Barnett Shale

Tear down apartments for a drill site

How tough is it to find a drilling site in North Arlington?

So tough that Fleet Oil and Gas has signed a contract to buy two apartment complexes on Washington Drive with plans to tear them down and set up a drilling rig if the city approves the required drilling.

Reporter Susan Schrock reports that the two complexes, Madison Creek and Hampton Hills apartments, have 291 units between them and are among 22 apartment complexes in the city's Lamar-Collins zoning overlay. The city last year approved new zoning in hopes of attracting retail and office developments, as well as high-rise residential complexes.

Ooops.

-- Bill Bowen

(Photos: Madison Creek, Hampton Hills)

Chesapeake, Arlington landowner at odds over lease expiration

For what surely will not be the last time, a drilling company and landowner can't agree on whether operations began in time to keep a lease from terminating. Chesapeake Energy on Feb. 15 sued members of an Arlington family, maintaining that the company started grading the family's south Arlington property the day before the lease was to expire at midnight Jan. 23. Chesapeake also blames the city of Arlington for not acting quickly enough on its drilling permit, which the company said it filed Oct. 9. The city's on-line drilling information site advises allowing 13 weeks for a permit to be approved.

Lacking a drilling permit, Chesapeake says in its suit that on Jan. 22 it obtained a grading permit from the city and hustled right out to the site "with two bulldozers and other heavy machinery and ultimately built 825 feet of road, moved onto location approximately 3,800 tons of base rock and built a pad site 385 feet by 230 feet."  Not good enough, the family's attorney informed Chesapeake on Jan. 30. "The oil and gas lease was for a term of two years from Jan. 23, 2006, and expired without production on Jan. 24, 2008."

What does the lease say? Well, one clause says that if the lessee -- that's Chesapeake -- can't comply with the terms of the lease because of "any order, rule or regulation of governmental authority," then the lease is extended. Another clause says that "if Lessee is engaged in drilling or reworking operations" then the lease remains in effect. Dallas attorney Bill Masterson, who represents the family, argues that Chesapeake just didn't get the ball rolling soon enough on the drilling permit, and without a drilling permit, Chesapeake's not drilling a well. So the lease is over, says Masterson, who's drafting a court response to Chesapeake's suit.

And this is why we will always have lawyers.

-- Jim Fuquay

Arlington sponsoring Town Hall meetings on drilling

If you live in Arlington and want to speak your mind about gas drilling, here's your chance. The city is hosting two town hall meetings on drilling:

The first is 7 p.m. tonight at Carol Holt Elementary School, 7321 Ledbetter Road. Councilwoman Sheri Capehart is hosting.

The second meeting is 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Bob Duncan Community Center, 2800 S. Center St. Councilman Robert Rivera is hosting.

-- Scott Nishimura

(Photos: Rivera, Capehart)

South Arlington neighborhoods get offers

South Arlington neighborhoods are being blitzed with gas lease offers. Residents in the Summerwood Addition near Green Oaks Boulevard and South Cooper Street report Cheaha Land Services, signing leases on behalf of Carrizo Oil & Gas, has been dropping lease offers off and following them up with telephone calls. Homeowners say the lease offers haven't been accompanied by cover sheets offering specific per-acre bonuses. But one homeowner with slightly less than a fifth of an acre said Cheaha offered a $700 lot bonus. The lease offer is for three years, witha  25 percent royalty.

Cheaha and Carrizo have been signing up leases in central Arlington. Click here for our previous blog post on them.

-- Scott

Fielder Road Baptist Church considers gas lease

Check out Paul Bourgeois' report in Friday's Star-Telegram for more on the gas action in Arlington:

