Barnett Shale

Arlington's Woodland West: Some happy, some not

Some residents of Arlington's Woodland West neighborhood aren't happy about what's gone down with their lease offers.

Landmen for Dale Resources and Western Production Co. have both been working portions of the neighborhood for Chesapeake Energy, but not in competition against each other. Here's how the situation has played out:

• The Woodland West Lake Association, represented by its own already-established homeowner association, was offered a signing bonus of $4,000 per acre by Dale and most homeowners signed up three months ago.
• The Woodland West Estates neighborhood, also represented by its own association, negotiated a deal with Dale for a signing bonus of $15,500 per acre in late December.
• Woodland West Addition, which doesn't have an HOA, organized a response to lease offers and has accepted a signing bonus of $15,500 per acre from Dale.
• The final portion of Woodland West, termed Woodland West Associates for purposes of the lease offers, was offered leases by Western last week at a signing bonus of $5,000 per acre, says Mel Goodson, who represents Woodland West Associates but says he actually lives in Woodland West Addition and falls under the $15,500 offer. This portion of the neighborhood also doesn't have an HOA.

Goodson says Dale's offer of $15,500 is "fine." But he says Woodland West Associates homeowners were stunned when a Western landman unveiled his company's offer of $5,000 during a meeting of those people Jan. 5.

"I almost laughed," says Goodson, a retired systems analyst. "Everyone was stunned. A couple were mad. Surely they didn't think we were stupid enough to accept $5,000 when everybody around us had already gotten fifteen-five. This was a deal that seems to me these guys must have worked out in a back room."

Goodson says the 175 Woodland West Associates homeowners in attendance voted "unanimously to stick together" and demand "a much better offer."

Goodson had been trying to organize Woodland West as a whole since the fall. But he says he gradually discovered that Dale and Western were "quietly" working exclusive portions of the area, and urging leaders of each neighborhood segment to keep negotiations quiet.

Had the whole neighborhood stuck together, "we could have had 1,000 homes or better," he says. "We would have had a real strong negotiating position."

Travis Rall, the Western landman who presented his company's offer, acknowledged "there is somewhat of a discrepancy between the offers."

"However, they are not competing offers," he said in an interview. "Chesapeake has given Western one section of the neighborhood we are authorized to lease for them, and they've given Dale another section. Chesapeake is the only one that can really develop their minerals, and Western is the agent authorized to lease for them."

Jerri Robbins, Chesapeake's public relations manager for the Barnett Shale, said in an emailed statement that "there are several factors involved in developing mineral lease offers in residential locations, which include competition and access to drill sites and pipelines.

"For example, in the Woodland West area, some of the offers were driven to a higher level due to competitive offers in nearby Dalworthington Gardens," she said. "The current offers are based upon access to potential drill sites that can reach and produce the minerals for lessors in those particular neighborhoods. Offers may go up – or down – based on continuing competition and availability of drilling locations."

Goodson's group has been keeping homeowners up to date through their web site.

-- Scott Nishimura

(Photos: Woodland West pool, Woodland West park, Woodland West library)

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

Oaks (NW Arlington) group organizes

A group is forming around The Oaks neighborhood in northwest Arlington to respond to offers that homeowners received in December from Western Production Company, which is offering to sign leases for Chesapeake Energy.

The group is calling itself Extended Oaks, an area bounded by Randol Mill/Westwood on the north, Crowley on the west, Fielder Road on the east, and Division on the south. The group also is interested in organizing with homeowners in the Woodbine area north of Westwood, which received lease offers earlier in the year on behalf of Chesapeake.

Western is offering to sign leases for a signing bonus of $5,000 per acre and 25 percent royalty. "The consensus here is that we can do a lot better," said Jerry Pikulinski, a retired Bureau of Labor Statistics economist, sometime-political candidate in Arlington, and one of the neighborhood organizers.

The group heard from a Western landman in December. "He left us with the impression that unless we had a large block and a competitive situation, what we were presented with was what we were going to get," Pikulinski said.

He also said the landman told the group "Chesapeake has locked in all the available drill sites and there aren't any more available that we could look for."

Pikulinski said the Western offers are the first that homeowners in The Oaks neighborhood have received. Residents of nearby Interlochen, Millbrook, and Waterway Park saw a spate of offers last year, and some in that area received a fresh round during the holidays.

The Extended Oaks group has scheduled a community meeting, 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at Pope Elementary School, 901 Chestnut Drive. The topic: "Froms and Clauses in a Gas Lease. What Residents Need to Know."

-- Scott Nishimura

(Photos: Christmas carolers from Pope Elementary, in the Pope science lab)

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

More offers in Arlington

Blogging the Barnett Shale has learned of a slate of fresh offers in Arlington. Here they are:

Southwest Arlington, Huntwick Addition -- south of Mayfield Road off of Woodside Drive, east of Little Road and north of Pleasant Ridge. The terms from Paloma Resources: $10,000-per-acre signing bonus, 25 percent royalty, three-year term, two-year option.

The Oaks, north of Division, west of Bowen. Western Production Co., $5,000 per acre signing bonus, 25 percent royalty. The blog is seeking more info about this situation.

