natural gas leasing ?

[Silencer]

Is this rage going on all over the US ?  are you guys being hounded my natural gas companies to lease your land ?

Its a big thing going on in our area, I'm not sure what the deal is but everyone and their brother plus neighbor is leasing off their land to natural gas companies.
They tell them if they dont sign the lease and your neighbor does and finds gas, they can suck the gas from beneath your land and you wont get royalties.

I think there's something behind all this, the country folk around here are being swindeled somehow. 

They also tell them they wont harm their land but I dont understand how you can put a pump in without cutting, dozing roadways etc etc etc etc..

The whole deal just doesnt seem right to me, but then again I'm a backwoods redneck.

[ninthinning]

Sounds like a standard gas and oil drilling operation.  Leasing oil and gas rights has been going on in this country for well over a hundred years.  Drilling for oil and gas requires roads, locations, pipelines meters and more.  During drilling a road and location are required but a year later it should all be cleaned up.  Gas wells can drain gas from a distance of over a mile in some cases.  You can check up on the companies by calling your DER office.  The land owners receive 12.5% of the royalties.  Around here gas companies are very respectful of landowners rights.  The royalties can be substantial so it if worth exploring the idea of drilling on your land.
Good luck!
9th

[Brad H]

The drilling and production companies are very good about living by landowners requests around here too. I don't know what the negotiations usually start at for gas, but each oil company pays a little different up here for royalties. At the very least they'll always pay surface damages in any case.

Brad