Caution urged amid leasing palooza for drilling in Mahoning Valley

Caution urged amid leasing palooza for drilling in Mahoning Valley

By Karl Henkel

khenkel@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

After settling in Columbiana County for most of 2011, the oil- and gas-leasing binge now is in full swing throughout the Mahoning Valley.

The land rush is happening almost everywhere.

Hundreds already have signed leases in Boardman, Poland, Austintown and Canfield.

With that binge comes the prospect of big paydays for area landowners.

But before a landowner signs on the dotted line, knowledge is necessary to protect the property and legal rights of landowners.

“It’s a huge decision that can have a lot of ramifications for generations to come,” said Alan Wenger, an attorney with the Youngstown law firm Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell.

This land rush is different from those of the past. New horizontal drilling allows for exploration under lakes, subdivisions, golf courses, malls and other high-traffic areas.

The monetary terms, which in the Valley have ranged at or north of $2,250 per acre in one-time bonus payments, clearly is at the forefront of landowners’ minds.

But the bigger financial gain could come years down the road — most leases are five years in length with a three-year renewal — from the production of natural gas and oil, should drilling actually take place on a specific property, which is no guarantee.

Read this first installment in its entirety of this five-day series on lease-signing for oil and natural-gas drilling in the Mahoning Valley on Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.