Cambria Co. Landowners - Oil and Gas Leasing - Marcellus Shale - Utica Shale
Welcome to the Cambria County Landowners Group webpage. The Cambria County Landowners Group is a recently formed group that will serve Cambria County, Pennsylvania and its surrounding areas.
Morascyzk and Polochak are working in partnership with Attorney Paul Eckenrode of Ebensburg, PA, and with Co-eXprise Inc. on this project.
Attorney Eckenrode is an experienced oil and gas attorney who lives and practices in the Ebensburg area. Paul is a very well respected attorney in the Cambria County community.
Co-eXprise is our marketing partner on the 44,000+ acre Mount Jackson Landowners Group in Lawrence and Beaver Counties. Co-eXprise has a history of energy marketing on both the buyer and seller side, and has represented some of the largest companies and municipalities in the country, including the District of Columbia and City of Los Angeles. Co-eXprise has been hired by the Cambria County government to market the County's oil and gas rights. At the request of the County Commissioners, Co-eXprise is giving the ability to private landowners to pledge their acreage with the County in this unique public-private group marketing opportunity. We and Attorney Eckenrode have been asked by Co-eXprise to assist with the private landowner aspect of this group, and are happy to work with Co-eXprise on this project.
We feel that this partnership will allow the private landowners of Cambria County to work together with each other and their local government in order to market their oil and gas rights most effectively. This can be accomplished by using Co-eXprise transparent and proven method - administered full-time by professionals -that will ensure the best lease terms and best market value for their oil and gas. Thank you for your interest and please explore the rest of the webpage and our website for more information.
THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD GAS LEASE: The old saying in Texas is "Sell the land, but keep the oil and gas." This is because Texans appreciate the financial value, scarcity, and power of oil and gas rights. Pennsylvanians are only recently discovering that oil and gas has this great financial value, and like any valuable asset, oil and gas needs to be managed carefully. Folks need to know that an oil and gas lease is a contract that while signed today, can remain in effect for 1 year, 5 years, 100 years, or longer. Believe it or not, that one contract signed today can bind the current landowner, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in the future. That is why it is very important to negotiate the best lease that you can and maximize the value of your oil and gas right now while you have the opportunity. We feel that in most cases, using a group negotiating strategy can help to attain this goal.
HOW THE GROUP LEASING PROCESS WORKS - COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: Similar to a labor union, a leasing group is a coalition of landowners who pledge to negotiate the leasing of their acreage together as part of a large package deal. The oil and gas leasing industry centers around drillers acquiring large tracts of land in certain geographic areas. For Marcellus and Utica shale drilling technology, drillers look to lease hundreds or even thousands of adjoining (or "contiguous") acres together in order to form "drilling units" before they can begin to operate. Traditionally, drillers have preferred to go door-to-door in order to bring acreage into their units one lot at a time in a "divide and conquer" type strategy, attempting to essentially to form local leasing monopolies and eliminate leasing competition. In a group leasing effort, the landowners put together their own units and use the leverage of collectively bargaining their acreage to many companies, increasing competition. Instead of everyone negotiating on their own with little negotiating leverage and competition among drillers as an individual, they become part of a large, united, highly desirable block of land, which creates competition and leverage, big advantages when negotiating lease price and terms.
FAQ - DO I HAVE TO SHARE MY OIL AND GAS PROFITS WITH OTHER LANDOWNERS IN THE GROUP?: The answer is no. The idea of a group is that each individual landowner will end up with a similar or identical lease contract, which is a better lease contract than what they could have negotiated as individuals. Landowners are united in negotiating to get the lease that they want, but that unity ends when the leases are all signed. While the leases are all similar or identical, they all apply only as to the individual landowner's property. So if you have 100 acres, the "group lease" that you sign applies directly to your 100 acres. You get paid bonus and royalties based on your acreage, and your royalty payment depends on when and how your acreage is developed and oil and gas is produced. While you may have the same "group lease" that all group members obtained through the leasing process - the same lease as another group member in another township 10 miles away - you are only affected by how your own property is developed after signing the lease, and not by how any other property in the group is developed.
