SEN. DEEM SAYS SURFACE OWNERS ARE UNREASONABLE

(03/06/2009)

Wood County Senator Frank Deem spoke against a legislative bill that would afford surface owners some more rights when producers drill on their property. Deem says it's the surface owners who are unreasonable. Deem is in the oil and gas business. Randolph County Senator Clark Barnes says surface owners in West Virginia need protection from those who own the drilling rights on their properties. Barnes says he's learned of the surface owners problems during the past year after meeting with dozens of them. "All we want is for the proper notification to be given. We're asking that a meeting be made face-to-face between a representative of the people and the companies," he told a floor committee. "People come into West Virginia and buy surface, knowing full well they don't have the royalty. And so when someone comes in who owns the royalty and starts to develop it, these people don't want it," Barnes said.

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