Our Main Goal: To educate our neighboring property owners so they may obtain the safest, most prudent gas lease possible.
January 4, 2010 We are in the process of coordinating with Karen Bobeck, our State Representative, to have her and others present information and answer questions about pending legislation related to natural gas activities at a future CCLOC meeting. Just when that meeting will be will depend on her busy schedule and the availability of the Benton High School.
There are many rumors that Chesapeake has withdrawn lease offers in Luzerne and surrounding Counties.
We believe there is nothing that we could have done to prevent this from happening and that it impacts our entire area and all groups.
This appears to be a last minute change in policy on their part and it is not the first time we have seen companies do this as a negotiating strategy.
We do expect that they will be back again before long offering leases.
We are still in communication with Chesapeake and other energy companies and plan to keep all options open.
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- October 7, 2009
We want to make our members aware that other groups are now using the Benton High School for their meetings. This will require our members to pay close attention to our Columbia County Land Owner Coalition meeting dates.
The dates of our Columbia County Land Owner Coalition meetings at the Benton High School will be E-mailed, posted on our web sites, and recorded on our Phone messages.
Members have told us that Chesapeake land-men are making offers in our area. This has nothing to do with our group, so please refrain from accepting direct offers from them.
Just tell them, "I am sorry, but I am with the Ross Township Group and the Columbia Coalition".
Remember the SWRTPG & Coalition will be able to negotiate a better lease than what you can get from them.
We are in direct talks with Chesapeake Energy Company and hope to complete a deal before the end of this year. Chesapeake Energy has made lease offers to landowners in Wyoming County in the range of $5750.00 per acre and 20% royalty.
September 20, 2009.
Fortuna Energy Inc. is working with The Friendsville Group, a coalition of about 600 property owners, to lease all of the group's acreage in northern Pennsylvania for $5,500 an acre for a five-year lease on their property, with a company option to extend the lease for another three years. The company will also pay 20 percent royalties for producing wells.
Also the Wyoming County Landowners group with 37,000 acres has announced an agreement with Chesapeake for $5,750 an acre and 20% royalties.
We are talking with representatives from the oil and gas industry and have discussed sign-on bonuses and royalties in the ranges being offered to these two groups.
This is great news but is only part of the puzzle as we expect to get a copy of our lease today or tomorrow We will continue to pursue the best lease possible for our group but unless you want a haphazardly reviewed lease we need you to be patient, Remember that the lease is the most important part of the agreement and protects you and your property..So please refrain from accepting direct offers that attempt to circumvent our efforts.
At this point we have no definite boundaries beyond Ross.
August 23 2009 1. WE ARE IN ACTIVE DISCUSSIONS WITH A VERY REPUTABLE GAS COMPANY. IT IS EARLY IN THE PROCESS BUT THEY HAVE OFFERED DISCUSSIONS ON SEVERAL ITEMS OF INTEREST TO OUR GROUP. AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE TIERED OPTIONS FOR PAYMENT: 1. HIGHER PAYMENT LOWER ROYALTY, 2. MEDIUM PAYMENT $MEDIUM ROYALTY, LOWER PAYMENT $HIGHER ROYALTY. EACH LANDOWNER COULD CHOOSE THE OPTION THAT WOULD BE BEST FOR THEM. MORE INFORMATION AT OUR SEPTEMBER 15 MEETING 2. FROM THE FRIENDSVILLE GROUP WEB SITE:
Several (more than 5) gas companies are VERY interested in the Friendsville Group's land.
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Hi this is Ken and today is Saturday, July 4th 2009.
May we always remember the significance of this day.
The next SWRTPG meeting will be 7:00pm Tuesday July 7th at the Sweet Valley Church of Christ.
Attorney Dale Tice will be the feature speaker.
- The Northern Wayne County Property Group, NWPOA, announced today that their Steering Committee has entered into a Letter of Intent with Hess/Seneca and has in turn recommended it to the membership.
- The two Citrus wells north of Benton now have DEP approval.
- Pa. House bill 1205, if passed, will extend the timeframe for when a landowner can claim damage to the water supply from six months to 24 months and expand the distance where pollution of a water supply is presumed to be caused by an oil or gas well drilling operation from 1,000 to 2,000 feet.
