Information

Lake Arlington Gas memorandum of intent.pdf

06/24/2008

PLEASE PRINT THIS OUT AND READ CAREFULLY
 
There are two ways to sign up:
 
Option 1: Come to a designated place at a designated time based on the subdivision you live in. We will have over 7,000 total attendees and we need to coordinate and plan this by subdivision. If you are unable to attend your first signing date, don’t worry. You can attend any meeting after that to sign up.
 
Option 2: For those who are disabled or can’t make their actual signing meeting due to vacation, etc, Titan/Caffey will come to your house. You must call in advance for this service. Their number is 817-348-9766. You can also have your neighbors and friends attend if you want to. Just let Titan/Caffey know who will be attending when you call them.

What to bring: Please make sure you bring a valid government-issued picture ID, your warranty deed and any relevant legal papers such as divorce decrees, death certificates, power of attorney, name change, etc. that would help clarify current county records.  Everyone that is on the deed must be present at the signing meeting.

Attention CATS!
We plan to conduct the first, of several, town hall meetings this coming Wednesday May 7th (more dates to follow). The agenda will cover plans to develop the first CATS drill site. Come and learn specifics about the drill site preparation, operation, plans to transport the gas to market, etc… The goal is to help educate our neighbors and keep you informed of the progress by our neighborhood partner Titan/Caffey.

The featured speaker with be Titan Resources Vice President, Operations Christopher (Chris) Hammack. Chris looks forward to meeting you and helping all of us understand what urban drilling is all about.

Where: St. Vincent De Paul (Green Oaks & Pleasant Ridge)

Times: Please choose the 4:00pm session or the 6:00pm session.

See your there, Go CATS Go!

CATS MEETING UPDATE, 04-27-2008

According to the CATS/CAFFEY/TITAN meeting,

The signing bonus will be per acre(for an estimate return to the Gas Lease page )
and royalty payments of 25% PLUS, Thanks to Jimmy Parks, on whose property is a drill site, one half percent that he has donated back to the community. for a total of 25.5% .
Royalties will be No-Cost.
Bonus payment will be paid by BANK DRAFT Approximately 45 Business days after signing.
for those property owners on corner lots: They are working out a factoring number
to multiply the property size to give you the best possible results.

The contract for the leases will be available on the CATS website, in 3-4 weeks.
They anticipate drilling could start in 24-30 months after all the leases have been signed.

Signing meeting dates will be announced soon, it is HIGHLY suggested that you bring a
a copy of your deed of trust as well as ANY Survey or plat information you have available
to the signing meetings.

First signing meetings will start around May 15th for the southern half of the CATS
Area.

Reminder : property owners are responsible for all income taxes involved, and ,
Tarrant county considers Mineral rights as an ASSET to a property, Therefore
your REAL ESTATE TAXES WILL INCREASE once drilling starts.

Denise Marvin at 5309 Pineridge is the Block Captain for Pineridge Estates.

