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In gas drilling country, the honeymoon is over on royalties
WYALUSING, Pa. – In Pennsylvania and other leading gas-producing states, a battle royal has developed over royalties.
Landowners are bitterly disputing the deductions that some drillers have been taking from their royalty checks amid a historic collapse in natural gas prices.
Chesapeake Energy, the nation’s No.2 gas driller, is facing royalty lawsuits in Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Pennsylvania — including one filed by the Pennsylvania attorney general.
The disagreements centre on how the gas should be valued for royalty purposes.
The issue has reached a boil in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, where nearly 800 people packed a town hall and elected officials argue that Chesapeake and other drillers are ripping people off.
The gas industry says that deductions for getting the gas from well to market are legal and proper.
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