Leasing

A class action lawsuit in Ohio pending in a Youngstown court could affect property owners attempting to rid themselves of original lease agreements with oil and natural gas operators.

A news media tour was held Saturday at the Mayflower, AR, oil spill area under the joint command of local, state and federal officials, as well as ExxonMobil representatives. The event was held to provide an update of the spill, which occurred March 29 when a portion of the ExxonMobil Pegasus Pipeline ruptured. Since then, the portion of the 850-mile oil pipeline that failed has been removed for analysis at an independent laboratory and a new section of pipeline installed, all under state and federal oversight. In ExxonMobil’s most recent daily report the company indicated that cleanup was coming to an end and remediation of the area should begin soon. Monitoring by the company and various agencies has indicated that there has been no contamination of water or air from the spilling of what is estimated to be 5,000 bbl of oil. Besides U.S. Environmental Protection Agency representatives, there have been representatives from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office and local government on the scene since the cleanup began. Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel launched an investigation several days after the incident (see Shale Daily, April 3).

A train derailment near the town of Parkers Prairie, MN, Wednesday morning spilled 20,000-30,000 gallons of crude oil into a field, but frozen, snow-covered ground was “a saving grace” that should keep environmental damage to a minimum, a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) spokesman told NGI’s Shale Daily. Fourteen of the Canadian Pacific Railroad train’s 94 cars derailed and oil from three of them was leaked, the spokesman said. “They’re going to be able to recover most, if not all” of the oil, according to MPCA spokesman Dan Olson. No injuries were reported.

BP plc plans to begin drilling the first of 10 appraisal wells in Trumbull County, OH, next April, but developing eastern Ohio’s portion of the Utica Shale may be hampered by a lack of pipeline infrastructure, officials said this week.

Looking to support local oil and natural gas development operations in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays, Valerus and Brilex Industries have established a partnership to manufacture oil and gas production equipment in Youngstown, OH, for building surface facilities operating in the shales.

The Utica Shale may be “the best treasure of American energy,” Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon said Thursday.

Environmental questions and high costs for water have created a big headache for unconventional oil and gas producers, but it won’t take long before those problems are turned into opportunities for other businesses, according to industry executives.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans has ruled against Chesapeake Energy Corp. in its bid to reverse a $19.7 million judgment over a canceled oil and gas lease offer in Texas, a decision that may hold implications on canceled lease claims by mineral rights owners in several other states.

Encana Corp. said Wednesday its board of directors had concluded that the producer had not colluded with “competitors” on land leasing in Michigan two years ago.