Fleased

 Compulsory Integration/Forced Pooling

Gas Drilling Compulsory Integration - Easy to digest information from Cornell Cooperative Extension and other useful links.

Gas Drilling and Compulsory Integration: What are your rights? - Useful videos and links from Shaleshock media.

Fleased assistance in challenging Chesapeake’s force majeure claim

Instructions- Follow the instructions in this post to challenge Chesapeake’s claim.

Sample Chesapeake letter- If you have a copy of this letter, please send us a copy and complete the steps listed under instructions.

Template AG form- This template will assist you in filling out the AG form. Please note, return to Fleased, NOT the address at the bottom.

Blank AG form- Fill out this form and mail us a copy, and complete the steps listed under instructions.

Brief Summaries of Challenges Facing Leased Landholders in New York State

Lease Termination

Mortgage and Loan Issues

Homeowner’s Insurance Issues

Contacting Your Town Board

Town Board Packet – A collection of resources you can use to educate your town board about your predicament as a fleased landholder.

Template Letter – Download and edit this file to send a personalized letter to your town board.

Force Majeure and Lease Termination:

Fleased Forum on Gas Lease Termination in Norwich - Ellen Harrison and Joe Heath present on lease termination.

Video of Gas Lease Workshop, Auburn, May 2011 

Video of A Gas Lease Workshop for Current, Potential, and Expiring Leases, Sidney, March 2012 – Click here to find video of a workshop co-sponsored by Fleased

Force Majeure Long Answer  - An explanation of the reasons why claims by the gas company of force majeure may be invalid.

Force Majeure Template Letter  - A sample response to gas company letter claiming lease extension under force majeure.

Lease Termination Packet  - Packet of information and template letter regarding termination procedures for gas leases that are ending.

Agreement between NY State Office of the Attorney General and Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C.:

Full Text of Agreement with Chesapeake (“Assurance of Discontinuance”)

Summary of agreement

Real Estate Issues: 

Gas and Oil Leases as they relate to Residential Lending  - A discussion of the impact of gas and/or oil leases on residential mortgage lending, prepared by the Tompkins County Council Of Governments (TCCOG) Task Force on Gas Drilling Assessment and Land Valuation Subcommittee. 

Homeowners and Leases: Boon or Bust?  - Article by Elisabeth Radow, published in the New York State Bar Association Journal (Nov/Dec 2011 issue)

Change in Ownership of Leased Property  -When a property with a gas lease changes owners, the new owner must send the gas company a copy of the deed with the name and mailing address for the new owner.  This is required in most leases and is necessary so that any correspondence and/or payments from the company will go to the new owner and not to the previous owner

Lawsuits:

Class Action / Mass Action  - Brief description of what Class Action and Mass Action lawsuits are

Fraud Case in PA  - Federal judge lets fraud claim proceed in PA

Tioga County landholders’ suit – News article about a landholders’ suit challenging gas companies’ practice of extending leases through “force majeure” claims

Arnold & Porter LLP hydrofracking law resource – Arnold & Porter LLP, a nation-wide law firm that works on behalf of energy companies, has posted links on their website to legal, legislative, and regulatory decisions that relate to the hydrofracking industry. We have not reviewed this material for accuracy, but we provide it here as a possible resource. Please contact us if you have concerns about this document, or if you know of better resources.

Comments on the draft SGEIS: 

Draft SGEIS – Link to the draft  Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on the website of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Fleased SGEIS comments  - Click here to read Fleased’s comments on the SGEIS. The public comment period closed on January 11, 2012.

Media Coverage of Gas Leases:

Signing Drilling Leases, and Now Having Regrets – Article by Mireya Navarro, published in The New York Times, 9/22/11

Drilling Down: Learning Too Late of the Perils in Gas Well Leases – Article by Ian Urbina and Jo Craven McGinty, published in The New York Times, 12/1/11

Gas leasing in Western Maryland spurs calls for reform – Article by Timothy B. Wheeler, published in The Baltimore Sun, 12/31/11

Additional resources: 

Gas Pipelines: What Municipalities Need to Know- Sharon Anderson of Cornell Cooperative Extension presents on local pipelines on October 14, 2012.

Drilling Doublespeak: Gas Drillers Disclose Risks to Shareholders – But Not to Landowners  - Report published by the Environmental Working Group in December 2011 

Gas Drilling & Compulsory Integration: What Are Your Rights? – Click here to find video and handouts from an information session about compulsory integration, held on November 14th, 2011 at the Dryden Fire Hall, Dryden, NY

New York Times Archive of Oil and Gas Leases – The New York Times has compiled a searchable database of oil and gas leases from around the country, including about 3,200 from New York State. Each lease has a helpful glossary menu of legal terms.