Vertical oil well owners gain knowledge on an increasingly horizontal well-driven market

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Drew Butler | The Daily Ardmoreite

 

On Friday, the Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance put together a free luncheon to help vertical well owners protect their interests when damaged by horizontal wells. After lunch was served a panel discussion took place with lawyers and engineers providing their expertise and advice.

“The horizontal universe began 10 to 15 years ago and we’ve all been playing catch up to the reality of these very successful wells,” OEPA Chairman Dewey Bartlett said. “Unfortunately, it has been to the detriment of our friends, neighbors, and companies. Our livelihoods depend on our companies being vital. They also depend on our companies not being taken advantage of by those with very expensive lawyers and a regulatory environment that has yet to react to the reality of the horizontal universe.”

The primary advice was to always be proactive when dealing with any horizontal drilling that will be taking place near a vertical well you either own or operate. The panel agreed taking this step prevents potentially prolonged and costly legal activity.

“Try to be proactive and deal with the horizontal driller,” said panel member Jim Marshall. “They don’t want to damage your well, but I think everyone would like to have this negotiated beforehand rather than after the fact.”

Panel member Andrew Jackson provided some sample letters to send out to horizontal drillers when a vertical well owner receives notice of a horizontal completion to be installed near their well. These letters put the operator on notice of your interest.

“Part of that is how to prepare for the offset frack, what kind of cost you expect to recover, and how to keep you notified if something does happen.” He recommends sending out a certified letter to guarantee the recipient knows what your expectations are.

OEPA Regulatory Affairs Chairman Tom Dunlap closed the meeting by pointing out the situation wasn’t entirely negative.

“We’re there with the industry, it’s going to go forward, and we’re a part of it,” Dunlap said. “The horizontal drilling and the fracking for that drilling is good. We get more recovery so there is a major positive. Look what’s going on nationally and internationally. The country is doing well with all of this new stuff. We just have to think proactive on how to make this work. Just know what you’ve got and how to play your cards.”

 

http://www.ardmoreite.com/news/20180831/vertical-oil-well-owners-gain-knowledge-on-increasingly-horizontal-well-driven-market

Point of View: The rest of the story about fracking

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The Oklahoman

Op-ed by Mike Cantrell, OEPA President

 

Let’s be clear, horizontal well drilling and fracking have been an economic boon for Oklahoma. It has provided a much-needed lifeline to the oil and gas industry and the Oklahoma economy over the last decade. No reasonable person can be against it as long as it is done responsibly and regulated properly.

Unfortunately, we are attempting to regulate horizontal drilling and fracking with rules and procedures developed for the vertical well universe. This must change. One of the unintended consequences of this activity that has received much attention is earthquakes. Fracking of horizontal wells has been tied to as many as 300 localized earthquakes in the past several years.

However, other unintended consequences haven’t received much-needed attention. The livelihoods of many Oklahoma families are being destroyed almost daily due to fracking of horizontal wells. Most horizontal wells are completed with a high-volume and high-pressure hydraulic fracturing procedure involving the injection of 4 million to 5 million barrels of water and chemicals and 4 million to 5 million pounds of sand injected at over 10,000 psi of pressure. Further, in the past year alone, the fracking of horizontal wells has been linked to 30-plus pollution incidents.

The fracking of horizontal wells has adversely impacted vertical wells as far as 1 1/2 to 2 miles away. This has occurred to hundreds if not thousands of vertical wells. A study commissioned by the Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance found that, in Kingfisher County alone, more than 400 vertical wells were adversely impacted by horizontal well fracking over a two-year period. This represents a major loss of income from these vertical wells often owned by Oklahoma families and family owned small producers who have lived in our state for generations, which includes many OEPA members.

The livelihoods of many Oklahoma families are being destroyed daily by horizontal fracking. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission needs to be as vigilant in protecting the rights of vertical well owners and producers who have been here for generations, have found the oil and gas, and are producing it profitably, as they are aggressive in permitting this destruction by protecting horizontal well drillers.

Cantrell is president of the Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance, an association composed of companies, operators, leasehold owners and royalty owners concerned with protecting the rights of conventional vertical oil and gas well producers.

https://newsok.com/article/5606608/point-of-view-the-rest-of-the-story-about-fracking

Cantrell: Right-of-way disputes

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Journal Record

Op-ed by Mike Cantrell, OEPA President

 

The Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance supports the right of elected county commissioners to determine what is in the best interest of the residents in their respective counties when it comes to the use of the rights of way over which they have jurisdiction.

There is a dispute in Kingfisher County between horizontal oil and gas producers and the county’s commissioners regarding overlaying temporary produced water pipelines on top of the ground in the county road rights of way. The county commissioners determined that these lines constitute a safety hazard, damage both private and public property, exposing the county to potential liability, and must not be allowed.

The ability of companies to lay so-called temporary water lines in county rights of way is very beneficial to the companies needing to transport water from one location to another. But those benefits pale in comparison to the possibility of losing one Oklahoman’s life in an accident involving pipelines put on the surface of the right of ways of our county roads.

The OEPA has several members who reside or operate conventional vertical oil and gas wells in Kingfisher County. Our members are Oklahoma companies, operators, and leasehold and royalty owners concerned with protecting the rights of conventional vertical oil and gas well producers. Most of our members own their own companies and have lived and operated in Oklahoma for generations. While we vigorously support our members, we also support what is best for Oklahoma and its residents.

It’s unfortunate that heavy-handed methods and misrepresentations are being put forth by certain facets of our industry to justify the need to use the rights of way to increase profits, without counterbalancing that against the interests and protection of the county and its residents. While the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over oil and gas operations, that jurisdiction typically ends at the oil and gas lease line. We make no judgment on the practice of laying pipelines in county rights of ways. However, we do support the county commissioners’ right to decide how those areas are used.

Mike Cantrell is principal of Cantrell Investments LLC and serves as president for the Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance.

http://journalrecord.com/2018/08/27/cantrell-right-of-way-disputes/

 

Letter to Kingfisher County Commissioners

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Dear Commissioners:

On behalf of the Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance (OEPA) we want to express our support of your right, as the duly elected County Commissioners of Kingfisher County, to determine what is in the best interest of the citizens and voters of Kingfisher County. As County Commissioners you have the authority and obligation to look out for your constituents, and to be good stewards of the land and roads in Kingfisher County.

The OEPA has a number of members who reside in or who operate conventional vertical oil and gas wells in Kingfisher County. OEPA members are Oklahoma oil and gas companies, leasehold owners and royalty owners concerned with protecting the rights of conventional vertical oil and gas well producers. Many of our members own their own companies and have lived and operated in Oklahoma for generations. As the representative of conventional vertical well operators, we support what is best for Oklahoma and its citizens.

Your considered and deliberative approach to reaching your decision regarding the use of county right of way for temporary oil field pipelines is to be commended. We admire your courage in taking on the proponents of using the right of way for their own private use exactly as they want to use it, and who will stop at nothing to get their way. It is unfortunate that heavy handed methods are being used and misrepresentations are being put forth by certain facets of our industry to justify the need to use the right of way to increase profits, without counterbalancing that against the interests and protection of the County and its citizens.

This note of encouragement assumes no position on the underlying issue, merely on your right to self-determination on how the roads in Kingfisher County should be used.

If we can be of assistance in this matter, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Dewey F. Bartlett, Chairman, OEPA

Mike Cantrell, Chairman, OEPA President, OEPA