Monthly Shale Webinar Series on “Reading Royalty Checks” October 18th

For many landowners, receiving a natural gas royalty check is something to look forward to, but deciphering the information can be puzzling.   Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences Shale webinar on October 18th will help many understand what information is provided, how to interpret it, and where to turn if there’s questions on the information

The educational webinar will run from 1:00 to 2:00 PM on Thursday, October 18th.   Jackie Root, certified mineral manager and President of the Pennsylvania chapter of National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO), and Steven M. Karabin, Sr. VP/Marcellus Minerals Asset Advisor, Clermont Wealth Strategies at Fulton Bank, Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineer, PSU Alumni, Registered Landman & Registered Financial Advisor, will discuss the components of a royalty check, where the information is obtained, what it means to you, and how to use it to the best of your advantage.  Extension educator Dave Messersmith will moderate the session.

Jackie Root states, “It is possible that as many as 120,000 PA mineral owners may receive a royalty check this month for their share of oil and gas production. The producing well may have been drilled decades ago in a shallow conventional formation or it may be a Marcellus well coming online in the last eight years. Understanding the payment and production information on the royalty check as well as knowing where to turn for help is critical for proper management of mineral interests.”

Each month royalty owners across Pennsylvania receive oil and gas royalty statements and are typically unfamiliar and quite confused with interpreting these statements.  Terms like severance tax, BTU factor, decimal interest, API number, gross/net values, product codes, etc., are specific to the oil & gas industry. Numerous deductions may also appear such as compression, dehydration, gathering, processing, etc.  With this webinar, our goal is to bring you to a level of comfort in reading and understanding your oil & gas royalty statement since there is no standard format within the industry for royalty statements.

Presented by Penn State Extension's Marcellus Education Team, all of the monthly webinars will be offered from 1-2 p.m. on Thursdays. Upcoming planned topics include:

--Nov. 15 Analyzing the Options for Monetizing the Shale Gas Resource

--Dec. 20: Shale Energy and Water Impacts:  A Review of Recently Published Research

--Jan. 17, 2013: America’s New Industrial Revolution:  A Renaissance for US Chemical Manufacturing (discussing Ethane Cracker plants)

--Feb. 21, 2013: The Science Behind Best Management Practices

Registration for the webinars is not necessary, and all are welcome to participate by logging in to https://meeting.psu.edu/pscems/ . For more information, contact Carol Loveland at 570-320-4429 or by email at cal24@psu.edu.

Previous webinars, publications and information also are available on the Penn State Extension natural-gas website (http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas ), covering topics such as Act 13, seismic testing, air pollution from gas development; water use and quality; zoning; gas-leasing considerations for landowners; gas pipelines and right-of-way issues; legal issues surrounding gas development; and the impact of Marcellus gas development on forestland.