gas well fracturing / "fracking" ?

[44trxfun]

gas well fracturing / \"fracking\" ?

Anybody here had an existing gas well fractured (fracked) to increase production? The gas company informed me they were coming in to do so on their well about a half-mile back from the road. They'll use an existing grassed-in road (avg. width about 15 feet with a few tight spots). I know little about this process. I'm trying to get the gas company to meet with me, but so far that hasn't panned out. Can anyone tell me what to expect? How much short-term / long-term disturbance? What vehicles? Any risks? etc.?

Thanks.

 

[gmsssi]

Re: gas well fracturing / \"fracking\" ?

You'll see a drilling rig and 2 large HP pump trucks, all 30-40 foot long. They will truck in water and sand and probably park a water tank onsite. They'll use the high pressure pumps using water/sand mixture to force open larger fracks (pores and cracks in the well walls) to allow more gas to get to the well. It will be noisy for at least 2 days, probably be onsite for 3-4. The water they use has to be controlled due to EPA regulations. They use to use explosives but today it's mostly HP water, really no risk. The wildlife clears for awhile but the deer and turkey are back at my place........ /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

If you get royalities now, expect bigger checks......... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif..!

 

[44trxfun]

Re: gas well fracturing / \"fracking\" ?

Thanks gmsssi. I figured it was pretty much the same equipment they brought in in the first place, but of course, I wasn't here then (heck, my house wasn't even here then). You mentioned the water has to be "controlled"; could you elaborate? How long ago was your well fracked? Have they had to come back in at all, or does it generally do the trick for years/decades/etc?

 

[hobbyfarm]

Re: gas well fracturing / \"fracking\" ?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Have they had to come back in at all, or does it generally do the trick for years/decades/etc? )</font>

44trxfun,
Once you have a working well, there will always be maintainance on the well that must be performed. For instance, occasionally it will need to be "worked over" to perform underground maintainance, it will need to be kept painted etc. Depending on conditions around the well sometimes yearly. It depends a lot on the leasing agency involved how much and how often the various crews are there.

 

[gmsssi]

Re: gas well fracturing / \"fracking\" ?

The water they use will collect contaminants (oil,gas & coal residuals) and that has to be disposed of properly. Mine was completed 2 months ago, it's a new well. Yes, they will retun depending on well production. It usually takes years before they return for a fracking.

You need to make sure they return the site and the access they use to a condition of your approval! They are responsible for damage to your property. Granted, work of that magnitude will have repercussions and this is your oppurtunity to ask for anything they might be equiped to do in order to compensate for the intrusion.

Etal......If they have to bring in a dozer, have them clear 1/2 acre for the new garden. If they have to cut trees, have them trim the overhangs on the driveway, etc............you get my drift? BTW.....money compensation is not out of the order if permanant damage is done.

Good Luck!

BTW.......Ask them to gravel the access road if you'd like it that way. That's pretty much a standard today!

 

[Unclebuck257]

Re: gas well fracturing / \"fracking\" ?

44trxfun,

Man have you touched on a sesitive subject with me!! OK brother, here goes. I live here in Texas, smack on top of, and right in the middle of, The Barnett Shale. In case you haven't heard of it yet, it's the largest natural gas deposit in the US and we have drilling going on all over out here, where there had not been any real drilling for anout 25-30 years.

Like one poster already told you, first, it depends on the producer who now owns that oil/gas lease your land is on at this point. Secondly, DO NOT LET THEM BS YOU!!! some of these companies like to leave you, the surface owner, with the impression that they can come on your place and do whatever they want to, and you basically can say nothing about it!..HOGWASH!! Tell them to stuff it!!

Now, I'm being very nice here, so please bare with me. You need to check your state's laws regarding oil and gas production, surface owners rights vs mineral owners rights etc to know where you stand that way, as a general rule!

Too many smaller oil and gas producers will try and get away with whatever they can, and not pay you for it, whereas the larger, quality, producers want things completely on the up and up from the very beginning and will take care of the surface owner, cooperation wise, money compensation wise, etc. With fracking, there's not that much torn up though.

They just fracked the gas well across the county road from me in an open pasture. The workover rig was there for about two weeks total, but not working the entire time.

Like you were already told, have them rerock the road their trucks will be using, since if it's not in good shape now, their trucks will definitely tear it up! Make sure that any trees they tear up are replaced, or you get compensated for them. Make sure that they return the entire area they use back to the way it was prior to this operation, and that they do it within two weeks of completing their work. That includes bulldozer work, fencing around the well area if you have livestock, and do not allow them to have an open pit without it being fenced in too while they're working. After they get done, have them suck up the fluid in that pit into a tank truck and cart it off your property and then bulldoze the dirt back in to the pit area to cover it up. Do not let them leave the open pit there, with fluid in it until it evaporates on it's own!!

Fracking is not as bad as drilling a new well by a long shot, but is a pain in the rearend, none the less if you are not the mineral rights owner.

I guess in short, remember that you own the land and you still have say in what is what!! There's more, but that's the general gist!!

 

[EastTexFrank]

Re: gas well fracturing / \"fracking\" ?

Unclebuck257 pretty much covered it. The laws and regulations and EPA requirements vary from state to state but in New York I would have thought that they'd be very strict. In any case, don't let them off with anything. Smaller companies are generally much harder to deal with than large ones. I worked for a major oil company and usually the attitude was not to sweat the little stuff in that regard unless the requests were totally outragous and then large oil companies can be much tougher. Heck, I once built a concrete basketball court half way up a mountain in Oklahoma to keep one land owner happy. Just make sure that the land is returned to it's original condition or that you are compensated and everything you want such as rerocked or regraded road HAS to be negotiated up front. Think long and hard about what you want out of the deal.

Just don't be like one old rancher that was caught in the middle of the night with a dead cow in his FEL, trying to dump it into the mud/fluid pit so he could claim compensation. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Things like that have happened more than once.

 

[Egon]

Re: gas well fracturing / \"fracking\" ?

On an existing well there should be a " surface lease agreement " between the owner of the mineral rights and the land owner already in place. This would give all the information you require, namely the area the leasee has access to and what condition the is maintained property in. If damages go beyond this or if the surface area the workover requires extends beyond the lease then compensation should be in order.

Egon

 

[gmsssi]

Re: gas well fracturing / \"fracking\" ?

In PA the gas company is responsible for ANY damage and you MUST be compensated. I have to believe that NY is the same. Don't let them in until they meet! In my case as a property owner, I had to make my own deal separate from the lease holder. The only carry over from the original lease was entitlement given from the lease holder (I got free gas).
In PA, the land owner negotiates a new agreement if he was not the owner at the time of the original lease!

I made sure all parties were involved in my negotiations. The gas company, the escavating company and the timberers. I made no monetary request but I did demand access to all removeable timber, gravel road, 2 extra acres cleared for my own use, stumps pulled etc, etc........ They are not done with the reclamation of the well so we'll see how well they grade and replant! I also let it be known that when they do the reclamation that I have a few extra things for them to do. They have agreed and there has never been an issue so far... .!