Mineral rights leasing seminars scheduled in northern counties
By CHERYL R. CLARKE cclarke@sungazette.comMANSFIELD — In a continuing effort to assist landowners who may have been approached by oil and gas company representatives wishing to lease their land for exploration purposes, two seminars have been scheduled for this week.
Seminars addressing gas and oil rights leasing will be held Tuesday at Straughn Auditorium on the campus of Mansfield University and Wednesday at the Wysox Fire Hall in Wysox. Both programs will get under way at 6:30 p.m.
Improved technology has made it possible to extract natural gas from large deposits of the deep Marcellus Shale found here.
This provides residents who own land with new financial opportunities as gas companies are offering landowners significant amounts of money for drilling rights.
Many landowners find themselves in unfamiliar territory with lease negotiations, legal contracts and tax questions, said Kathleen M. Campbell, First Citizens National Bank marketing manager.
The bank, one of the sponsors of the seminars, believes that consumers armed with knowledge make better decisions.
“This is why we’ve pulled together experts in the field of law, environmental protection and agriculture to help consumers work their way through the noise of this gas lease boom,” Campbell stated.
Campbell said their offices have been “inundated” recently with phone calls from farmers and landowners wanting advice on what to do about companies approaching them trying to lease their property.
“We are trying to help our customers who are coming to the bank to find out what is going on. And we feel we have a responsibility to educate our customers as much as possible,” she said.
After considering all the questions being called in about the contracts, tax issues, what the impact would be on land, etc., Campbell said the bank decided to organize the seminars.
“They (the seminars) will be more for customers to ask questions than for us to deliver a ton of info,” she said, “but there will be materials handed out and each presenter will give a brief opening and if people can’t attend we are planning to film it and put it on our Web site,” she said.
Campbell said that people “need one spot they can go to for an answer,” especially those getting large checks in the mail.
“We have customers bringing in large checks and we are afraid they are forgetting about taxes, which can be as high as 30 percent. We felt we needed to take a role,” she said.
Another concern Campbell said is about scam artists.
“We see our customers get scanned constantly,” she said.
The best advice Campbell said she could give and does to customers is “don’t do anything till you’ve seen a lawyer and once you get that check, see an accountant to find out how much tax you owe and then a financial planner to discuss your long term goals,” she said.
Tom Murphy, extension educator of the Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lycoming County, said his extension office has been hosting seminars on natural gas topics for some time, but is not involved with the two in the Northern Tier.
“The ones we are doing on June 9 and 10 are in Honesdale and Montrose, dealing with natural gas wells and drinking water,” he said.
The Tioga County events also are co-sponsored by the Department of Agriculture’s Center for Farm Transitions and PAgrows, Penn State University Dickinson School of Law, the Center for Agricultural Law, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Panel members include Ross Pifer, director of ag law reference and resource center, Penn State University, Dickinson School of Law’s Agricultural Law Center; representative of the state Department of Environmental Protection; Jarred Grissinger, senior economic development analyst, state Department of Agriculture; and Dennis Hall, division chief for economic development, state Department of Agriculture and First Citizens National Bank Wealth Management Division.
The panel will be prepared to answer questions on lease negotiations and contracts, tax issues, impact on property values, the drilling process, impact on CREP, Clean and Green and Farmland Preservation and how to make the most of this financial opportunity.
“Pennsylvania farmers face many challenges, especially when it comes to profitability, making it essential that they be aware of the potential benefits and drawbacks of new opportunities,” said state Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff. “With the discovery of new drilling technology and the rising cost of fossil fuels, the natural gas rush in Pennsylvania is unfolding.
“Natural gas found in Pennsylvania and surrounding states has the potential to fulfill the entire nation’s natural gas requirements for two years, and farmers must educate themselves about gas leasing to decide whether they want to take advantage of the opportunity.”
Attendance is free and registration is not required.
Parking for Straughn Auditorium is available in Lot D as well as the First Citizens parking lot at 15 South Main Street. Visit www.mansfield.edu to view a map of the campus.
For more information about PAgrows, visit www.agriculture.state.pa.us/pagrows/ or call 1-888-724-7697. For more information about the Center for Farm Transitions, visit www.iplantofarm.com or call 1-877-475-2686.