- The Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee has passed a bill providing for a Severance tax on natural gas drilling.
Several occurrences have been reported to me this week where a landsman has told a landowner that their neighbor has signed a lease with them when in fact they have not. If the reason that you are signing a lease is because you were told your neighbor did, you might just want to verify with your neighbor that the information you were told is correct.
10 questions you should ask yourself before you sign a lease
1. Has an attorney versed in oil and gas leases reviewed the lease for me?
2. Do I understand in detail exactly what I am signing?
3. Am I being pressured to sign this lease, forcing me to skip over things on this list?
4. Am I OK with the terms and financial aspects of the lease or will I regret signing it later?
5. Am I signing this lease just because my neighbor did or a landsman claims they did?
6. Can I make out better if I wait?
7. Can I afford to wait?
8. Does the lease protect everything I want protected?
9. What would my dad say?
10. What does my property owner group think about this lease?
BE AWARE: THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SUBMITTED A COMPLETED COMMITMENT LETTER FOR EACH PROPERTY WILL BE DROPPED FROM THE DATABASE IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE. THIS MEANS THAT YOUR PROPERTY WILL NOT APPEAR ON FUTURE MAPPINGS AND YOU WILL NOT BE ADMITTED TO ANY CCLOC GROUP MEETINGS.
Hope you have a great day.
Ken
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Hi this is Ken and today is Friday, June the 19th
The production results from Cabot’s’ Susquehanna County Marcellus Wells are coming in with initial production rates of between 6.4 and 9.0 MMcfpd. After 30 days these wells are producing between 5.3 and 8.3 MMcfpd and they are estimated to have a lifetime production value in excess of 4.5Bcf. These results are between 2 and 3 times their original published projections. At $4/mmbtu gas prices the wells are providing a 25% rate of return
The two wells north of Benton now have DEP approval.
We are still talking with several companies as activity is picking up.
We do expect our members to help us by showing initiative in seeking out Pool Group information and getting their requested forms and information back to us. We will help but we can’t do it for you. If you want to be included in a lease you must take the initiative to look out for yourself.
Current mapping of all groups should be completed by this time, but we are still looking for many letters of commitment that have not yet been returned to the group. Coalition meetings are limited to members having submitted a letter of commitment or completing one at the meeting. Ross meetings are approaching the same restrictions. BE AWARE: THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SUBMITTED A COMPLETED COMMITMENT LETTER FOR EACH PROPERTY WILL BE DROPPED FROM THE DATABASE IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE. THIS MEANS THAT YOUR PROPERTY WILL NOT APPEAR ON FUTURE MAPPINGS AND YOU WILL NOT BE ADMITTED TO ANY CCLOC GROUP MEETINGS.
For every property owner for whom we don’t have a commitment letter, we expect one of two things in the next few weeks:
A completed commitment letter for each property
OR
Notification that you are leaving the group.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation regarding this matter.
? DON”T LOOSE CRITICAL PROTECTIONS FOR YOUR PROPERTY AND YOURSELF
? IT’S YOUR GAS and YOUR LAND, MANAGE IT WISELY
? DON’T BE PUSHED INTO SIGNING ANYTHING
? UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING
That’s it for now.
Hope you have a great day.
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Hi this is Ken and today is Thursday, June 11th
The next CCLOC meeting is at the Benton High School on Tuesday June 23rd at 7:00 PM.
The next SWRTPG meeting will be at the Sweet Valley Church of Christ on Tuesday July 7th at 7:00 PM.
We are still talking with several companies as activity seems to be picking up.
We do expect our members to help us by showing initiative in seeking out Pool Group information and in getting their requested forms and information back to us. We will help, but we can’t do it for you. If you want to be included in a lease you must take the initiative to look out for yourself.
To have your property included in negotiations and in our group mapping, which is used to show the gas companies where and what acreage we are negotiating with, you MUST have a CCLOC Commitment letter on file.
Also, access to future meetings may be restricted to those SWTRPG members who have signed a commitment letter!
