Barnett Shale

Offers going up in Southwest Fort Worth area

The newly formed Southwest Fort Worth Alliance reported today that it's now up to 25 neighborhoods and includes more than 6,000 acres.

We told readers of the the Star-Telegram print edition last week about this newly merged super group. Click here for the story and to see which neighborhoods are part of the group.

Click here to see what we wrote on the blog earlier this year about the group.

The offers are also starting to tick up, but only to specific homeowners groups within the alliance. The alliance hasn't yet begun to negotiate as a group with the energy companies. The highest offer is now up to $25,000 an acre for lease bonuses and a 25 percent royalty, with the usual three-year primary term and an option for another two years.

Tolli Thomas, co-chair of the group, said the alliance is now looking to hold meetings with the drilling companies. The three that have circulated offers to various property owners in the group are Chesapeake Energy, XTO Energy and Carrizo Oil & Gas. Chesapeake and XTO each have multiple well sites that could perhaps reach most of the property owners, Thomas said. Carrizo has mostly gone after homeowners on the southen end of the group's boundaries.

--David Wethe

$25,500 deal reached with Turf Green United (SW Arl)

The group in Southwest Arlington known as Turf Green United says on its website that it has reached a deal with a relatively new drilling company Titan Resources and its land affiliate The Caffey Group.

The terms of the deal are:

• $25,500 per-acre bonus
• 25 percent royalty
• Initial three-year term with an option for another two years and another $25,500 bonus

Competition helped drive up the price. We last told you in late February about a $17,000-per acre signing bonus and a 25 percent royalty offered by Carrizo Oil & Gas. The group also reports on its website that it received an offer of $25,000 per acre from Dale Resources, representing Chesapeake Energy.

The group, which posted the deal agreement last night, also announced signing dates at The Church on Rush Creek, at 2350 SW Green Oaks Blvd., in Arlington.

They are:

• Tuesday, June 10, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.
• Thursday, June 12, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.
• Saturday, June 14, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• Tuesday, June 17, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.
• Thursday, June 19, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.
• Saturday, June 21, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

When you go to sign, you'll need to bring a picture ID, and all parties that own the property must sign the lease, the group's Website said.

The group is also expressing frustration that officials for Dale Resources is going around the neighborhood, posting flyers on people's doors.

"The lease they are offering is not a Turf Green United approved lease. This a common tactic used by this company to cause signing date confusion within a united neighborhood. These types of dishonorable tactics are unwelcome and speak loudly on the way Dale conducts business."

Click here for the Website for Turf Green United, formerly known as Sterling Green Addition.

Click here to see what we've said about this group before.

--David Wethe

Keller group says Carrizo interested

North Keller Neighbors Together, representing property owners in North Keller, Southlake and Westlake, said Carrizo Oil & Gas has expressed an interest in leasing in the entire area and plans a presentation at the neighborhood group's July meeting. NKNT says it has commitment letters from 1,424 property owners representing more than 3,000 acres. The group also said its leadership group discussed XTO Energy's leasing activities in the area. It said XTO's use of independent landmen to solicit individual leases is contrary to the group's stated goals for dealing with the community. Click here for the group's boundaries.

-- Jim Fuquay

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

Nottingham (G.P.) agrees to deal with Carrizo

The Nottingham Gas Lease Association, in northern Grand Prairie straddling the Tarrant-Dallas county line, announced Saturday it has reached a deal to lease its mineral rights to Reagan Energy Services, working on behalf of the driller Carrizo Oil & Gas.

The terms of the lease it's recommending to members are:

• $16,000-per-acre bonus for a three-year initial term
• 25 percent royalty
• Optional two-year renewal, with another bonus of $10,667 per acre
• Checks to be handed out at the time of signing

The group had declined other offers from competitors, but Walt Stell, who sits on the group's membership committee, declined to name the companies or say what the terms were.

Nottingham, whose website can be found here, expects to have its members start signing the leases by Sat., May 31. The location is expected to be at the Hampton Inn at Carrier Boulevard and Texas 360, Stell said.

Here's what we've said about this group previously when it was first starting to organize late last year.

The boundaries for Nottingham are:

• North Carrier Parkway on the east
• Duncan Perry Road on the west
• Sunnyvale Road on the north
• East Avenue K on the south

--David Wethe

Tarrant County signs two more gas leases

Tarrant County Commissioners approved two gas leases with Houston-based Carrizo Oil & Gas Tuesday.

Commissioners approved a deal to lease the mineral rights for the Southeast Sub-Courthouse in Arlington for a signing bonus of $54,000 or $18,000 an acre.

They also approved a deal for 3.1 acres of county-owned right-out-way property in Mansfield for a $37,224 signing bonus, or $12,000 per acre.

Both deals include a 25 percent royalty.

-Aman Batheja

Catching up with East Trinity Mineral Leasing Committee (Euless)

The East Trinity Mineral Leasing Committee is well on its way to getting its members signed up for the lease it agreed to last month.

The Euless group, which consists of the Stone Hollow Addition and the Park Hollow Addition subdivisions, is recommending that its members sign the offer from Cheaha Land Services, which is representing Carrizo Oil & Gas.

The lease includes a $19,000 per-acre signing bonus, a 25.5 percent royalty and an initial three year term with an option to re-sign for another two years at $12,667 per acre.

Dale Property Services later sent competing offers of $17,000 an acre, a 25 percent royalty, a two-year primary term and a two-year option.

The Euless group has already held four signing meetings and two more are planned. They are:

• Sat., May 10
• Sat., May 17

Both meetings are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Airport Freeway Church of Christ. That's at 210 Airport Freeway in Euless.

--David Wethe

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

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

$22,500 for 3 neighborhoods in South Arlington

Leaders of the three-neighbhorhood group in South Arlington told more than 1,000 property owners tonight that they've reached an agreement with Dale Resources, representing Chesapeake Energy, for a per-ace bonus of $22,500.

The group -- which consists of the Villages of Fairfield, the North Cravens community and the Harold Patterson community -- will also get royalties of 25 percent, a primary term of three years and a two-year option, according to the Harold Patterson Web site.

"The meeting went very smoothly," according to the site. "If they haven't drilled within three years they have the option to extend the lease another 2 years by paying you the same bonus amount again!"

One of the well sites is at Arlington Municipal Airport (at the end of Bardin Road near the Bell Helicopter area), according to the site.

If you want to see what we've written about these groups previously, click here.

The groups will start signing leases in two weeks, said Bill Tinsley, who leads the Villages of Fairfield group.

"We have arranged our lease signing so you will be able to get a real check, not a voucher or anything else but real cash, when you sign your lease," he said in an e-mail tonight. He added that the group's bonus is now the highest accepted offer for Arlington.

Carrizo Oil & Gas had been competing, offering a bonus of $15,000 per acre and a 25 percent royalty.

--David Wethe