Im not a fan of eminent domain. I think people should come to an agreement on things and move on. The OP isnt concerned about eminent domain. He's looking for a fair price, which is great, expected and encouraged.

The Keystone project is very unique and I do recommend getting help on something of that magnitude that may involve eminent domain. Using eminent domain as a scare tactic to make him spend money on attorney's fees isnt fair to him either.

'Billions' or 'beaucoup' of dollars isnt accruate and is misleading. You start to sound like the liberal press and a democrat when you look at only the gross numbers without regard to the other parts of the process. Again you're assuming the companies are bathing in dollars when in this current price environment, 10% ROR on a project like this is rare. "But those evil oil companies!" Yes, I know.


halfbean and txscorpio give some good advice on here.

[This message has been edited by Comeby! (edited 1/15/2013 9:27a).]

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'Billions' or 'beaucoup' of dollars isnt accruate and is misleading. You start to sound like the liberal press and a democrat when you look at only the gross numbers without regard to the other parts of the process

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You assume way too much with this.

Prices in Louisiana and S. Texas average in the range of $200-$350 per rod...prices that were unheard of as recently as 6 or 7 years ago when getting $100 per rod was once considered getting the pipeline companies over a barrel.

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Y'all need to quit painting the pipeline company as the bad guy.

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I never judge anything or anybody by anything other than personal experience. My experience was not good so I have no sympathy for pipeline companies.

Also, as has been pointed out, the "common carrier....for the good of the public" issue can be nothing more than a check in a box. Means crap.

If you don't want free money, tell them to buzz off, either they will go around or use eminent domain to go through.

Pipelines rarely cause problems, when they do you will be compensated.

I would love to have a ROW Easement going through my property for a little bit of cash flow...

Also, they make great shooting lanes for hunting! haha

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Also, as has been pointed out, the "common carrier....for the good of the public" issue can be nothing more than a check in a box. Means crap.

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Read the Denbury Green case, because checking a box on the T-4 is no longer good enough.

[This message has been edited by halfbean (edited 1/22/2013 8:21p).]

Well, scratch that comment about half beans advice.

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Read the Denbury Green case, because checking a box on the T-4 is no longer good enough

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Legal cases have gone back and forth. If I remember it correctly the SCOT merely told the pipeline company to prove they were a common carrier.

If they weren't....they shouldn't have checked the "box."

We have about solved the OP's original posting to some degree.

The problem as I see it is we don't really know what he wants.... ie does he want to keep them off of his land or get as much money as he can?

I'm not in the oil and gas business, but work with them often as part of my real estate developments. Sometimes it's easier to work with them vs against them. I found a lot of Landmen & ROW Agents have a lot of latitude to do creative means to compensate a landowner with site improvements vs cash payments. I'm not certain of the total dollars I've saved by having the O&G company clear land, dig ponds, deliver clean fill, build temp roads/crossings, relocate electric or drill irrigation wells in lieu of cash for a ROW. Usually we agree to put an easement and work agreement in escrow and once the work is completed to our satisfaction, the easement is filed of record. Do you need any fences, tanks, dozer work, etc? Just a thought.

Exactly. We've built ponds, installed cattle guards, automatic gates, etc. Its all negotiable as long as its in good faith. There are a few landowners that make it a point to be difficult. Sometimes it just make sense to spend more money to work around them.

Come by,
They asked for an easement, negotiated the terms and agreed to it. Then the contractor built it during a rainy period. That was their choice. All I asked was for them to live up to their bargain. I wish they would have done what they agreed to upfront.

I do have neighbors that had taken the pipeline's initial offer and terms with no amendments and their land was screwed up by the contractor rushing through when it was wet and the pipeline co. never tried to help them. They wished they had surveyed first so they had something to base the damages off of.

I wish it would have gone as the ROW guy said up front. He kinda disappeared after he got the easement.

And sorry if this derailed the thread.

No need to apologize for derailing. The OP needs to see how things work and what can realistically happen. I think you need to hold them accountable for their contractors actions on your land. I would and I am accountable for mine. I think working together is best. There's an opportunity for a win-win situation. When I have landowners that have issues, I do the best to work with them and accomodate them. When I deal with the ones that are only out to try to make a cheap buck and arent honest and fair, I tend to have no problem working a way around him. Ever heard of a weed wash?

For example, one landowner kept accusing us of leaving a gate open and was asking for a fee every time he discovered a gate open. It was a significant amount of money and he's not been honest with us. We hardly ever used that gate and our locks were still intact. I rigged up a camera system to be able to monitor ingress, etc.....and denied him access to it. He probably wouldve been fine with the lump sum equal to what we spent on that camera.

In my case it is a 20" transport line that they fly once a week and mow once a year if I haven't already done it. We never see anyone from the company. In this instance they were in a hurry and weren't too interested in anything that might delay the project.

Also, I have never had a company send out a questionnaire to ask how their performance was and how they could improve.
It might help them do a better job the next time. It doesn't hurt to stay in touch and they might knip a lot of problems in bud.