SB873 in Texas To Require Permits for O&G Water Wells
Current law exempts oil and gas companies from the permitting requirement for wells used for “drilling or exploration”. However, SB873, a bill in the Texas legislature hopes to change that by requiring a permit for wells used by oil & gas operators. TIPRO has been attempting negotiating a compromise on this bill, but recently informed the AAPL that those negotiations had not been successful. Jim Dewbre, President of the AAPL, sent out a letter today urging a grass-roots effort for those with business in Texas to contact their state representatives to defeat this bill. As per the letter, this bill ...
Gloom and Doom: What’s a Landman to do?
It’s probably safe to say that we have all personally experienced, or had a good friend who has personally experienced some downtime over the last few years. The United States is swamped in uneconomic dry gas, and even some of the wet gas is not worth drilling. Historic oil plays have been a place to hide, but by their very nature these plays require a certain amount of skill not all possess. I’ve seen a ramp-up over the last six months of experienced landmen who are looking for work, and I thought it was time to put some thoughts down ...
NAPE East 2013 – Who is Exhibiting?
I’ve been hearing a lot of discussion about NAPE East lately. The event is being held April 10th-12th in Pittsburgh, PA, and it will be very similar to the NAPE we are all familiar with. Albeit in a smaller form (at least to start with!). There has been a good deal of conversation between people trying to decide whether to go this year, or see what attendance is like and consider going next year. In an attempt to help some of you make the decision I wrangled a (partial) list of the exhibitors at NAPE East for 2013. So here’s ...
HAPL South Texas Social 2013 – A Great Event
I had the good fortune to attend the HAPL South Texas Social Thursday night (March 21, 2013), and I must admit that I had a great time (along with about 200 others). I’ve never been to Armadillo Palace, but it was a great venue. You’ll know you’ve found Armadillo Palace when you see the HUGE armadillo outside the building. The South Texas Social Committee, headed up by Joe Dichiara, did a great job. The process of getting a name tag and armband at the door was quick and painless, and they even had door prizes (yours truly won one!). ...
Here We Go Again: Gasland Part 2 aka Josh Fox In a Tinfoil Hat
Well, we’ve been hearing that the sequel to the documentary, Gasland, has been coming for 2 years and it looks like it is finally within striking distance. If you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years then you don’t know that Gasland is a 2010 documentary by Josh Fox that purported to shine a light on the dangers of fracking. The original documentary has been most thoroughly debunked by a laundry list of experts, independent studies, and a recently released documentary, FrackNation. Energy in Depth and the IPAA also produced a rebuttal documentary called TruthLand, although none ...
Into the Deep: Who is Chesapeake without Aubrey McClendon?
The announcement of Chesapeake Energy (CHK) CEO Aubrey McClendon’s impending retirement has stirred quite a bit of discussion over the past several days. Some lament that CHK will never again be the same. Others cheer that CHK will never be the same. One thing is certain, Chesapeake will never be the same. The Land Machine Chesapeake’s “land machine” is well-known for entering a new play and causing lease bonuses to skyrocket. Competitors hate the tactic, and that’s probably the reason McClendon employed it. If you can flood an area with land agents and raise lease bonuses to price out your ...
Fracknation – Get a Free DVD! (Contest Over)
UPDATE: THE CONTEST IS OVER AND THE WINNER HAS BEEN SELECTED! CONGRATS! Hey Everyone! I have a DVD of Fracknation coming my way and I thought it would be a great way to help promote this website. So here’s the deal. There are two ways to win this FREE DVD of Fracknation, a great documentary by Phelim McAleer that I’ve written about previously: 1. Subscribe to get email updates on new articles that I write by entering your email address and clicking the subscribe button below. Enter your email address: 2. Like the LandmanInsider.com Facebook page. Don’t worry, if you’ve ...
Winter NAPE 2013 – A Great Time!
I have to tell you, I had a great time at NAPE this year. I got to meet up with some great folks. I talked to Austin Brister, the editor and writer over at The Title Examiner blog – I hope that he was able to wander around NAPE on his own instead of hanging out over at the Sadler Law booth all day. I unfortunately did miss seeing the folks from DrillingInfo I talk to regularly, specifically the editor of the DrillingInfo Wireline Blog, James Hahn II. I’ve also decided that before 2014 I absolutely have to learn at ...
Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon Steps Down
Chesapeake Energy Corporation announced today that CEO, President, and Co-Founder Aubrey McClendon would be retiring effective April 1, 2013. This is amid previous allegations of impropriety that have been under investigation by the board of directors. The allegations involved the fact that McClendon received personal loans from business partners totaling hundred of millions of dollars. The press release stated that the final report of the allegations would be released mid-February, but that they had (to date) found no improper conduct. It’s interesting that they used the words “to date”. Rest assured, I’ll be following up after the report is released. ...
Surprise! You Get a Calendar!
(If you are an AAPL member!) Today I got a huge, flat envelope in the mail from the AAPL, and I couldn’t imagine what they could be sending me. After I got into it I found a sweet calendar and the always anticipated November / December edition of Landman magazine! They did a great job not only including all the scheduled educational events on the calendar, but also adding a fair amount of extra information on the ‘top’ of the calendar pages. It looks like this calendar is replacing the typically mailed out 2012 Annual Report. It’s nice to ...
