Skip Navigation

Landowners question gas royalty payments/Lancaster a cool city — Forbes

gas well with house and farm fields.jpg

What to look for on Smart Talk Tuesday, March 6, 2018:

Drive through areas of Pennsylvania where natural gas has been successfully drilled over the past 10 years and you’ll see new barns, farm equipment, or other items like boats or pick-up trucks that indicate new wealth.  Some landowners in the Marcellus Shale region have made a lot of money by leasing their land to gas companies.

But others haven’t — even though gas is being recovered under their land.  According to StateImpact Pennsylvania, a project that includes WITF and reports on Pennsylvania’s energy economy, the disparity in how royalties are paid to landowners “stems from a complex web of laws, court rulings and legal jargon that determines how money is distributed to property owners who allow energy companies to tap the minerals below their land.”

Often, landowners who don’t get big royalty checks because gas companies take “post-production costs” out of the royalties.

Tuesday’s Smart Talk explains the royalty controversy with State Impact Pennsylvania’s Marie Cusick and Amy Sisk.

Marie Cusick and Amy Sisk.png

State Impact Pennsylvania’s Marie Cusick and Amy Sisk

Also, Forbes.com has named Lancaster as one of the nation’s “coolest cities to visit.”  The accompanying article said the city had a bustling food scene and is becoming a cultural hotbed, citing Lancaster art galleries and the Fulton Theatre.

Tuesday’s Smart Talk takes a look at the what makes Lancaster a cool place with Discover Lancaster President Kathleen Frankford.

Kathleen Frankford2.jpg

Discover Lancaster President Kathleen Frankford

Support for WITF is provided by:

Become a WITF sponsor today »

Support for WITF is provided by:

Become a WITF sponsor today »

Up Next
Smart Talk

PA anti-semitic incidents increase/Witnessing a life saved from overdose