Natural Gas Meeting 9/15
On Monday, September 15, there was an informational meeting on the natural gas opportunities throughout Pocahontas County. The meeting was held at the Marlinton Municipal Building and was well attended.
The meeting was put together by area leaders in the natural gas well drilling business. Organizers were Mike Ross, Dennis Xander, Chad Perkins, Don Nestor, Earl Maxwell, and Arden Swecker.
Mike Ross is a Democratic candidate for State Senate and has been in the business some 40 years. Dennis Xander is with the landman company Denex Petroleum of Buckhannon. Chad Perkins is a hydrofracturing engineer from BJ Services Company, a worldwide company. Don Nestor specializes in taxation issues. Earl Maxwell is a lawyer specializing in oil & gas laws. Arden Swecker is from Canaan Valley Gas Company and purchases gas directly from wells in the Canaan Valley area.
First of all, my thanks to these individuals for making the trip to Marlinton to talk with us about this issue. There is a lot of information and speculation about what kind of economic benefit this provides, and about how much of an impact to Pocahontas County's unique resources this will have. The more we know, the better. We need information from all parties, and I look forward to their continued input on this issue in Pocahontas County.
Unfortunately, I was unable to stay for the whole meeting. But I was given the chance to ask about my concerns, and I much appreciate the feedback they provided.
My concerns in particular were about the next steps in this process. That is, in addition to learning the ins-and-outs of the leasing stage of the process, what should we be looking forward to in terms of the challenges of developing the piping infrastructure to connect wells together so the natural gas can be brought to the market?
I wondered out loud about the possibility of facing more eminent domain proceedings in the path of piping infrastructure. The response I got indicated that, individually, they do not have the right to invoke eminent domain. I expected that much, as such decisions are decided at the governmental level. Beyond the "we don't do eminent domain" response, I received little indication one way or the other about precedent or their collective experience in the matter. So I remain concerned.
My second question concerned the usage of water and the hydrofracturing process, more commonly known as fracking.
For hydrofracturing, they made the argument that previously stated estimates of "millions" of gallons of water were off-base. Chad Perkins noted that in some cases "hundreds of thousands" of gallons might be used, and went on to cite examples of 20-50 thousand gallons. So this sounds encouraging. My concern is that, as a headwaters geography, Pocahontas County doesn't keep most of the water that hits us. So we need to be mindful of this, and come to understand the facts regarding water consumption. More to learn here I am sure.
Probably the most reassuring thing for me was to learn, according to Chad Perkins, that so-called "trade secret" chemical mixtures are not actually used in the hydrofracturing process. Chad Perkins explained that, for his company BJ Services, they provide Material Safety Data Sheets detailing what is used in the fracking fluid mixture. He spoke of a lubricant added to the water to reduce friction against the casing wall as well as one or two other largely innocuous (my interpretation) ingredients.
On a final note, know these leasing basics:
- You will sign a lease having a primary term and a secondary term. The primary term is around 5 years, and drilling must start within that term or the contract expires.
- If drilling commences within the primary term, the primary term ceases (i.e. the 5 years is "out the window") and the secondary term takes effect.
- The secondary term, usually worded "as long as the well produces," can run from 10 to over 100 years in some cases. This is the long-term aspect of the lease.
Courtesy of Norman Alderman, these videos of the meeting are available for your viewing: