Are there areas where the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania does not own the subsurface oil and gas rights?
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania does not own the subsurface rights to oil and gas or some combination thereof, on roughly 20 percent of state forest land. The owners of these rights could explore for and develop the subsurface resources on state forest land at anytime with few limitations other than DEP permit requirements. The stringent terms of DCNRs lease agreement would not apply. Although DCNR does not have a concerted effort to attempt to identify the owners of these rights and make offers to purchase these rights, it does seek to purchase oil, gas, and hard mineral rights whenever they are offered on the market. Public Safety and Access to State Forest Land Will state forest roads be closed to the public? Although it is not anticipated, some roads might be closed during drilling operations or other periods of heavy use to reduce potential safety hazards. Actions to limit road access will be made on a case-by-case basis. Drilling periods on any given well are anticipated to last
