Royalty

In their first meeting of Pennsylvania’s 2015-2016 legislative session, members of the state Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee voted unanimously to advance a pair of bills that would give landowners more transparency and protection when making inquiries about their lease agreements.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has received subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and state agencies in connection with leasehold purchases and royalty underpayments, according to a regulatory filing.

Pennsylvania Attorney General (AG) Kathleen Kane’s office appears to be pressing ahead with a far-reaching investigation into the royalty deductions by Chesapeake Energy Corp. from landowner’s checks, most recently issuing administrative subpoenas to multiple companies operating in the state.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has agreed to pay the North Texas city of Arlington $700,000 to settle a dispute over Barnett Shale-related natural gas royalties.

A top Republican state senator confirmed Thursday that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office is reviewing landowner complaints about unfair post-production costs that Chesapeake Energy Corp. has allegedly been deducting from royalty checks.

A study commissioned by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on the commercial aspects of the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project that the three major North Slope oil producers (ExxonMobil Corp., BP plc, ConocoPhillips and TransCanada Corp.) are pursuing says the state would benefit from having an equity stake in the pipeline and LNG project.

The New Brunswick provincial government has unveiled a new royalty structure intended to lure oil and gas companies to the province.

Royalties withheld by the U.S. Department of Interior for fiscal year (FY) 2013, estimated at $109 million to date, will be returned to the states in FY 2014, but when that happens remains a question, according to a spokesman for Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR).

A Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to repeal a controversial section of a new drilling law — as well as portions of state law dating back to 1961 — to protect landowners from what she says amounts to forced pooling.