A global energy producer’s foothold in Wayne County is about to get much larger next week.
Hess Corporation is on the verge of signing another large swath of northern Wayne County to prospect for natural gas, this time involving a different property owners alliance that has cobbled together at least 12,000 acres in the area.
Two representatives of the “Susquehanna Wayne Oil & Gas Group” (SWOGG) told The Wayne Independent on Tuesday that a majority of their members will sign leases with Hess Corporation beginning on December 11.
“I feel it was a good deal all the way around,” said SWOGG Representative David Matisoff, who owns property in Mount Pleasant Township. “Not many companies have decided to take all the acreage.”
SWOGG’s acreage - totaling about 20,000 - straddles Wayne and Susquehanna counties, generally north of Clinton Township and concentrated in Wayne County’s northwestern edge municipalities. That acreage may also increase as SWOGG is allowing non-members to sign-on nearly up to the last minute, said Matisoff.
“We think it’s the right thing to do,” he noted.
The agreement adds to New York City-based Hess Corporation’s already hefty presence in Wayne County. A few months ago, the company struck its first deal in the county with the Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance (NWPOA), involving an estimated 80,000 acres in that area, giving the company the right to drill for natural gas on those private properties.
The deals also certainly locks Hess Corporation as the largest presence in Wayne County for the potential extraction of natural gas here, with West Virginia-based Chesapeake Appalachia definitively trailing.
SWOGG Representative Robert Cox said their property owners alliance is completely separate from NWPOA, although the leases are structured similarly with some differences.
“We thought it was best to do it separately,” said Matisoff.
The payment terms are the same with a property owner receiving an initial $1,500 per acre bonus, then another $1,500 per acre if the company decides to drill for natural gas, along with a 20 percent royalty payment.
SWOGG members in northern Susquehanna County also signed with Texas-based Cabot Oil & Gas, representing 8,000 acres.
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A global energy producer’s foothold in Wayne County is about to get much larger next week.
Hess Corporation is on the verge of signing another large swath of northern Wayne County to prospect for natural gas, this time involving a different property owners alliance that has cobbled together at least 12,000 acres in the area.
Two representatives of the “Susquehanna Wayne Oil & Gas Group” (SWOGG) told The Wayne Independent on Tuesday that a majority of their members will sign leases with Hess Corporation beginning on December 11.
“I feel it was a good deal all the way around,” said SWOGG Representative David Matisoff, who owns property in Mount Pleasant Township. “Not many companies have decided to take all the acreage.”
SWOGG’s acreage - totaling about 20,000 - straddles Wayne and Susquehanna counties, generally north of Clinton Township and concentrated in Wayne County’s northwestern edge municipalities. That acreage may also increase as SWOGG is allowing non-members to sign-on nearly up to the last minute, said Matisoff.
“We think it’s the right thing to do,” he noted.
The agreement adds to New York City-based Hess Corporation’s already hefty presence in Wayne County. A few months ago, the company struck its first deal in the county with the Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance (NWPOA), involving an estimated 80,000 acres in that area, giving the company the right to drill for natural gas on those private properties.
The deals also certainly locks Hess Corporation as the largest presence in Wayne County for the potential extraction of natural gas here, with West Virginia-based Chesapeake Appalachia definitively trailing.
SWOGG Representative Robert Cox said their property owners alliance is completely separate from NWPOA, although the leases are structured similarly with some differences.
“We thought it was best to do it separately,” said Matisoff.
The payment terms are the same with a property owner receiving an initial $1,500 per acre bonus, then another $1,500 per acre if the company decides to drill for natural gas, along with a 20 percent royalty payment.
SWOGG members in northern Susquehanna County also signed with Texas-based Cabot Oil & Gas, representing 8,000 acres.
