Many Marcellus Shale landowners have contacted my office by telephone and through our websites requesting assistance in understanding their currently active oil and gas lease. Due to the large number of requests, I have started performing detailed oil and gas lease reviews for landowners across Pennsylvania who have already entered into an oil and gas leases, but need assistance in understand the terms of their gas lease and what to expect moving forward.

From my experience, I can comfortably estimate that there are thousands of Pennsylvania landowners who are disappointed and frustrated with the financial terms and property protections contained in their existing Oil and Gas Lease. Virtually every landowner who signed an Oil and Gas Lease early on in the Marcellus Shale gas leasing frenzy is disappointed with the per acre bonus compensation, royalty percentage, royalty deductions, and the lack of property protection terms contained in their Oil and Gas Lease. Most of these landowners entered into an Oil and Gas Lease without adequate legal representation and they unfortunately did not fully understand the terms of their lease and how their gas lease would impact their property for many years and even future generations.

Many Oil and Gas Leases throughout the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions of Pennsylvania are on the verge of expiring due to the Lessee’s (gas company) inability to “hold” the property under the terms of the existing gas lease. In other words, if the gas company does not conduct drilling operations by the end of the term of the existing Oil and Gas Lease, the lease will terminate for lack of activity. Natural gas companies that own expiring leases often approach Landowners requesting that the Landowner sign an “Oil and Gas Lease Extension” in order to extend the end date of the existing lease and provide the gas company additional time to conduct drilling operations. Gas Lease extensions typically range from six (6) months to two (2) years, but the extension time-frames can vary.