COVENTRY – Landowners who would like to learn more about the Central New York Landowner’s Coalition, and possibly join the large natural gas land group, are invited to attend a recruitment meeting at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Coventry Town Hall.
Central New York Landowner’s Coalition Steering Committee member Charles Rowe said the group hopes to fill in the blanks on their holdings’ map in Coventry and the surrounding areas and thereby gain a stronger foothold in negotiating a lease with natural gas companies.
“We want you to team with us to bring profitable and responsible gas leasing into our region,” said Rowe, who added that there is no fee or obligation to remain a part of the coalition.
The land group, which has amassed more than 163,000 acres in three counties over the past 16 months, already represents more than 40,000 acres of land in the southern towns of Chenango County.
Attorneys for the group are presently contacting gas companies to market a lease contract. The group would either go out to bid as one large block of land or collect into separate bidding units.
Coalition President Richard Lasky said the coalition was not committed to one course of action. “With the help of wise counsel, we’ll make course adjustments if needed to get the best results for our coalition,” he said.
While all the Marcellus Shale holdings in the coalition shows quality gas, Lasky wrote in a recent newsletter that some areas have more favored geology for greater production. Some regions also show “very positive” Herkimer drilling production rates, he said, and the largest portion of the coalition reveals the potential of “a believed, very profitable” Utica shale play.
“We understand that each gas play is not equal in all areas of our coalition, but we are glad that each area has substantial opportunity for benefit from one or more layers of gas,” he said.