ShaleOhio

Gov. Kasich's third severance tax proposal sets aside 25 percent for 33 affected counties

Gov. John Kasich has introduced a third version of his oil and gas severance tax proposal, this time with 25 percent set aside for allocation to "33 counties mostly in the Appalachian region that are most affected by oil and gas exploration in Ohio's shale formations," The Columbus Dispatch reports (See our Apr 18, 2013, blog – "Ohio House Republicans remove Gov. Kasich's oil and gas severance tax from biennial budget bill"). In presenting this new version, the Kasich administration warned that if the proposal is rejected, then a straight ballot vote would likely focus on an income tax reduction with little attention paid to local shares, the article said. For more, read the full story.

Range Resources will settle a royalties underpayment class action lawsuit for $87.5 million

This month, Texas-based Range Resources announced in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that it has reached a memorandum of understanding with plaintiffs in a 2010 class action lawsuit out of Oklahoma, Star-Telegram reports. The plaintiffs in James A. Drummond and Chris Parrish v. Range Resources-Midcontinent LLC, et al, Case No. CJ-2010-510, originally sought "$160 million in alleged royalty underpayments on sales of natural gas." The filings indicate that the final settlement will be $87.5 million. For more, read the full story and the company's most recent SEC filing.

Halcón Resources Corp. provides update on its Utica/Point Pleasant operations

Last week, Texas-based Halcón Resources Corp. said in an operational update that it has drilled eight Utica/Point Pleasant wells (with one in the works) across approximately 70 miles and five counties in northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania. Status updates are available for the following wells: the Brugler 1H, the Kibler 1 and the Avalon Farms 1H, all in Trumbull County, OH; the Davidson 1-1H in Mahoning County, OH; the Allam 1H in Venango County, PA; the Pilgrim 2-3H and Yoder 2H, both in Mercer County, PA; and the Staab 1H in Crawford County, PA. For more, read the full update.

H.B. 205 would authorize local governments to collect a fee on brine recycling

Introduced last Wednesday by Ohio Rep. Ronald V. Gerberry (D-Austintown), H.B. 205 would authorize local governments to impose a fee on the recycling of brine from oil and gas operations to provide an added revenue stream for them. For more, read the full text of H.B. 205.

Columbia Gas Transmission countersues storage field landowners for permanent easements through eminent domain

Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC recently filed a counterclaim seeking to obtain through eminent domain "permanent easements across, over, under and through" 89 parcels of land belonging to landowners within a dozen underground storage fields across eleven Ohio counties, Farm & Dairy reports. Late last year, a handful of these landowners that didn't have lease agreements with Columbia Gas Transmission filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio "on behalf of all landowners in Ohio whose land is being used" by the company as part of an underground storage facility. The landowners claim that the company is violating the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by not compensating them for the use of their land and by taking away their right to "develop and produce the gas and minerals that exist under the property." In the counterclaim, Columbia Gas Transmission said it was unable to obtain easements due to failed negotiations with landowners "on the amount of compensation to be paid for the value of the interests in the property." The company also claims that the landowners will be able to retain and use the property as they wish, and will retain the right to lease their mineral interests in any formations not being used for storage by the company. For more, read the full story, as well as the original class action complaint and Columbia Gas Transmission's counterclaim.