Co-Tenancy

In what’s been a stressful week for supporters of a delicate proposal to help West Virginia natural gas producers develop larger tracts of land with co-tenancy legislation, Republican Gov. Jim Justice backed off threats that he would veto the legislation unless the industry agreed to a higher severance tax rate.

West Virginia’s Republican Gov. Jim Justice has thrown a wrench into the natural gas industry’s crusade to help producers develop larger tracts of land, suggesting co-tenancy legislation considered close to passage should be tossed in favor of a broader deal that might be brokered in a special session.

This year’s version of legislation that would make it easier for West Virginia’s natural gas producers to block up acreage for longer laterals by gathering leaseholders into large tracts has passed committee and is scheduled for its first reading before the full state House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The oil and natural gas industry’s ongoing attempt in West Virginia to get some kind of law passed to gather landowners into large tracts for unconventional horizontal drilling will likely have to wait another year as the latest legislation remains stuck in the House Energy Committee with little time left in the regular session.