The commitment letter can be accessed on the Columbia Coalition web page, or you can send a self addressed envelope requesting the number of forms that you need to our Sweet Valley address:
When you have completed the forms you should send them back to that address.
Please get these completed forms back to us as soon as you can.
Don’t miss out on a leasing opportunity because you didn’t submit a CCLOC commitment letter.
Communication options include:
1. Our WEB PAGE www.rosstwpgas.com
2. Our Phone message 256-4488
3. SWRTPG
PO box 307
Sweet Valley, Pa.18656
4. CCLOC web page-www.columbiacoalition.org
5. Phone message for Luzerne County: 864-8650
If you leave our group please give us the courtesy of letting us know.
DON”T LOOSE CRITICAL PROTECTIONS FOR YOUR PROPERTY AND YOURSELF
IT’S YOUR GAS and YOUR LAND, MANAGE IT WISELY
DON’T BE PUSHED INTO SIGNING ANYTHING
UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING
That’s it for now.
Hope you have a great day.
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Hi this is Ken and today is Saturday, June the 6th
The next SWRTPG meeting will be 7:00pm Tuesday July 7th at the Sweet Valley Church of Christ.
At our last meeting Brian Oram from Wilkes University give a presentation about clean water and how Natural Gas recovery could have an impact on water quality if done improperly. He also addressed options and costs of water testing that could be done to determine possible contamination of well water in the area near Natural Gas recovery activities.
We are talking with several companies as activity seems to be picking up lately.
We do expect our members to help us by showing initiative in seeking out Pool Group information and getting their requested forms and information back to us.
Access to future meetings may be restricted to those SWTRPG members who have signed a commitment letter!
Communication options include:
1. Our WEB PAGE www.rosstwpgas.com
2. Our Phone message 256-4488
3. SWRTPG
PO box 307
Sweet Valley, Pa.18656
4. CCLOC web page-www.columbiacoalition.org
5. Phone message for Luzerne County: 864-8650
If you leave our group please give us the courtesy of letting us know.
The most important part of leasing is that the lease you sign protects you as much as possible!
? DON”T LOOSE CRITICAL PROTECTIONS FOR YOUR PROPERTY AND YOURSELF
? IT’S YOUR GAS and YOUR LAND, MANAGE IT WISELY
? DON’T BE PUSHED INTO SIGNING ANYTHING
? UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING
That’s it for now.
Hope you have a great day.
Ken
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Activity with gas companies seems to be picking up lately.
1. We are working independently and with CCLOC and the Fairmount group where it is mutually beneficial and we participate on a leadership committee and in seeking leasing opportunities with them.
2. Over 60 gas companies have been contacted.
3. We have had face to face meetings with representatives from three companies and continue to see interest from others.
4. Our Executive Committee feels that given time and a better economic environment we can come up with a better lease than those that are currently being offered both in the protections and financial incentives.
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Hi this is Ken and today is Friday, May the 28th
The next SWRTPG meeting is 7:00pm Tuesday June 2nd at the Sweet Valley Church of Christ.
Brian Oram from Wilkes University will give a presentation and answer questions related to water issues regarding well water quality impacts, water testing available, and potential impacts on streams and ponds.
We are talking with several companies as activity seems to be picking up lately.
Access to future meetings may be restricted to those SWTRPG members who have signed a commitment letter!
The commitment letter can be accessed on the Columbia coalition web page, or you can send a self addressed envelope requesting the form to our Sweet Valley address.
When you have completed the forms you should send them to our address.
If you leave our group please give us the courtesy of letting us know.
The most important part of leasing is that the lease you sign protects you as much as possible!
? DON”T LOOSE CRITICAL PROTECTIONS FOR YOUR PROPERTY AND YOURSELF
? IT’S YOUR GAS and YOUR LAND, MANAGE IT WISELY
? DON’T BE PUSHED INTO SIGNING ANYTHING
? UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING
Ken
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Hi this is Ken and today is Thursday, May the 14th
It has been a little over a week since I have updated the phone message. Rumor is that I was up at Lake Ontario for a few days and just got back.
The next SWRTPG meeting is 7:00pm Tuesday June 2nd at the Sweet Valley Church of Christ.
