Barnett Shale

Westside (FW) sees bonus offer bumped up

The Westside Neighborhood Association, which is southwest of Ridgmar Mall in Fort Worth, has seen its current offer from Four Sevens boosted to a per-acre bonus of $25,000.

The other terms remain at 25 percent, a three-year initial lease and a two-year extension.

"This lease is under review with significant points being addressed as well as being compared to other offers in Fort Worth," the neighborhood group said in an e-mail late Monday.

The increase in bonus is up from a verbal offer of $20,000 per acre and a previous written offer of $10,000 per acre, according to the group, which has met twice and is planning a third. The date, place and time is still being determined.

The group is currently made up of about 60 members.

If you're interested in joining, you can e-mail the group at westsidena@sbcglobal.net

Here are the boundaries of Westside:

• Downe Drive on the north
• Mary's Lane on the east
• Kermit Avenue on the south
• Las Vegas Trail on the west

Here is what we've said about the group before.

--David Wethe

New group forms southwest of Ridgmar Mall (FW)

A new group has organized in parts of west Fort Worth and White Settlement, calling itself the Westside Neighborhood Association.

And so far, there are already a couple of lucrative offers from 4 Sevens, said Frank Ramirez, one of the group's leaders. It's received a written offer of $10,000-per-acre bonus, a 25 percent royalty and a three-year initial term with a two-year extension, Ramirez said.

It's also received a verbal offer from 4 Sevens for a $20,000-per-acre bonus, with all other terms the same as its written one.

And now, XTO Energy has recently begun expressing interest in the area, Ramirez said.

The boundaries are:

• Downe Drive on the north
• Mary's Lane on the east
• Kermit Avenue on the south
• Las Vegas Trail on the west

The group has met once already and is planning a second meeting among group members on Thursday, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Ridglea Masonic Lodge. That's at 3605 Ramona Dr., in Fort Worth.

Westside Neighborhood Association is still working on putting up its own Web site, but if anyone in the area is interested in joining, you can e-mail ther group at westsidena@sbcglobal.net.

The group's size is about 30 to 50 members, comprising 20 to 40 acres, Ramirez said.

--David Wethe

Westcliff West and Foster Park (FW) mulling offers

We told readers in the print edition of the Star-Telegram on Thursday that the Westcliff West neighborhood group in southwest Fort Worth is currently mulling an offer from Chesapeake Energy that includes a $16,500-per-acre bonus, a 25 percent royalty and a five-year term.

It's come to our attention that it's actually Four Sevens who is serving as the land agent for Chesapeake on that offer, not Dale Resources.

At this point, there's not competition in that neighborhood, said Marc Meadows, one of the negotiating leaders for Westcliff West. But keep in mind what XTO Energy is doing, he said.  Fort Worth-based XTO has made an offer to the nearby Foster Park neighborhood for a $21,000-per-acre bonus on an initial three-year term and a $15,000-per-acre bonus for an additional two-year option, and a 26 percent royalty.

For background, here's what we've said in the past about Foster Park.

And, here's background on Westcliff West.

"Things are getting a little juicier," Meadows said.

He said he's been told that Chesapeake would meet or beat that offer for Westcliff West, even though it technically hasn't been offered by XTO to his neighborhood.

If that's the case, Meadows' negotiating committee for Westcliff West would recommend signing that kind of a deal, he said.

We'll wait and see.

--David Wethe

Villages of Fairfield, North Cravens (S Arl) join up

Two South Arlington neighborhoods -- Villages of Fairfield and North Cravens -- have joined up to try and negotiate a community gas lease.

"We now have more 1,700 homes that we are covering," Bill Tinsley, Bill_Tinsley@sbcglobal.net, a Villages of Fairfield organizer, reports. "The two areas held an association signature blitz this past weekend, and it was a huge success. We plan on having more blitz until we get the numbers we need."

The neighborhoods are at Matlock and Southeast Green Oaks Road, west of Arlington Municipal Airport.

Four Sevens, on behalf of Chesapeake Energy, is offering to sign leases for a $5,000 per-acre signing bonus, standard 25 percent net royalty that subtracts costs, and five-year term, the neighborhoods say.

Click here to visit the Villages of Fairfield's site, and, click here to read our most recent blog post on this neighborhood.

Click here to visit the North Cravens neighborhood site.

-- Scott Nishimura

(Photo: Arlington Municipal Airport)

SWAPO2 says Carrizo bids $17,000 per acre, 25%

SWAPO2 (Southwest Arlington Property Owners 2) says today that Carrizo Oil & Gas'  winning lease offer included a signing bonus of $17,000 per acre, and a 25 percent royalty.

SWAPO2 also has expanded its boundaries to include some nearby neighborhoods that weren't represented by one of the big groups. Click here to visit SWAPO2's web site and read more.

-- Scott Nishimura

SWAPO2 says "White Knight" Carrizo outbids Dale

SWAPO2 (Southwest Arlington Property Owners 2), unhappy with landmen who were representing Chesapeake Energy, says it's found a "White Knight" in Carrizo Oil & Gas and has approved a community gas lease with that company.

SWAPO2 isn't saying yet how much money it negotiated with Carrizo. But it says the money is better than the $16,850 per-acre bonus offered by Dale Resources, which is working the area on behalf of Chesapeake. SWAPO2 has declared Dale's offer to be "premature and predatory," because it said Dale distributed the offer to the neighborhood outside the negotiating process. Carrizo has been active in Arlington-area leasing, including winning the deal to drill at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The S-T, in the interests of fairness, has invited Dale and Chesapeake to respond. Click here to read more on SWAPO2's deal with Carrizo.

