Oil lease access?

[bearbuster]

The company I work for just received another order this past month. 2 years ago we were told to lock certain gates west of the trunk road or face a fine. Last month we received another notice stating ALL gates west of the trunk road (which means all lease roads) MUST be locked at all times. This isn't just operators protecting hunting spots. were lazy, it sucks opening and closing gates constantly. What ****ess me off is we have to lock the general public out to protect the grizzlies I assume, or the massive cut blocks from what... quad tracks??? Or is this more? There seems to be more and more of those "natural areas" popping up
However, there are regulations that state that sour locations that produce a certain gas rate or are within a set distance of a residence must be fenced and gated. The regs say the location must be fenced, nothing about the lease road heading in.

[havesomeclass]

Oilfield roads or leases on private land is a big no. Lease roads on crown land have so many stipulations and other mumbo jumbo I personally just stay away. But as far as private goes hunting off them I do believe is illegal no matter what. If its located on private land the farmer can not give you permission either because that land was sold to the oil company and they have no rights to it any more.

[xtreme hunter10]

Originally Posted by Walleyes

No sorry mulecrazy,, oil companies do not hold any right to keep the private user off of a road and as a fact they can not legally keep you off of a road on public land. They can keep you away from their compressor or well site but must fence it off if this is required. If you encounter a locked gate on an access road you can insist they remove the lock if they don't you have every right to get in touch with the proper authorities and have it removed. The fact that they have stuff stolen from their sites is the risk they take. I personally remove these types of locks without asking. These companies are on public land they do not own it all they have is an agreement to use it same as all tax payers. Do not be bullied or fooled by what some may tell you. Trust me on this one I work for a major company and deal with these issues almost daily.

Thanks walleyes. I was gonna post something but you said it better than I ever could. I did not know that about the gates tho? they seriously arent allowed to be locked? is that for all roads on crown land or just to the leases themselves or both?

[mulecrazy]

Originally Posted by xtreme hunter10

Thanks walleyes. I was gonna post something but you said it better than I ever could. I did not know that about the gates tho? they seriously arent allowed to be locked? is that for all roads on crown land or just to the leases themselves or both?

If you read my other posts in this thread, as well as many others, you will see that Walleyes is not 100% correct. There are different types of oilfield land leases out there and there are specific rules that he ignored here. Not all oilfield lease roads need to be left unlocked. Older leases were set up different and in many cases they own the road as well as the well lease site and therefore can have the road locked. Where I work (for a major oil company) we have many of these and lock them up in hunting season. The bulled holes in methanol tanks, compressor buildings, and MCC buildings are the main reason for that.

[Rancid Crabtree]

Originally Posted by havesomeclass

If its located on private land the farmer can not give you permission either because that land was sold to the oil company and they have no rights to it any more.

This is just incorrect, the farmer still owns the land. He has leased the surface area to the oil company for a specific purpose for X dollars per year. If the oil company reclaims the site the land just remains part of the farm. The oil company does have some rights outlined in their lease but they do not normaly own the land.

[xtreme hunter10]

Originally Posted by mulecrazy

If you read my other posts in this thread, as well as many others, you will see that Walleyes is not 100% correct. There are different types of oilfield land leases out there and there are specific rules that he ignored here. Not all oilfield lease roads need to be left unlocked. Older leases were set up different and in many cases they own the road as well as the well lease site and therefore can have the road locked. Where I work (for a major oil company) we have many of these and lock them up in hunting season. The bulled holes in methanol tanks, compressor buildings, and MCC buildings are the main reason for that.

maybe on any land that is not considerd green zone. From some research I have found most of the major roads are haul roads operated by the logging companies atleast in the areas i have hunted. I dont know about all areas, I also know that you cant own "crown land." and I know for a fact that no one can restrict access to public land... so can you clarifly the locked gate issue? From what I understood it, the province allows the oil companies to build roads depending on the Environmental impact assesment, as well as the whole lease site. Just looking for further clarification on the whole locked gate on crown land issue.

[fargineyesore]

It depends on what type of disposition the road is held under. It may be a Licence of Occupation (LOC) in which case, unless the Prov Govt. gets involved and directs the operator to gate the road, the operator CANNOT deny any of the PUBLIC use of the road, but can deny any commercial or industrial operator use of the road without a Road Use Agreement. Some roads, not as much 10 or 20 years ago, are held under a Mineral Surface Lease (MSL), same type of disposition that a well site is held under, or a Pipeline Installation Lease (PIL), which would lead to a pipeline facility. If an operator holds an MSL or PIL, they can gate the access point, as it is a lease, not a licence of occupation. Don't confuse a road running to a Mineral Surface Lease as being held under a Lease, as most roads are not. Some of the older sites are held by what's called a ROE, which may allow them to gate the access. If someone tells you, a member of the public, that you can't use the road, ask if it's held under an LOC or an MSL, PIL or ROE.The operator at the start of the thread didn't know the rules, but thought he had some authority, so he thought he'd throw it around. Don't take oilfield operators' interpretation of the rules, as most of them don't know them or have an incomplete knowledge of them, talk to the ASRD Officer in the area.

[xtreme hunter10]

We were hunting this last weekend and not seeing much for deer and we came across some hunters who got a bull moose. we talked to them for a bit and we were told to go to this one area. They told us they had seen quite a few deer every evening. We went and checked it out and while driving down lease roads we noticed that on some of the sites were marked H2S and had a skull and cross bones on the lease marker on the road before the lease. This was only after driving past gas release site on the main road and smelled the H2S gas, we quickly left that area and thought it was strange to have a release pump on the main road. We never noticed any signs entering the area that stated we needed respirators or any gates or any other such warnings except on the lease markers themselves. I dont know much about how the companies deal with H2S other than they usually burn it off. My question is how hazardous is it to be driving in the area where h2s could be present and what is the typical concentration of the H2S when released. Keep in mind we were seeinf a lot of deer in those sites and all over the general area. In other areas i have hunted there are typically signs requiring respirators and usually had gates on them marking restricted access. on these roads there was none. I'm just wondering if anyone else has come across this? Like i said before lots of deer. We needed up not staying in that area and moved on. we also stopped driving down any roads that indicated H2S. we also found numerous fire pits within 15ft of the actual piping. Again, this struck us as odd as well. Any info would be great.

[cody c]

Originally Posted by Chung66

There is nothing in the Public Lands Act that would support what the operator had to say. If it was me, I would complain the company. The company name would be on the lease location sign and the phone number you can google it. Their public relations or surface land department would know the operator.
In the pipeline act it states that pipelines must be marked. 99% of the time they are not. If you are driving over an unmarked pipeline, then it is their fault.
I wouldn't worry about the pipeline, they burry them the same depth in agriculture areas. Farmers drive tractors over them all year and there are no problems.
My guess it the guy was a bully or tired of running into hunters in the fall.

Ive worked maintenance on well sites for oil and gas. Biggest risk to our job was complaining farmers. I would suggest you call and complain about the attitude of the operator, BTW, its a big no-no to get caught speeding on public roads if your working for an oil and gas outfit, as well as talking on the cell phone.

[Adolph]

You may think twice about hunting down lease roads after watching this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pW-s...yer_detailpage

[parfleche]

AND the big argument is all about access with personal pickups, quads, foot, for hunting! I need a frickin drink!