Royalty checks ?

Has anyone else had problems getting your royalty checks??
I signed with chesapeake almost 2 years ago ~'They drilled allllll last summer,
There are apprx. 6 well sites in our zone,pipelines running everywhere.
Many oilfield men in our area and they all say they are producing !!!!
We called to find out about our royalty checks and the first answer we got was to go online to their website and ask our question!
WTF kind of business is that??
Wha if you don't have internet like alot of the older folks??
Finally got a call thru to the guy we signed on with he said he would find out what was going on and get right back to us.that was a month ago..
So now We hire an attorney..

Good luck with that - all the attorneys in our area have 'conflict of interest' in filing agains Chesapeake - translate - they have them in their pockets already. Our area has dozens of people who are being told that their deeds are wrong and they don't own all the mineral rights...but no info on how to find out who does.
Even when confronted with years of evidence, Ches just shakes their head(s) and says, no, you're wrong. So, most of us are being paid about half of what our ownership says it should.

I had the same problem back in 1996. It took my attorney Michael R. Pickering (oil & gas attorney) with Hays, McConn, Rice, & Pickering in Houston months, but he finally got the right division. Also; Chesapeake had to pay late payment interest on all royality payments since I did not accept anything until it was correct. It costs in attorney's fees in the beginning, but I received 50% more than Chesapeake wanted to give.
Here it is 06/04/2009 and I still have received no check for 03/09 royalty payments that was due on 05/29/2009. Has anyone else experienced the same?

Have you heard from anyone as of yet? Your remark WTF had me laughing. Even though we share the same problems.

Has anyone had their lease extended by Chesapeake by force majeure clause? That's what they're doing in Chemung, N.Y. If you have this situation don't let them talk you into signing.

Can anyone advise me? We have a tiny .25 acre lot and a complex CHK lease proposal that appears to sign away all of our land/mineral rights forever. The royalty pmt is 20%. How much money could I expect to get in royalties for 1 yr? Should I even bother negotiating this lease? BTW -- the producing well was drilled a few miles away.

PA Marcellus Shale wrote:

Can anyone advise me? We have a tiny .25 acre lot and a complex CHK lease proposal that appears to sign away all of our land/mineral rights forever. The royalty pmt is 20%. How much money could I expect to get in royalties for 1 yr? Should I even bother negotiating this lease? BTW -- the producing well was drilled a few miles away.

The smaller the acreage the larger the percentage. You should get at least 25%. I would ask for 40% and negotiate from there. Yes, you should sign and get something. Otherwise; they will just steal it. You can be sure that they will steal by underreporting the production.

There are two (2) key parts to a lease: 1) Term of lease (how many years); 2) Royalty (how much you get paid); after that it is mostly boiler plate. If Chesapeake's lease form is too confusing, ask that they use a Standard Form Lease (like a "Producers 88"). As far as term 3 years is about standard with a 2 year option at a set price. As far as royalty somewhere between 3/16ths and 1/4 is fair (that is 18.75% to 25%). Keep in mind, you are getting free money. It is not like you worked for the natural gas or oil. Little pigs get fat, big pigs get slaughtered. If your demands are too one sided, they may not lease you, especially since natural gas prices are low and inventories are at an all time high. Once you make the deal, don't look back and say you should have held out for more. Also, I am not a fan of Chesapeake's, but they won't "steal" anything or under report production or anything like that. They will negotiate the best deal they can and it is up to you to do the same.