BROOME COUNTY – Another landowner coalition’s mineral rights lease encompassing property in the Southern Tier was signed over the weekend, this one by Fortuna Energy, Inc. for $5,500 per acre with 20 percent royalties.

The amount compares to a deal signed in June with Hess Corporation and Seneca Resources Corporation that offered $3,500 per acre and 20 percent royalties to a coalition that included 700 property owners in Binghamton and Conklin.

Both deals compare to early on activity just over a year an a half ago when XTO Energy leased 37,000 acres in Deposit at $2,400 per acre for mineral rights and 15 percent royalties.

The Fortuna agreement was with the Friendsville Group, a coalition comprised of more than 35,000 acres in Bradford (Pa.), Susquehanna (Pa.), and Broome counties. There are more than 900 members in the group with more than 1400 total parcels.