• Fielder Road Baptist Church says it's talking to a gas exploration company about drilling on its big central Arlington campus. Executive pastor Michael Wierick says the welfare of church members and the church's neighbors are of foremost importance. The church has a preliminary feasibility study underway, with results expected back in a few weeks. "We have 1,200 homes around our church and we want to make sure it's good for the community," Wierick said. He declined to identify the drilling company or say how much the church might benefit financially. The most likely well location would be a large parking lot on the eastern edge of the property, between the church office building and the Arlington Independent School District administrative offices, he said. He also said a well might not be possible, given the city's ordinance that requires a 300-foot buffer between a well and other buildings.
• The Arlington Council is considering doubling the setback requirement to 300 feet, although some wells might be allowed closer if the drilling company gets approval from at least 60 percent of property owners.
• The South Davis Neighborhood Association says homeowners are being offered lot bonuses that total between $500 and $700, plus 20 percent royalties. The neighborhood is bounded by Fielder Road, Cooper Street, Pioneer Parkway, and Park Row Drive. Charla Hawkes Price, a Realtor who lives in the neighborhood, said lot bonus offers are averaging $3,000 per acre. The neighborhood is organizing an Oct. 15 meeting to discuss what to do next. Carrizo Oil & Gas, which recently signed up a well site at the University of Texas at Arlington, is a primary player in central Arlington leasing.

Click here to read Arlington's gas drilling ordinance.

Click here to read the details of UTA's deal with Carrizo and a Q&A from university officials.

-- Scott

(S-T photo: EggFest, Fielder Road Baptist Church)

Barnett Shale resources

CURIOUS ABOUT THE BARNETT SHALE? HERE ARE SOME USEFUL LINKS:

CORPORATE

Carrizo Oil and Gas

www.askchesapeake.com (Chesapeake Energy site)

Colt Exploration

Dale Resources

Fleet Oil and Gas

Harding Co.

Holland Acquisitions

Paloma Oil and Gas

Potestas Corp.

Western Production Co.

XTO Energy

DRILLING ORDINANCES

Arlington (includes city gas drilling resource page)

Bedford (city's gas drilling page, including ordinance and property owner Q&A)

Bedford  (city's comparison of provisions in several area drilling ordinances)

Colleyville (city web site)

Fort Worth (includes city gas drilling resource page)

Grapevine (Type "gas drilling" in the search bar to find the ordinance)

ECONOMIC IMPACT/ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Barnett Shale Economic Impact Study, Ray Perryman, 2007

The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Devon Energy in Denton, Tarrant and Wise Counties, Bernard Weinstein and Terry Clower, University of North Texas, 2004

Public Perception of the Natural Gas Industry: Insights from Two Barnett Shale Counties, Sam Houston State University, 2007 (Johnson County results, Wise County results)

Credit FAQ: Why the Barnett Shale Gas Basin Could Benefit Texas Municipalities, Standard & Poor's, 2008

LEASE FORMS

Leases negotiated by the Berkeley Place, Ryan Place, Mistletoe Heights, and Tanglewood neighborhoods in Fort Worth

NEIGHBORHOODS

Arlington Neighborhood Network, City of Arlington site. Includes updated contact info.

Arlington neighborhoods, neighborhoodlink.com. Spotty, but includes some info, such as neighborhood association email addresses, that isn't on the city site.

Bedford neighborhood associations, City of Bedford site, includes updated contact info.

Benbrook neighborhood associations, City of Benbrook site. Includes updated contact info.

Colleyville neighborhood associations, City of Colleyville site, includes updated contact info.

Fort Worth neighborhood database, City of Fort Worth site. Includes updated contact info.

Grapevine homeowner associations. City of Grapevine site. Includes contact info.

Neighborhoodlink.com

ORGANIZATIONS

Barnett Shale Energy Education Council

Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods Gas Drilling Resource Page, including "Tips for Neighborhoods Negotiating Gas Leases."

FWCanDo (Fort Worth Citizens Against Gas Drilling Ordinance)

Texas Land and Mineral Association (represents mineral rights owner)

Trinitytrees.org

PUBLICATIONS

pegasusnews.com

Powell Barnett Shale Newsletter (paid subscription)

Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University (oil and gas publications)

texasinsider.org

GOVERNMENT

Railroad Commission of Texas, includes Barnett Shale resource page, information on regulations.

Tarrant County public records site (Includes lease/lease memo lookup so you can check out how many leases energy companies are filing in Tarrant County, and where.)

ROYALTY CALCULATOR

Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods gas resource drilling page

CONTINUING EDUCATION

TCU Energy Institute's Petroleum Land Practices Program

KNOW OF A GREAT LINK THAT'S NOT LISTED HERE? Let us know about it! snishimura@star-telegram.com

Interlochen added

We received email over the weekend from readers in Interlochen, asking that their neighborhood be added to the "categories" list. It's done! Thank you for checking in!

-- Scott

Click here for Arlington's gas drilling ordinance.