-- Scott Nishimura

No Valentines card for this landman

SWAPO2, the Southwest Arlington Property Owners 2 group, is already on the outs with Four Sevens landmen, who have been working the neighborhoods for Chesapeake Energy. Now, it seems SWAPO2 is unhappy with another landman.

-- Scott Nishimura

(Editor's note: The Star-Telegram invited Chesapeake and Dale Resources to respond, but haven't heard back yet.)

Image: Clipart.com

SWAPO 2 calls meeting, blasts leasing company

Southwest Arlington Property Owners 2, which plans its first membership meeting Feb. 12, says it has asked Chesapeake Energy to allow someone other than Four Sevens Energy to conduct leasing in parts of the SWAPO2 area, citing dishonest practices by Four Sevens agents. Organizer Tom Rodgers said the group on Feb. 6 sent a certified letter to Chesapeake's district landman requesting that Dale Property or other Chesapeake agent negotiate on Chesapeake's behalf. Rodgers said his group formally represents between 400 and 500 owners of the approximately  2,500 tracts in the group's boundaries, pictured here. Representatives of Chesapeake and Four Sevens were not immediately available Thursday for comment.

Rodgers said SWAPO2, a clone of the highly successful SWAPO group that has already negotiated high-paying mineral rights leases, is in ongoing talks with Dale Property and also with Carburante Cos., an agent for Carrizo Oil and Gas. He said the group also has invited bids from Hollis R. Sullivan and XTO Energy but is not in active talks with those companies. Rodgers said the plan is replicate the SWAPO model  of developing a common lease, requesting sealed bids from interested operators, and endorsing the best offer. Property owners remain free to sign their own leases or decline to sign any lease, he said.

SWAPO2's meeting is set for 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Grace Presbyterian Church, 5500 Mansfield Road, in Arlington. The meeting is open only to property owners and media. The agenda includes appointment of street captains, identification of current bidders and ratification of the bidding process.

-- Jim Fuquay

Having a meeting on the Barnett Shale? Publicize it here, on our new Community Calendar!

(Photos: Band, football practice at Kennedale High School)

North and South Arlington neighborhoods organize

More Arlington neighborhoods are organizing responses to lease offers.

The Villages of Fairfield neighborhood group in south Arlington (click here for the group's web site) is organizing to respond to an offer from Four Sevens/Chesapeake Energy. The offered terms: $5,000-per-acre signing bonus, 25 percent royalty, no surface access. The neighborhood says the drill site would be at Bob McFarland Park. Bill Tinsley, Bill_Tinsley@sbcglobal.net, one of organizers, says he and others in the neighborhood have passed out 500 fliers to get things going. The group's initial meeting is 3 p.m. Saturday at the park.

The Villages are north of Southeast Green Oaks, east of Matlock Road, west of the Arlington Municipal Airport and south of Interstate 20. The group initially sought to join the CCNG (Concerned Citizens: Natural Gas Drilling) group in south Arlington, whose neighborhoods are south of Green Oaks, but those neighborhoods had lease offers from different companies and a different drill site, Tinsley says.

The Villages didn't have an established homeowner association, but is organizing one, Tinsley says. He believes his group has effectively been able to get homeowners to hold off from signing leases. "I've been getting email every day," he says.

In North Arlington, the Parkway Central Homeowners Association is holding a meeting 7:30 p.m. Saturday Jan. 19 at the Rolling Hills Country Club to discuss its next move on a lease offer from Marsh Operating Co. of Dallas. Marsh has a city-approved drill site at the club and a deal to drill there, and could reach the Parkway neighborhood from that site, the neighborhood says. Parkway is east of the club. Marsh also has secured leases with three nearby churches, the neighborhood says.

"Marsh...is willing to give us a per-acre bonus payment for our mineral rights, plus a 25 percent royalty once the drilling has produced gas to sell," the neighborhood says in a flier publicizing the meeting. Parkway is inviting other nearby neighborhoods to come to the meeting.

(Map: What neighborhood says is potential reach of Rolling Hills Country Club drill site, large blue circle; institutional leases, smaller blue circles.)

-- Scott Nishimura

(Photo: On the swing at McFarland Park)

Having a Barnett Shale meeting? Publicize it here, on our new Community Calendar!

Chesapeake gets three permits for TCU site

Chesapeake Energy has received three drilling permits from the Texas Railroad Commission for its lease on the Texas Christian University campus. According to Railroad Commission records, the three wells will be drilled from the previously announced location of a parking lot just north of the school's football stadium. Each will travel roughly 2,200 feet to the east, nearly to University Boulevard, according to Chesapeake's applications with the commission. Although the wells originate from the same site, their well bores will be about 500 feet apart as they pass through the Barnett Shale, according to the permits, which were granted Nov. 16.

Chesapeake has not yet received a drilling permit from the city of Fort Worth, but Fort Worth Gas Well Inspector David Lunsford said he expects the company to apply for a drilling permit by January. When TCU announced in August that it had signed a mineral rights lease with Four Sevens Energy, which works on behalf of Chesapeake in Fort Worth, the school said it would allow drilling only between Jan. 10 and July 31, to avoid conflicts with use of the stadium for football games.

"The permit will be high impact with waivers if all required waivers may be obtained," Lunsford said. According to Chesapeake's permit, the drilling rig will be 533 feet from the north boundary of its lease. The city requires that drillers get a waiver from the owner of an occupied building within 600 feet of a drilling rig.

-- Jim and Mike