Woodbine Neighbors -- click here for their web site -- reports it's met with Paloma to discuss a lease. This neighborhood is in the Calendar Road-to-Redstone Drive area, south of Sublett Road to Bowen Road. The blog is seeking more info about this situation and will report as we get it.

Meadow Vista Estates Addition, South Arlington, east of Matlock Road, south of East Sublett, west of Silo Road/Mansfield Webb, near Workman Park. A homeowner reports Wyldfire Energy of Mansfield, on behalf of Hollis R. Sullivan. Inc. is offering to sign up leases. Details are sketchy other than a royalty offer of 22 percent. More info as we get it. Here's a link to a group in Kennedale that has lease offers from Hollis Sullivan. This neighborhood is close to Woodbine.

-- Scott Nishimura

Chesapeake, Western boost Fielder Park offer

Western Production, acting as agent for Chesapeake Energy, has raised the bidding in central Arlington and Briarwood Estates, reports the Fielder Park Gas Lease Negotiation Group. Western is offering $6,000 an acre and 25 percent royalty, reports Bernetta Glasser, head of the group, which represents about 180 property owners. Carrizo Oil and Gas and its agent, Cheaha Land Services, started the leasing battle with an offer of $1,200 an acre and 23 percent. Glasser said her group has a meeting planned for Thursday evening. She can be reached at briarwoodestatesarlington@yahoo.com.

-- Jim

Chesapeake agrees to buy leases from Western

Chesapeake Energy said Monday it agreed to buy about 2,000 net acres of undeveloped leases in Tarrant County from Western Production Co. and an unnamed partner. Terms were not disclosed. Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake, one of the biggest operators in the Barnett Shale, said it also signed a Western affiliate, Axia Land Services LLC, to acquire leases for Chesapeake exclusively in certain parts of the county. The deal will give Chesapeake about 235,000 net acres in the Barnett Shale, most of that in Tarrant, Johnson and western Dallas counties. Chesapeake said it expects to acquire up to 40,000 net acres of leases with 500 to 600 drilling locations each year in Tarrant County, which it said “is quickly becoming the most prolific county in the Barnett Shale play.”

-- Jim

Western suspends leasing in Ridglea, Ridgmar

Western Production Co., which has been trying to lease portions of the Ridglea North and Ridgmar neighborhoods in West Fort Worth since the summer, says it's suspending leasing in those neighborhoods because it can't secure a drill site. Secondarily, a substantial amount of opposition by neighbors to its proposed drill site "reinforced a bad vibe," says Mark Gordon, landman for Western. "It didn't help the situation."

Western has signed up about 250 leases, "ballpark," in both neighborhoods combined, Gordon said. The company is still obligated to honor its commitments to people who have signed their leases and sent them in, he notes. The company has been mailing bonus checks, property owners in the neighborhoods report.

Western also will still accept leases from property owners who send them in, and pay out the bonuses, Gordon said. "We will take them," he said. "But we're no longer in the active pursuit" of leases in those neighborhoods.

And "the reality is, beyond the bonus," property owners who have signed up won't see any future benefits unless Western is able to secure a drill site, Gordon said.

He said Western sought first to purchase its proposed site on Calmont Avenue west of the neighborhood, then lease it, but wasn't able to strike an agreement with the owner. "It was the price," he said.

There's a dearth of drilling sites in that area, he said, and he added that Western knows of no others that are available that could reach the neighborhoods. "There are no other alternatives," he said.

Western started sending offers in August to Ridglea North, said Jerry Lobdill, a Ridglea North owner who ultimately led opposition. Western quickly improved the financial terms first to a signing bonus of $3,500 per acre and a 20 percent royalty, and then to $4,000 per acre and a 25 percent royalty, he said.

But the sticking point for Ridglea North -- bounded by Interstate 30 on the north, Bryant Irvin Road on the east, Camp Bowie Boulevard on the south, and Lackland Road on the west -- was the drill site.

The Calmont site, near the "blue water tower," a local landmark, is well within the 600-foot minimum allowable distance to homes required by Fort Worth ordinance. In such situations, the drilling company is required to seek a "high impact" permit. Typically, drilling companies pair high impact petitions with waivers of the 600-foot radius signed by affected property owners; a petition without waivers would be unusual.

The neighborhood association's board didn't seek to enter into negotiation with Western. It said at a Sept. 19 meeting that it would oppose the site before the city. Lobdill, a retired physicist who isn't on the board but ended up passing out fliers door to door, says safety and concerns such as noise and truck traffic trumped any financial considerations. Some other neighborhoods have been able to negotiate such issues in lease agreements with energy companies, but the neighborhood association wasn't interested in the Calmont site, which Lobdill says was 30 yards from the nearest homes.

Lobdill says he is skeptical that neighborhood drilling can be accomplished without significant tradeoffs to safety and quality of life.

"I've only started my activism on this," he says. "They made a mistake by coming into my neighborhood and sending me a letter. I'm fully retired, and I've got plenty of time."

Gordon said the situation was frustrating to Western. "We prefer to not be in a high-impact situation, ever," he said.

-- Scott

(Photo: Proposed drill site between "blue water tower" and private swimming club, view from the West)