Posted on 02/26/2013 5:10:10 PM PST by posterchild
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) -- When word spread about the potential natural gas riches of the Marcellus Shale, Kimberly More saw it as the hope for saving her horse farm.
She figured that leasing her 170 acres to a drilling company could bring an upfront bonus of nearly half a million dollars, plus a monthly royalty when gas starts to flow, enough to pay for a new house, a new barn and her own riding business.
"I have three young girls. My husband left," More said. "I don't want to be on social services. I want to take care of my family with my own land." But five years later, her natural gas dreams and those of thousands of other New York landowners have faded to frustration as a decision languishes on whether the state should allow fracking, the process of extracting gas by drilling horizontally through the shale and breaking it apart with chemically treated water.
They're waiting for environmental studies about the potential for groundwater contamination. They're waiting for drilling rules and regulations to be drawn up. And most of all, they're waiting for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to make up his mind on whether to lift a moratorium on fracking.
The latest delay came when the Cuomo administration announced earlier this month that more time was needed to study potential health impacts. That means the Department of Environmental Conservation won't make Wednesday's deadline to adopt proposed regulations, which will have to be resubmitted and subjected to public hearings and comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
YOU win the kewpie doll!!!
Seriously, individuals like that lady should back-charge the state for the losses, or sell the property while RESERVING the mineral rights or a significant portion thereof.
Very astute...and true.
FMCDH(BITS)
***Does this woman, actually think she’s gonna get nearly a 1/2 million dollars up front,***
Most likely she will be offered a two year contract for a few hundred or thousand dollars to give a company rights to drill, WHEN THEY WISH.
If they drill and find gas she will most likely be given the choice of 1/8 or 3/16 of the royalties as long as there is recoverable gas in the well.
The royalties will be partitioned out with other land owners in that particular drilling area.
The hard Left Marxists currently running most of America don’t like anyone making money except themselves; it’s an old, old story, as witnessed in the histories of Russia, China, Cuba, Vietnam, and many other places.
Guess it’s America’s turn now to fall to communism.
That right there is the sort of attitude our wonderful socialist utopia is designed to stunt.
Soon as the government and/or liberal NGOs get control or ownership of her land, THEN the oil spigot can be turned on.
3% is the going rate, unless you are very skilled. With an unproven play, she’ll bring in a few hundred on a three year lease, with proven production, she could draw several thousand at least every two years.
Most likely, with her limited amount of land, she could draw around 20k yearly with a Producer..
As far as other landowners are concerned, sure, they could pool, and horizontal drilling could play a part, but, well, see above “unless you are very skilled”
The only people in the State of New York Cuomo gives a s**t about are those few high dollar donors who live in Manhattan. A completly worthless but very wealthy ding bat like Yoko Ono means far more to Cuomo than tens of thousands of struggling hard working people like this woman.
If fracking isn't deemed to be PC by the leftist elite, there won't be any fracking in New York. Those elites could care less about that peon woman, her children, her horse farm, or all of the small towns upstate that are dying a slow death due to their left wing BS.
Lefties want us back in the stone age. No oil, no coal, no natural gas, etc. They don’t want hydro-power or Nuke power. It’s all about penalizing humanity and control.
Adam Smith's invisible hand working overtime.
Life with Democrats. She should move her horse farm to Cook County. She'd not notice a difference.
Years ago, during the Carter energy crisis, I had a bumper sticker directed to the enviro whackos in the Northeast:
Let them freeze in the dark
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