Well this is interesting. It turns out that fracking activities have been linked to an earthquake that registered 4.6 on the Richter scale. That’s strong enough that people indoors will feel it, with noticeable shaking of indoor objects and rattling noises. People outdoors will feel it slightly.
It’s the biggest earthquake caused by fracking that has been clearly linked to fracking to date.
Most fracking earthquakes won’t ever be felt by anybody. Apparently, bigger fracking projects in the right, er, wrong location could lead to bigger earthquakes. It wasn’t something we had been concerned about previously, but it appears it’s time to look into it a little closer. Stay tuned.
I have interest in 2 particular tracts in Northern West Virginia. I have entered into a lease on one of the tracts, which I signed an addendum to an existing lease which has been in existence since the early 50’s. There may be existing well(s) on this tract, and according to a plat given to me by the production company, there is a pipleline attached to the property. There is a rental fee in place for storage. Question is, could there be royalties in suspense, and rental payments which have never been collected, as this lease is over 60 years old..Thank you in advance for your input!…
That depends. If all that has been keeping the lease alive is the storage, then there’s probably not much in escrow. Storage doesn’t pay royalties, but there’s usually a storage fee that goes along with it. If nothing has been paid ever, then you might have an argument for having the lease declared expired. That would be a tough argument to make, as you’d have to go to court for a declaratory action and use some West Virginia code that isn’t exactly on point to support your case. However, if your ownership in the tracts is large enough, it might be worth it to try. On the other hand, if there are wells that are producing oil or gas then there should be some money in escrow somewhere. You’ll need to contact the company that is producing the wells and see what the story is. We can handle that for you if you’d like. Just call the office at 304-473-1403 and we can put together an agreement with you to get started.