We expect our members to help us by showing initiative in seeking out Pool Group information.
Communication options include:
1. Our WEB PAGE www.rosstwpgas.com
2. Our Phone message 256-4488
3. SWRTPG
PO box 307
Sweet Valley, Pa.18656
4. CCLOC web page-www.columbiacoalition.org
5. Phone message for Luzerne County: 864-8650
The commitment letter can be accessed on the Columbia coalition web page, or you can send a self addressed envelope requesting the number of forms that you need to our Sweet Valley address:
When you have completed the forms you should send them to the address given here.
Please get these completed forms back to us as soon as you can.
Natural gas prices are beginning to rise along with the price of oil and have just gone above $4.00.
But even at $3.25 Range Resources estimates a 20% rate of return which increases to 34% at $4.00
The Stock Market has been showing that the recession may be bottoming out and a recovery may be taking place by the end of this year or early next year.
We are actively pursuing leasing opportunities and there are some promising options in the works as Natural Gas interests are beginning to position themselves to meet Natural Gas requirements as our economy recovers.
If you leave our group please give us the courtesy of letting us know.
The most important part of leasing is that the lease you sign protects you as much as possible!
? DON”T LOOSE CRITICAL PROTECTIONS FOR YOUR PROPERTY AND YOURSELF
? IT’S YOUR GAS and YOUR LAND, MANAGE IT WISELY
? DON’T BE PUSHED INTO SIGNING ANYTHING
? UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING
Grass is sure growing fast and needs to be mowed a couple times a week.
Hope you have a great day.
Ken
May 4, 2009
We are continuing to work with CCLOC and the Fairmount group where it is mutually beneficial. We are participating on a leadership committee with these groups and are seeking leasing opportunities with them. Over 50 gas companies have been contacted and some are interested in our area. We have talked with several companies related to leasing. Several expressed high interest.
Hi this is Ken and today is Sunday, May the 3rd
The next SWRTPG meeting is 7:00pm Tuesday May 5th at the Sweet Valley Church of Christ.
Items on the agenda include:
1. Information on ways to protect any gas lease profits you may someday be getting through devices like Limited Family Partnerships and LLC’s.
2. Reviewing the highlights from Thursdays CCLOC meeting.
3. The importance of Commitment letters
4. An update on local leasing activities.
5. Update on the groups nonprofit application.
6. Statements from Executive Committee members
7. Question and answer time
We expect our members to help us by showing initiative in seeking out Pool Group information.
Communication options include:
1. Our WEB PAGE www.rosstwpgas.com
2. Our Phone message 256-4488
3. SWRTPG
PO box 307
Sweet Valley, Pa.18656
4. CCLOC web page-columbiacoalition.org
5. Phone message for Luzerne County: 864-8650
The commitment letter can be accessed on the Columbia coalition web page, or you can send a self addressed envelope requesting the number of forms that you need to our Sweet Valley address.
When you have completed the forms you should send them to our Sweet Valley address.
Please get these completed forms back to us as soon as you can.
We are actively pursuing leasing opportunities and there are some promising options in the works.
If you do leave our group please give us the courtesy of letting us know.
The most important part of leasing is that the lease you sign protects you as much as possible!
DON’T LOOSE CRITICAL PROTECTIONS FOR YOUR PROPERTY AND YOURSELF
IT’S YOUR GAS and YOUR LAND, MANAGE IT WISELY
DON’T BE PUSHED INTO SIGNING ANYTHING
UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING
That’s all I have for today. Hope to see you at the meeting.
Ken
April 21, 2009 - Interest from several gas companies is picking up in our area. At this time they seem to be either checking out our area as locations to expand into or for some new companies to find a share of the Marcellus Shale Play.
March 31 2009 -
- Six members of our leadership committee recently attended a National Association of Royalty Owners sponsored meeting in Susquehanna County. The meeting illustrated what one needs to know when leasing is completed. Representative Sandra Day Major summarized all of the bills being proposed regarding natural gas production in the state of PA.
-
Gas leasing interests are becoming active in our area again.