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Update April 13 2008 :
To all CATS current and prospective members,
There are many rumors spreading throughout the west Arlington area that need to be addressed. First and foremost is the information being spread about the CATS leadership and legal advisors. All of the CATS Steering Committee members live in west Arlington . We are all property owners who care about YOU and obtaining a fair deal for YOU. A fair deal not only applies to a gas bonus but also a monthly royalty and a contract that you can be proud of.
We are NOT being paid to negotiate or follow through on negotiations on your behalf. As with other groups that have signed with gas companies before us, there will probably be a one time reimbursement by the winning drill company to our group to cover our actual expenses such as paper, ink cartridges, signs, internet services, etc. which will benefit the eventual drilling company. The reimbursement will probably be in the neighborhood of $1,500-$2,000. Any funds left over from the reimbursement will be donated to a local church. We are not receiving any other compensation for our efforts to represent YOU.
In the same vein, our legal advisor who is an expert in oil/gas contracts in the Barnett Shale is neither expecting pay nor receiving pay from our group. He is helping us plus about 12,000 other property owners receive the benefit of legal advice without any payment or expectation of payment. He is doing this to gain contacts and be active in the best part of the Barnett Shale.
Many of you are listening to rumors about our group. Who do you think is spreading these rumors? Common sense would tell me that certain gas companies would like to have you believe that CATS is run by non-Arlington residents who are getting paid. Folks, we are YOUR NEIGHBORS. Why would you believe an outsider over us?
The truth is this: CATS is in negotiations with all of the major drilling companies. We are speaking to the decision makers with these companies. These are the owners, Presidents and VP's who write the checks. We are organized and ready to endorse a company ONLY if it is in YOUR best interest. If you have doubts about our sincerity due to things you have heard, then come and join our organization and see what we are all about. We are not donating 30-40 hours a week to this effort in order for the praise. We are doing it because it is the RIGHT THING TO DO.
So, it's up to you. Our recommendation is to wait for a few more days until more drilling sites are revealed. We are asking that you follow your heart, not rumors and hearsay. We are asking you to look at the history of the other groups that have signed leases. Most of them had been negotiating for at least 120 days or more before endorsing a drilling company. CATS has been representing you for only 42 days. We ask that you look at the contracts that were signed by other groups. The SWAPO2 contract was being hailed as the best standard contract out there. Our contract is also based on the SWAPO2 contract but we have added at least 6 key items to help and protect YOU. Keep reading our website and tell your neighbors about us. We have already received offers in excess of the LGA/MANA contract and expect even better offers in the near future.
WEST ARLINGTON COMMUNITY BULLETIN
The Arlington Police Department has asked us to inform you that there have been multiple unsolved vehicle burglaries in our part of Arlington over the last week. Their message to you is:
1. Take all valuables out of your car at night even if your car is parked in your driveway and make sure your car is locked.
2. Call 9-1-1 immediately if you hear or see any suspicious activity.
CATS SUPPORTS OUR COMMUNITY

On Friday, April 11th the CATS Steering Committee met. Our negotiations are going very well. Included in our list of companies we are negotiating with are Caffey Group, XTO, Paloma/Chesapeake, Carrizo and Quicksilver. One of these 5 has already made it known to us that they do not intend to take part in further discussions. The remaining four are very interested in our area. One of the drilling companies has already completed title searches for part of our area!
We met with two of the gas companies on Friday and told them what we are looking to accomplish for CATS. We asked them for a "plan of action" for our area so we can evaluate what their actual intentions are, the timing of their actions and the factors involved in the drilling process. CATS believes that by acquiring a plan of action from the drilling companies we can make a more informed judgment on who our eventual choice will be. Knowledge is POWER!
We have stressed to the gas companies that we are not necessarily looking for the biggest offer. We are looking for the BEST ALL AROUND OFFER. Here is what we are looking for:
Fair bonus based on current going rate-$25+ We are a Premium Group expecting a Premium Deal. We have already been offered bonuses in excess of the LGA/MANA bonuses. Please don't be swayed by offers made to you that are good for only 10 days etc. We believe if you stick with us the outcome will be positive.
Fair royalty based on current going rate-25-27%
Include ALL CATS members in the deal. This is a tough negotiating point and everyone needs to realize that drill sites have not yet been acquired for all of CATS area. We are doing our best to make sure all CATS members get the BEST ALL AROUND OFFER. As with most of the other large groups, there have been "tiers" of people within areas that did not initially receive bonuses due to no drill sites. We are diligently trying to make sure all of you get bonuses. We are also confident more drill sites will be announced soon.
Our contract has been based on the SWAPO2 contract but we have added about 6-8 addendums that have strengthened our contract based on CATS members input and consultation. We are concerned with the same things you are concerned with so please be confident that your concerns have been addressed.
We are not perfect. We are using every tool possible to scrutinize this whole process and have a positive outcome. We know at the end some people will be very happy and some will not. Those of us that have put in long hours on your behalf hope that all of you realize that you can't please everyone all of the time no matter what you do. All we can do is represent you in a fair, honest, ethical and common sense way and do our best. That's all we can expect from anyone. PATIENCE and COMMUNICATION are the messages we want everyone to listen to. Please communicate our news to everyone you can, especially your neighbors who don't have e-mail access.
Just because we don't publicize every word we say to the gas companies during our negotiations doesn't mean we are not successful. It means we are playing our cards close to the vest. We are sure many of you have been involved in negotiations at some level and know you can't reveal everything.
OTHER NEWS
We are planning a meeting in the next few weeks. We will send out an e-mail " blast" and post on our website when the exact dates are set.
Many people have expressed concerns about missing signing meetings. Once CATS endorses a company, we will start communicating with everyone via e-mail, phone calls, signs, etc. There will be multiple signing meetings over several months. If you are out of town or on vacation you will have ample opportunities to sign.