FAQ - IF I JOIN, WHAT DO MORASCYZK AND POLOCHAK AND ATTORNEY ECKENRODE DO FOR ME? We consult the group members on the legal implications of oil and gas leases and terms in general and inform the group's members of the important terms that the members should consider when negotiating the lease. We educate and communicate with our group members by having regular group meetings. Attorney Eckenrode is local and available to help landowners in-person should they need that assistance. We help to grow the group by reaching out to neighbors of our group members. We help Co-eXprise to draft the final "group lease" that will be marketed to the drilling companies. We have already drafted an outline of what we believe are good, preferred terms that group members should aim for through this process. CLICK HERE FOR "PREFERRED TERMS".
FAQ - IF I JOIN, WHAT DOES CO-EXPRISE DO FOR ME? Right now, in the "building" stage of the group, Co-eXprise will use its technology to provide group leadership and members with the tools necessary to reach out to neighbors and to form the best possible group. Co-eXprise will consult with us and group members regarding their strategy in building and growing the group. Most importantly, once the group has been organized and membership is strong, Co-eXPrise will aggressively market the group properties and has the ability to conduct closed or open bidding events. Co-eXprise has the resources to facilitate the large financial transactions and closing services that are necessary to complete large group transactions of this nature.
FAQ - WHAT ARE MY OBLIGATIONS IF I JOIN? By joining, you agree to work with your fellow group members and to stay committed to the group leasing process for 12 months, meaning that you won't sign a lease outside of the group process, and that you will sign a group lease should Co-eXprise and its partners get the group a lease offer that meets the members' criteria. Again, refer to our "PREFERRED TERMS" to see what we believe this criteria will be. A large effort like this takes time and committed acres, and the time commitment is the biggest obligation you make when you join the group. You also agree that you will pay the commission due to Co-eXprise and its partners for the work involved in including your acreage in this project.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ATTEND MEETINGS AND TO BRING YOUR NEIGHBORS.
UPCOMING MEETING DATES:
PLEASE CALL ATTORNEY PAUL ECKENRODE AT (814) 471-6771 for meeting dates and times.
GROUP UPDARE: February 12, 2012
The Cambria County Landowers Group is estimated to have over 15,000 acres enrolled at this time. C-X energy is working towards updating the group membership rolls and GIS maps in anticipation of marketing the group at the NAPE conference in Houston, Texas at the end of February. The group is also expanding and accepting folks into the group who had previously been members of the "Loretto Group" in the eastern part of the county.
GROUP UPDATE: June 27, 2011
We are excited to announce that the private landowner portion of the group has grown to approximately 4,500 acres at the present time! We will continue to hold regular group update meetings and new member introduction meetings. We are very happy with the pace that the group is growing on. With a combined effort of our team holding meetings, and fellow landowners in the group spreading the word, we are confident that the group will continue to grow and soon be ready to hold a large amount of leverage in the bidding market.
Thanks again for everyone's interest and support, and we look forward to 1) growning the group and 2) taking the group or group(s) to market when the time is right.
-by Joe Morascyzk
GROUP UPDATE: May 13, 2011
We are happy to say that the private landowner portion of the group has grown to approximately 3,000 acres over the first six weeks that we have been having meetings. We have large concentrations of members in Adams and Barr townships. We will continue to recruit new members and focus on Adams and Barr townships to build around our current members.
Thanks again for everyone's interest and support, and we look forward to 1) growning the group and 2) taking the group or group(s) to market when the time is right.
-by Joe Morascyzk
GROUP CONTACT INFORMATION:
ATTORNEY PAUL ECKENRODEMORASCYZK & POLOCHAK, ATTORNEYS AT LAW
