0 – 15 Minutes
Doug addresses landowners considering buying or selling oil, gas, and mineral rights. Segment provides detailed information as to how brokers, investors, and hedge funds invest in buying oil and natural gas rights from Pennsylvania landowners. Doug fully explains how the market operates in purchasing oil and gas rights in Pennsylvania. Doug discloses how landmen and brokers operate in many cases to flip sales agreements to purchase natural gas rights to other investment entities. Why landowners must be very cautious when considering permanently selling and divesting their oil and natural gas rights. Oil and gas rights owners must negotiate the price if they are considering selling the gas rights as well as the language in the purchase and sales agreement as well as the final deed. Mistakes can be costly and last forever.
15 – 30 Minutes
Doug goes on a rant regarding pipeline right-of-way option agreements. Doug explains why company landmen are not representatives to advise them of their rights to negotiate pipeline right-of-way agreements.Doug questions why landowners would want to enter into bad agreements favoring the pipeline company with long option periods whenever gas companies are offering leases for ten years. Why do landowners want to sign bad agreements at $5, $7, or $16 per foot whenever the company is requesting a three or five year option term in a very down Natural gas market? If landowners stop signing bad agreements for pipelines, everyone in Pennsylvania will receive better offers.You must be weary of poor per-foot compensation offers and extremely company-friendly terms that are being offered today. Doug discusses other areas where landowners routinely receive over $50 per foot for pipeline right of way installation.
30 – 45 Minutes
Doug continues to question why landowners would sign bad agreements at this time when the companies explain that they have no money and are requesting long option terms to decide whether they even want to use the agreement. Landowners must fully consider all circumstances surrounding offers, including the down natural gas market and the companys’ small budget. Doug explains how landowners can negotiate strong pipeline terms and current gas lease offers, to amend or modify their gas lease. The time to negotiate strong pipeline language in you lease occurs before you sign. Once you sign your oil and gas lease you need to understand you pipeline rights so that you understand your leverage and negotiation ability when presented with a pipeline right of way agreement.
45 – 60 Minutes
Doug must get educated and seek experienced advice when negotiating pipeline right of way agreements. Doug jumps into royalty issues and deductions. He explains how virtually no one can guarantee that a landowner will no receive deductions for post-production cost in their oil and gas lease. Doug explains how thousands of property owners believed that they would never have deductions taken from their gas lease, but were disappointed later when they received natural gas royalty checks with deductions taken out for gathering, transportation, and compression. Once again, you must understand your lease terms and negotiate to maximize the terms of any offer before you sign. Doug goes through a sample pipeline right of way agreement and explains how extending an oil and gas lease may also extend a bad pipeline agreement. You must be very careful and take advantage of any opportunity if you are approached to sign an extension or modification of an oil and gas lease. You must think outside the box and look to other areas that you may be able to strengthen oil and gas agreement with regard to your property.
