These guys from Kenyon who are leasing for Chesapeake Energy are in my area. I know they started in PA and are working West. What were they paying per acre over in PA? Any negatives to tell me about?
Don't know the negs.....you'll get a hundred different stories about water quality. Per acre.....right now they are anywhere from 2500 to 6000 depending. I THINK the royalty percentage is around 15 with those deals. Have you been approached? PM me later.
Like Ben said, you will get all sorts of opinions on the matter, but having dealt with this play on several levels for the past two years, I could easily strongly advise against Chesapeake. They're notorious for the inclusion of a lot of shady "clauses" within their leases such as timeframe of bonus payment/royalties, unit development notifications, and even subtracting post-production costs from royalty payments. Of course, this all can be avoided with a well written lease. The rates Ben gave you are pretty accurate for the core areas where we live (Susquehanna, Bradford, Wayne, Sullivan, and Lycoming), but leasing activity has really died down, and in fact, many companies are halting bonus money offers in turn for other terms (gurantees of drilling a producing well within a timeframe for instance), or a higher royalty rate. At the peak of all of this leasing about two years ago, land was being leased for as high as 20% royalties in some areas (state min is 12.5%), but I haven't heard of any offers like that at all recently. Most companies are out of the mass land acquisition phase, and have MORE land to develop than their resources allow for quite sometime. Now, if your ground is a piece that is absolutely necessary for a company (the missing link in a desired unit for instance), then you have a leg to stand on. My advice? Before you sign anything, get an Oil and Gas attorney (not just a standard attorney)! There a million little loopholes these companies sew into these leases worded in legalese that you might be regretting down the road, or even worse, your heirs may be regretting down the road. I've worked in signing pipeline ROW agreements, water treatment facilities, even watched a well go up and drill on ground I'm part owner on. I've seen a little of all of this first hand, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask (or Ben since he's smack in the middle of it, too:D).
