for negotiating your neighborhood gas lease, issued Tuesday night and available on the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods site:

• Stay together.
• Do not be in a hurry. Be patient.
• Understand all parties involved.
• Talk to other neighborhood associations.
• Don't give legal advice.
• Don't be intimidated.
• Consider safety and quality of life, along with the financial aspects of your lease offers.
• Get the facts.
• Communicate with your neighbors.
• Obtain legal assistance. You might be able to find it for free. Broken down per household, you might be able to get legal help for as little as $20-$25.

-- Scott

Quick reminder: League of Neighborhood Associations meeting

-- Mike

This meeting is Tuesday night:

The Fort Worth League of Neighborhood Associations has scheduled an "educational event" for neighborhood association leaders to learn more about the leasing process.

Time: 6:30 p.m. Oct. 23

Place: University Christian Church, 2720 S. University Drive, Fort Worth

Web site: www.fwlna.org

Tips on organizing your neighborhood

Blogging the Barnett Shale has received a number of emails from homeowners who've received lease offers, and live in neighborhoods that have little or no organization. What to do next? We posed these questions to Matthew Hudson, president of the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods, and he obliged us with some answers. These pertain largely to homeowners who live in Fort Worth, but his answers are broadly relevant:

Q: My neighborhood has been receiving offers, but we don’t have much of a neighborhood association. I’m not sure there is a ringleader. How can I find out if we have one?

A: The best system is to use the database tool on the city's website. When a neighborhood association forms, it must become "recognized" by the city of Fort Worth through the Community Relations Department. This process helps establish legitimacy to the organization and is a requirement to be a member of the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods. Click here to visit the city's site and see a list of Fort Worth neighborhoods and association contacts. One note: this information is not 100 percent accurate. It is up to the NA to keep the city informed of changes in contact information, and this does not always happen. However, you usually can meet with success.

Q: We aren’t organized. How do we get organized?

A: First, there are two types of "organized." 1) Establish a Neighborhood Association. 2) Organize your neighborhood on this topic. Obviously, we recommend the first option. Unfortunately, it takes a controversial issue to get people to know their neighbors on the next street, but the most livable neighborhoods in our city all have active neighborhood associations who spend more time on "being neighbors" than they do on issues. So, if it's gas wells that bring us together, at least make it a lasting, sustainable organization that can improve the quality of life within the neighborhood on the long term. Contact the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods via their web site at www.fwlna.org or contact the city's Community Relations Department at (817) 392-7525. We are both resources that will guide you in establishing a neighborhood association in your area.

Q: Our neighborhood started getting offers a couple of months ago. Is it too late to organize?

A: Never. In fact, the common tactic of energy companies is to say that the offer is "one time only" and you must act now. The faster they can convince people to sign, the lower the deal they have to make for the rights. Even if you the last 20 homes, it is still better to work as a group.

Q: Why organize?

A: There are many reasons to organize, but the main one is to get "economies of scale." We recommend that all NAs hire a land attorney. Leases are tricky and you want to be sure that you get the best deal and that you do not get tripped with issues like subordination. By banding together, the group can hire one attorney and split the costs -- sometimes as little as $25 a person. This is a small investment that can save you hundreds of dollars! In addition, the NA can negotiate a higher royalty and bonus and even get money for the NA to use for parks or the school.

Q: Any more resources for what to look for in a lease?

A: For more information on: "what to look for on a lease:" see the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods site and view a presentation for our recommended land attorney. Here's the link.

-- Scott

Leasing: Why it pays to stick together

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A group of homeowners in southwest Fort Worth showed last week why it pays to negotiate mineral rights leases. Potestas Corp. of Dallas, which has already filed more than 800 Tarrant County leases, originally offered royalties of either 12.5 percent or 18.8 percent and a signing bonus of $400 per residential lot. After neighborhood organizers called a meeting last week and more than 100 homeowners attended and asked questions about the going rates, Potestas quickly raised its offer to a 25 percent royalty and $750 per lot, according to two homeowners who attended the meeting. The sweetened offer was accepted by many. The homeowners said Potestas showed them a proposed drilling site at Hulen Street and Risinger Road. Potestas representatives could not be reached immediately for comment late Thursday.

According to Tarrant County records, Potestas has signed numerous leases with a royalty of 12.5 percent, or one-eighth. According to recent Star-Telegram reports, residential lease rates currently average between 22.5 and 25 percent royalties and $3,500 to $4,000 per acre. The Parkwood Estates lease that homeowners won at their meeting is right in line with that. Negotiators for the Tanglewood, Ryan Place and Berkeley Place neighborhood associations have  pretty much set the bar with a 25 percent royalty and bonuses of $10,000 per acre in recent deals. Those leases, with XTO Energy and Vargas Energy in Tanglewood, and XTO and Fort Worth Energy in Ryan Place and Berkeley, were driven by tough negotiations and stiff competition between the drillers and Chesapeake Energy.

Jim Fuquay   

Learn from the ones who went first...

The Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods is sponsoring a "gas drilling education event," 6:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at the University Christian Church, 2720 S. University Drive in Fort Worth. Here's the organization's pitch:

"Now that urban gas drilling has been a reality in our city for some time, what are the people saying who agreed to be in the first phases and currently have drilling underway in their neighborhood?

• Are they happy?
• Would they have made the same decision?
• Have the lease payments been worth it?

This event is designed to give you a balanced view of this issue and even provide you with a PowerPoint presentation you can take back to your neighborhood meetings...We will have industry experts, neighborhood leaders, City Council members presenting...So don't sign that lease just yet. You may want to know the rest of the story first!"

-- Scott