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Update April 1 2008:

At this time we would like to clear up some confusion regarding boundaries, other groups and signed contracts. We have received numerous calls and e-mails asking about groups that overlap boundaries. LGA and some other groups are actually within the current CATS boundaries. At one time, CATS spoke to these groups about merging but that never happened. Now, many people in these groups are asking questions about current bonus payments, contract terms and if they can join CATS. CATS has always been open to merging the groups on the group's terms. Members of the other groups would have been able to have key decision-making positions within CATS and have the obvious advantage of our expertise and size. At this time, I can tell those of you that have already signed a gas lease contract that you are legally bound to that contract. Those of you that signed a Letter of Intent can sign with anyone you feel comfortable with as it is not a legally binding document.

CATS realizes that the values of the offers have changed since LGA made their decision and that the upcoming CATS offer will be substantially better than the LGA offer along with other contract stipulations that enhance the contract . We would like to extend our invitation to any LGA members or other group members to join CATS at this time. I know those of you in Pineridge Estates are very anxious to make a decision and we would welcome your input and support in our group.

We have written this letter only because we have been asked by many LGA members to clarify our position. We want what is best for everyone.

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This Flyer is from the CATS Group, It was distributed throuout the neighborhood by Denise Marvin.

Southwest Arlington group organizes

Memo from Jeff Richman (3/24/08)
CATS would like to congratulate LGA on their agreement with Paloma. Many of the LGA members are
also within the CATS boundaries. CATS has received many inquiries about a merger of the two groups.
During the CATS meeting on Feb. 25th, a possible merger was discussed but never instituted. Since LGA
has signed an agreement with Paloma the CATS group is pursuing offers from the major gas companies
and expects an offer that will be more beneficial than the LGA contract so there will be no merger.

The deciding factors of who you should sign with are still not clear since none of the gas companies
have leased a drilling site that will affect many of you. If you sign with Paloma for $22,000 and we
sign with them for $25,000 (just an example) you would only receive the original $22,000. I can't tell
you what to do at this point. If it were me, I would wait for our agreement to be announced but that's
just my opinion-you and your neighbors are free to do whatever you want to do. In the long run, it all
depends on who drills, where they drill and how close you are to the drill site.

UPDATE DEC 08 2009

Two sites in the LAKEARLINGTON group are ready tostart drilling.

These are the LENNOX site located off PolyWebb Rd.
and the STEEPLES Site , off Bowman Springs (known as the Parks site).
The Gas companies have merged and are now operating under the management of Vantage Energy.
they started 4 months ago , applying for the required SUP's , Specific Use Permits, to start setting
up the drill sites.They cannot start until they have all their permits from the city and state. they hope
to have all the city permits by mid- 2010 and hope to start drilling 6 wells by the 3rd quarter of 2010.
There will be a total of 16 wells at the Lennox site and 13 at the Steeples site.
Seismic testing: this is something the drilling companies want and need, basically they will be using
infrasound detection to map out the best areas for the most efficiency of their wells. Previously the
gas companies have determined the boundries of the gas pockets, but didn't have a good idea of the depth.
or shape of the deposits. to use an example, take a potato chip; it's round and more or less flat. that's what
gas companies currently know about the deposits. After doing the 3D seismic testing they will be able to
know the shape of the entire potato! I'll skip the technical details of the testing, basically they will be setting
up a string of sensors approximately the size of a soup can, along the street,. roughly 200 ft in length.
then they will drive a convoy of 4 trucks , about the size of a Ford Excursion or a large pick up truck,.
along the road and drop a large pad to the street, and send off 6 sets of low frequency vibrations for
6 seconds. They claim the only noise WE will hear is the same as a garbage truck driving by. The
vibrations will be in the 6-90HZ range. most humans can hear from 64Hz to 23KHz
Dogs: 67Hz-45KHz and Cats: 45 Hz -65KHz. The representative said he has not had any complaints
from pet/livestock owners, and the most likely reaction would be similar to the dog /cat hearing thunder.
Again, the entire duration of each test would be 36 seconds per location.
There is NO threat to the environment, or buildings or foundations.

they currently estimate the gas pocket to be around 6 Billion Cu ft.

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