| By Bob Weaver
A $2.2 royalty gas and oil sale involving a few thousand acres in most districts of Calhoun or about 75 holdings was just reported under real estate transfers on the Hur Herald.
The transfer of ownership was to American Energy/Marcellus Minerals Limited of Oklahoma City, a company driven by CEO Aubrey McClendon, formerly with Chesapeake Energy.
American Energy Partners, a two-year old enterprise created by McClendon, on their web site says they have "a singular purpose to capture some of the vast opportunities available today in America's oil and natural gas industry."
The seller of Calhoun holdings was Maxine Welch/Mary Anne Ketelsen of Mary M. Welch Oil and Gas in Parkersburg.
Also recently sold was $3.5 million of royalty rights in Wirt County.
The Calhoun and Wirt purchases, while likely not considered big sums into today's market in the Marcellus boom, are indicators that such drilling will likely move into Calhoun, Wirt and other regional counties.
Calhoun and other regional counties have desired deposits of "wet shale" in the Marcellus.
On the Mt. Zion ridge the Utica is 1,100' thick.
However, the low price of natural gas has created a slow-down in the industry.
Marcellus and Utica drilling is currently going on in nearby counties, like Ritchie and Doddridge.
The Mary Haymond Well in Ritchie was producing $2 million in one month.
Often oil and gas rights holders in rural counties sell out for pennies on the dollar to companies that approach them.
Even more unscrupulous is when they are re-visited for lease modifications on the fine print that calls for taking from their royalty payments, like post production costs.
McClendon, when he was CEO of Chesapeake, was sued for such practices in Roane County.
See CHESAPEAKE ENERGY SHENANIGANS - McClendon 'Reduced In Rank,' Pulled National Headquarters From Mountain State
Caution is the word when it comes to money in the extractable industries, particularly for small producers and holders.
West Virginia's historic small gas and
oil producers are essentially being put out of the production business
by the large national corporations.
Remember the Enron debacle several years ago. Several local independent oil and gas producers got taken to the cleaners by Enron's billion dollar scam.
See THE SIMPLICITY OF THE ENRON PROBLEM - Permission To Steal
POLYNERVOUSTICKS - Feds Create Enron's Trough Feed, White Collar Thugs Play The Game
OF PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS - "Friends of Enron"
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