*** MEMBER ACTION REQUIRED *** INTEREST IN OUR LOCATION IS PICKING UP FROM SEVERAL SOURCES. One of the reasons given to withdraw the lease offer last September was that the group did not have a signed commitment for EACH parcel of land in our group. Because several sources have shown interest through our connection with the Columbia County Landowner Coalition we are requiring everyone to sign CCLOC’s Letter of Commitment. A COMMITMENT LETTER MUST BE COMPLETED FOR EACH PARCEL OF PROPERTY! This letter in no way commits the signer of the Commitment Letter to sign a lease if one becomes available. Each member should have a copy of the lease to run past legal counsel and then make a decision to sign or not to sign. The Letter of Commitment can be accessed at CCLOC’s web site. Or Go to this web sites “Contact Us” page, fill out the information, including your e-mail address, type in the Comments field that you want a copy of the Commitment Letter e-mailed to you and click on submit. We will send you a copy of the commitment letter via e-mail. INCLUDE ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ABOUT THIS COMMITMENT LETTER. Or You can send a self addressed envelope requesting the number of forms that you need to: SWRTPG PO Box 307 Sweet Valley, Pa. 18656 RETURN ALL FORMS TO THE ADDRESS ABOVE.
Hi, this is Ken and today is Friday, March 6th Our web page is- www.rosstwpgas.com Send mail to: SWRTPG PO box 307 Sweet Valley, Pa.18656 CCLOC web page is- columbiacoalition.org New phone message for Luzerne County is 864-8650
We are continuing to work with CCLOC and the Fairmount group where it is mutually beneficial and are participating on a leadership committee with them. We are currently working on a commitment form from each parcel owner. It will be released as soon as it is complete and reviewed. The SWRTPG continues to pursue lease offers on our own and will present reasonable leases which are offered to all or a portion of Ross Township for consideration. We hope to have our property owner database update completed and sent to Wendy by March 15th. We should end up with over 300 property owners with over 10,000 acres in our group.
If you leave our group, please give us the courtesy of letting us know.
Gas leasing interests are becoming active in our area again. You can NOT belong to two groups. CCLOC, SWRTPG, and Fairmont Twp. are considered one group. Rumors are meant to drive people away from our group, usually to another group! Don't be fooled! Please contact us and we will try to address any rumor. That’s it for today. Hope your day is full of sunshine. Ken National Association of Royalty Owners announces free educational meeting for mineral and royalty interest owners to be held in Susquehanna County. The meeting will be held at the Mountain View High School Auditorium on Route 106 in Kingsley, on Thursday, March 26th, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m The speakers are: Jerry Simmons is the Executive Director of NARO, whose headquarters is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Simmons points out that NARO’s "primary purpose is to educate, serving as national information clearinghouse for, not only our membership, but also state, local and federal government bodies and the general public." Les Greevy, a noted oil and gas attorney and Certified Elder Law Attorney, will explain Division Orders, Decimal Interests, how to read and why to keep Royalty Check stubs, and how to protect Royalty Interests for your family. Jackie Root, President of R&R Energy Consulting and well known for facilitating negotiations between landowner groups and energy companies, will present After the Crash: Update on Oil and Gas Leasing, Exploration and Development in Northeast PA. Representative Sandra J. Major, who represents the 111th District, comprising Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties, will give an overview of legislation proposed in the State House of Representatives which may impact the oil and gas development in Pennsylvania.
March 9, 2009
February 23, 2009
So what’s up with oil and Natural gas?
Is the news good or bad? It depends on your perspective.
Oil is now selling in the low to mid $30 per barrel down from around $140 a barrel last summer. Natural gas is selling in the low $4 range down from the $14 last summer. If you are a consumer the news is good, gas for your car, home heating oil, and natural gas prices are a lot lower than they were last fall.
The bad news is with these prices so low natural gas companies have focused their attention on developing property they have already leased and are not aggressively competing to lease more properties for terms anywhere near what they were offering last summer.
However gas companies are reporting better than expected production from the wells they are drilling. Presentations from experts seem to indicate that we are located in a very good area of Marcellus shale deposits.
