Barnett Shale

SWAPO2 owners get checks for street acreage

SWAPO2 (Southwest Arlington) says Carburante -- the land agent that did the neighborhood's community lease deal for Carrizo Oil & Gas -- is preparing bonus checks for street acreage calculations and will begin distributing them 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. May 22 at the Park Springs Bible Church. Subsequent meetings will be May 23, 27, 29, and 31 at the church, at the same times. Only the Thousand Oaks and Trails West neighborhoods will have their checks ready at this meeting, SWAPO2 says.

"All other subdivisions will need to wait until their letter is received before coming to the church," SWAPO2 says in an email message to property owners. "If you have not signed your lease yet, please let us know as soon as possible, because Carburante is preparing street bonus checks for people who have already signed first."

Carburante says property owners who want to sign the Carburante/Carrizo lease should call Shelley at (817) 945-3830 to schedule an appointment.

-- Scott Nishimura

CATS endorses Titan Resources/Caffey contract

CATS, the southwest Arlington group representing homeowners immediately east of Lake Arlington, said Monday it endorsed a lease with Titan Resources/Caffey Group and will hold informational meetings at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Monday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 5819 W. Pleasant Ridge Dr. The CATS lease pays a $26,000/acre bonus and 25.5 percent royalty for a 3-year term (and a commitment to drill within 30 months), said organizer Jim MacDowell. He said the extra half-point royalty came from the owner of a planned drill site, near Bowman Springs and Shorewood, who contributed a portion of his override on the lease. Titan is affiliated with Hollis R. Sullivan, MacDowell said. He said the deal was the outcome of discussions with five parties that eventually came down to Titan and Paloma Resources, acting on behalf of Chesapeake Energy.

-- Jim Fuquay

SWAPO2 owners get calculations to street centers

SWAPO2 (Southwest Arlington Property Owners 2) is telling property owners today that Carrizo Oil & Gas and its agent, Carburante, have agreed to include acreage calculations to the centers of streets in figuring up the money homeowners are due.

SWAPO2 notes that it had not negotiated this issue when its gas committee agreed to recommend the Carrizo/Carburante lease. "The good news for SWAPO2 is that Carrizo and Carburante...have agreed to include acreage to the center of the street in all cases," SWAPO2 reports in an email update.

The calculation applies only to property owners who have not already received calculations to the middle of streets. Already signed your lease and received your bonus? If you didn't get the center-to-street calculation, you have more money coming, and will be notified "in the coming weeks," SWAPO2 says.

SWAPO2 is also restarting its "online letter of intent" signups. If you signed the original memorandum of intent to be represented by SWAPO2 and didn't make it to a lease signing meeting, you must sign the group's new letter if you want in on the Carrizo lease. Above is SWAPO2's coverage map. Click here to see a larger version of it and visit SWAPO2's web site for more info.

Here's all of our previous posts on SWAPO2.

-- Scott Nishimura

From a lease negotiation springs a community...

SEACTX (South East Arlington Communities) reports on its web site and in an email update that a couple of byproducts have sprung up from its effort to market a community gas lease: a crime watch and database of small business owners in the neighborhoods.

The group, which recently merged with the POSAR group of Southwest Arlington, says it's building a crime watch that will call for volunteers from every subdivision. Interested? You may send an email to the group at duramaxhd@sbcglobal.net.

The group also wants small business owners in the neighborhoods to let them know you are. "We will create a reference list...and post to the website, blog, and email to support our own community when we must spend that money for specific services," the group says. "We want to strive toward a tighter community, like it used to be." The group asks small business owners to respond to the same email address with your business and owner name, email, phone, and line of business.

SEACTX, which takes in 45 neighborhoods (visit the web site to see if your neighborhood is included) in far south Arlington from Texas 360 to U.S. 287, has also put a copy of the lease it's marketing on its web site. Among the terms it's looking for: a 30 percent royalty, structured to be free of post-production/transportation costs.

-- Scott Nishimura

(Photo: Juan Seguin High band)

Attn: Hibernators! SWAPO2 sets more meetings

Property owners in SWAPO2's Southwest Arlington area who have decided to sign their leases, or just now become aware of the neighborhood negotiating group (apparently, some folks are just now coming out of hibernation), can now attend a new set of meetings.

SWAPO2 and Carrizo Oil & Gas have scheduled more lease signing meetings on their agreement, and these "will continue indefinitely until everyone eligible in the SWAPO2 area has been given a fair chance to join," SWAPO2 says in an email and a posting on its web site. To see whether you're included in this group, click here to see the coverage map.

The meetings will be Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, 1:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. at the Park Springs Bible Church, 5515 Park Springs Blvd., Arlington.

Homeowners can sign their leases and receive their lease bonus checks at these meetings if they 1) have already signed letters of intent with SWAPO2, and 2) been notified by mail that their title research is complete and their leases and checks are ready, SWAPO2 says.

Homeowners can also sign letters of intent at these meetings, SWAPO2 says. To be eligible, property owners must be in the SWAPO2 boundary and not signed a lease with another company.

