Replies to post #104650 on DD Support Board and Research Team

[janice shell]

I hadn't followed the story till today, so I really have no idea what happened.

[1manband]

To say that landowners were hurt is also a bit odd given that they were the only people that really benefited from the natural gas land grab.

I absolutely disagree. It was bid rigging, plain and simple, and the landholders would have been cheated out of the fair value of their land. The numbers involved are significant, which is why Chesapeake committed an illegal act in conspiring to circumvent the free market. Instead of flowing to the landholder where it belonged, that money went into the corporate coffers of the co-conspirators, and to McClendon directly in the form of his "Founder Well Participation Program (FWPP)".

Just because many landowners did OK (which may or may not be the case) doesn't mean they deserved to get ripped off and their money stolen. I am sure many of the landowners could have used that money right about now with the production bust.