Other news is that it appears the Benton area will be getting two gas wells this year. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that these wells come in with high production rates as the results of these wells will have a major influence on leasing activity in our area.
Our Phone hot line number is 256-4488
Another phone hot line is now available for Luzerne County. It is 864-8650
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February 3, 2009 -SWRTPG Group Meeting at Sweet Valley Church of Christ
1. Where are we and how did we get here? (Ken)
a. Formed the SWRTPG
b. Partnered with Fairmount and CCLOC into lease negations.
c. Lease fell through
d. SWRTPG voted to take in all of Ross Township.
e. CCLOC referred all the property owners in Ross who had signed with them to Ross twp
2. Where do we go from here?
a. We will continue to work with CCLOC and Fairmount group where it is mutually beneficial.
b. We are part of a leadership committee with the other groups
c. We will control the leasing process and not be pushed.
d. We are putting together up to date, flexible, and compatible data base.
e. We continue to contact many gas companies to make them aware of our property group.
f. We have created a web site to educate the members of our group of current activities.
g. In the future our web site will include a private, member’s only forum.
h. We have phone #, 256-4488, for members to call for up to date information.
i. We expect our members to show initiative in seeking out group information by using our phone # and web site.
3. Gary Gordon provided an update on the process of getting tax exempt status.
4. Mark Stransky gave an overview of his activities related to Gas Company contacts.
5. Following the regular meeting Dale Elston gave a presentation on some of the features of the new website and Ken Long presented an Educational segment on Natural Gas Basics with an extremely interesting video. More of these Website features and Educational segments will be presented at each group meeting in the future.
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- December 15, 2008 -SWRTPG Executive Committee Meeting Notes
- Treasurers Report - Marge
- CCLOC Leadership Meeting update by Ken and Dale
- Status of updating the Ross Twp Database
a. Marge to organize the Agreement Forms, Proxy Forms and Donation Information and give to Dale to incorporate in the Member Spreadsheet.
b. Ken to prepare instructions and create a form to be used to contact members to determine if they are still with our group.
c. An e-mail has been sent out asking for confirmation that the recipients are still members of our group.
- Ross Twp Web site update (Dale) – Our new Web Site is active – rosstwpgas.com - The web site is up and running with a Home Page, Calendar and Forms page. Additional pages for News, Links, About Us and other items will be added by December 22.
- Status of taking over e-mail from George – Waiting to see how the Web Site E-mail function performs
- Phone Message updates - Ken is updating the phone message on a regular basis.
- Mission Statement – Mark presented the revised Mission Statement and after minor changes it was agreed that we will post it on the Web site and have a formal vote at our next meeting.
- Non profit application – Gary gave an update on the status
- Schedule the next SWRTPG group meeting – Tuesday February 3, 2008 at the Sweet Valley Church of Christ
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As 2008 draws to a close we can take a look back at it and see that it has certainly been an interesting year if nothing else.
1. We went from knowing almost nothing about natural gas to becoming experts, well maybe not experts, but we now know more than we did.
2. Gas leases went from $50/acre to $2850/acre, royalties from 12.5% to 18.75%, Addendums from none to reasonably fair.
3. Dow Stocks went from 14,000 to 7,600.
4. A Gas company stock went from $74 to $10.
5. This Property owner group was formed not out of greed, but to help educate friends and neighbors so that they didn’t get ripped off and could make better informed decisions.
6. We have a phone hotline (570) 256-4488 to get information out to those who do not have internet access.
7. We are in the process of developing a new web page which will include a member discussion forum, unlimited E-Mail, links to the latest natural gas related news articles, web resources, and group updates. We hope to have it started up before the end of the year. The site will be rosstwpgas.com
8. We are developing programs which will be about an hour long following the Benton meetings. They will be educational and informative. For the novice and those who want to learn more.These programs will include topics such as: gas drilling introduction, gas drilling environmental concerns, gas leases and addendums, and protecting your gas lease income. They may include subject matter experts such as lawyers, financial advisors, or gas lease negotiation groups and/or individuals.
9. We are spending many hours behind the scenes working towards a gas lease and have several irons in the fire so don’t assume because things seam quiet that everything is at a standstill.
