The National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) Appalachia Chapter Annual Conference

The National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) Appalachia Chapter recently held its annual conference at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulfur Springs, WV.  Mineral owners from all around the Appalachian Basin and as far away as Texas came to learn about managing their mineral assets and to become more knowledgeable about all of the exciting activity happening in the Marcellus and Utica Shale areas. The Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Lab’s (NETL) Dr. Randall Gentry provided a snapshot of how the Utica and Marcellus Shale are playing a significant role in meeting energy needs nationally.  He described the ethane volumes coming out of the area are enough to support up to nine (9) cracker plants depending on size, and that the incoming storage fields would be a game changer for the area economically. Bob Orndorff, Dominion Energy; Jim Crews, Marathon/MPLX; and Brent Breon of Blue Racer Midstream echoed the same sentiments and expressed the need for midstream buildout, separation facilities, natural gas fired power plants, storage, and for pipeline transport to other states to meet their energy needs.  Exports through Cove Point were also discussed. Jackie Stewart from Energy in Depth Ohio spoke to the number of jobs that are being created region-wide.  She also spoke of ways that mineral owners can educate the public factually on construction and drilling projects. Eclipse Resources’ Oleg Tolmachev provided an operational update on their record setting lateral lengths and the benefit of this not only in terms of economic benefit, but also as it relates to decreasing the environmental footprint especially in areas involving state and federally owned lands. Brian Ward from Apateq Corporation discussed their portable clean water solutions technology to clean frac water onsite, reducing the need for transportation and injection. DOE/NETL, WVU, OVU and Terra Nova Exploration provided information on an array of topics from Rare Earth Elements, Alternative Clean Energy Programs, and the geology of the basin including the Rodgersville Shale in eastern Kentucky. HartPetro Global, Bounty Minerals, Ohio Farm Bureau, Jackson Kelley Law Firm, Hicks Partners, and Arnet, Cornish, Toothman provided mineral owner specific education on pipelines, commodities, storage, managing mineral assets as a business, discussing division orders and calculating decimal interest, grassroots to government relations and why auditing is important.  NARO Appalachia President, Robert Mead, expressed that, “Of particular interest were the presentations regarding on-going litigation in both Ohio and West Virginia pertaining to post production costs.  NARO is dedicated to the proposition that royalty owners should be fairly compensated for the minerals withdrawn from their property. Legislative updates from WV and OH were provided by WV Senator Charles Trump and OH Representative Andrew Thompson. Andrew Thompson Ohio Representative stated, “It was my honor to address the NARO conference; They represent many of my constituents, and they share my interest in ensuring we are formulating good policy in the oil and gas realm.” A special welcome was given by WV Senator Joe Machin’s office and in attendance was a representative from Senator Mitch McConnell’s office.  Chuck Cunningham from Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) gave an update on Senator Cramer’s House resolution encouraging an investigation into OPEC’s market manipulations and coming up with solutions to combat this. The Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) provided a glimpse of where the Appalachian Basin is headed and the economic benefits associated with that growth. Panel discussions on how various organizations have worked well partnering with NARO Appalachia to build relationships, accomplish common goals, and network more effectively.  Another panel discussion on Post Production Deductions led to an effort to draft possible legislation related to transparency and standardized minimum reporting requirement on royalty check stubs so that mineral owners can know if they are being paid according to the terms of their lease agreements. Joel Potts, WV NARO Appalachia Board member was quoted saying, “In seven years, this was the best conference yet!” Rebecca Clutter, NARO Appalachia Board member from OH stated, “Our Board worked very hard to bring the most current information on an array of topics to our members, while providing excellent networking opportunities to our sponsors and presenters.  Everyone that I spoke with expressed value in attending which is very exciting to us as a member based organization.”  The mission of NARO, a national organization, is to represent solely and without compromise, oil and gas royalty owners’ interests. Gregory McCoy of North Carolina was recognized for recently completing and passing the Certified Mineral Management Course, a program offered by NARO.  Valerie Antoinette from Pennsylvania was recognized for her work on the annual conference, and Janet Conn of Ohio was recognized for her work on the NARO Appalachia Facebook page as well as other communication efforts. Joseph Barone President Shale Directories, LLC www.shaledirectories.com jbarone@shaledirectories.com

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