If you sign a letter of intent at these meetings, "you will then wait around 3-5 weeks for title research to be completed before being notified by mail regarding your completed lease and bonus check," SWAPO2 says. "If you have already signed a letter of intent but have yet to be informed about your lease completion, please be patient."

SWAPO2 also advises property owners who want to sign leases or letters of intent to bring identification. Additionally, everybody who's on the title to your home must be present to sign.

For questions about signing meetings or other details about the Carrizo lease, SWAPO2 says you may send an email to Carburante, the land agent, at ramon@carburante.com.

Dale Resources also is offering to sign leases in the SWAPO2 area on behalf of Chesapeake Energy, but those leases are not (correction: we omitted this word in the initial post) being recommended by SWAPO2.

Click here to read all of our posts about SWAPO2.

-- Scott Nishimura

CATS (SW Arl) says offers are strengthening

The CATS (Southwest Arlington) group says it's clamming up on the specifics of offers it's receiving while negotiation with leasing companies is underway. But here's an interesting exit line on the latest update the group posted on its blog: "We have already received offers in excess of the (Little Green Ark/MANA) contract and expect even better offers in the future."

The Little Green Ark/MANA deal is for, among other things, a $22,000-per-acre lease bonus

CATS is also inviting property owners in the Little Green Ark boundaries to sit tight and wait to see if CATS can get them a better deal.

-- Scott Nishimura

Arlington's SEACTX, POSAR groups merge

Two large South Arlington groups report they've combined into one.

The Southeast Arlington Communities of Texas (SEACTX, pronounced SEEK-Texas) has merged with Property Owners of South Arlington (POSAR). The group takes in a large swath of far South Arlington from U.S. 287 to Texas 360. Click here to visit the SEACTX site and here to visit the POSAR site.

Click here to read our previous posts on SEACTX and here to read our previous posts on POSAR.

-- Scott Nishimura

MNG in SW Arlington goes with XTO over Carrizo

Monterrey Neighborhood Group in Southwest Arlington reports it will accept a new $22,000-an-acre bonus offer from Permian Land Services on behalf of XTO.

The group had sought $22,500. MNG also reports that Carrizo Oil and Gas on Wednesday came in with three different offers using varying terms and lease forms. Carrizo in a few markets has offered varying bonuses and royalties to homeowner groups. According to MNG committee coordinator Cynthia Elkins, Carrizo's offers are:

• $19,000/acre bonus, 25% Royalty, use the SWAPO2 lease form)
• $20,000/acre bonus, 25% Royalty, Carrizo's lease form
• $27,000/acre bonus, 20% Royalty, Carrizo's lease form

Elkins says Carrizo seems to be pushing the group to use the company's contract, but says her group feels better using its own contract with XTO, which calls for royalties to be calculated on gas value at the point of sale. Left behind in the bidding was Paloma Resources, with a $20,000 bonus and royalties calculated net of production costs.

Here's our previous post on MNG.

-- Jim Fuquay

(Archive photo: Gunn Junior High choir)

Monterrey Neighbor Group (SW. Arl) weighs offers

The Monterrey Neighborhood Group, comprising an area in Southwest Arlington bordered by California, Arkansas, Avonhill and Monterrey streets has signed a letter of intent with Permian Land Services on behalf of XTO Energy with the goal of a $22,500/acre signing bonus and 25 percent royalty, reports MNG coordinator Cynthia Elkins.

The group is working off a contract used by the Oxford Square and Meadowcreek neighborhoods. As it awaits XTO's reply, MNG also has received an offer from Paloma Resources for $20,000 and 25 percent royalty after costs of production, and expects to hear from Carrizo Oil & Gas as well.

-- Jim Fuquay

Signing meetings for Little Green Ark neighborhoods

Lease signing meetings are being held tonight ( Monday, 3/24 ) and next Monday (3/31 ) at Lake Arlington Baptist Church for residents of portions of the Little Green Ark neighborhoods of southwest Arlington. Hours are from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The specific neighborhoods signing at these meetings include:

• Alexander Place -  All property owners on Sausalito Drive
• Greenwood Hill Addition - Property owners from 4606 Lester Dr. thru 4717 Lester Dr.;  all property owners of Ironwood Ct. and Basswood Ct.
• Oak Valley Estates -  All property owners of Oak Valley Dr.; property owners from 2800 Bonneville Dr. thru 4904 Bonneville Dr.
• Quail Hollow On The Lane Addition - Property owners on all streets
• Whisperton Addition - Property owners on both streets
• Wooded Acres Addition - Property owners on all streets

Neighborhood representatives agreed last week to terms of a standard mineral rights leasing offer for area residents and landowners with Paloma Resources, including a $22,000 per acre signing bonus and 25 percent royalties.

Residents are asked to bring official identification, such as a driver license.  Married couples and multiple owners listed on a deed must attend together.

Lease signing dates for other property owners in the area will be announced soon.

-- Bob Cox

(Photo: WinterFest at Lake Arlington Baptist Church)