Richland County office one of many sites hosting a webinar on mineral leases April 4th

Montana State University Extension will sponsor a free webinar "Mineral Leasing in Montana," on Wednesday, April 4, from 10-11 a.m.

Featuring Tim Fitzgerald, assistant professor of Agricultural Economics at MSU, the webinar will outline the importance of the leasing process, current trends in oil and gas development in Montana, structure of an oil and gas lease, and related concerns. Both mineral and surface owners will find the discussion useful, as well as owners with existing leases. Participants will also be provided a check list for oil and gas leases, sample lease forms for oil and gas leases and a sample surface damage agreement.

Montana has recently experienced a flurry of interest in mineral leasing. Land and mineral owners interested in the leasing process will find this webinar useful to help understand and address their role in leasing and development issues, whether located in a proven area of the state, or in a lesser-known mineral-rich area.

There are two ways to participate in this no-charge webinar: Watch and participate individually online; or visit one of the locations offering classroom space (in Broadus, at Powder River County Courthouse; in Choteau, at Choteau Country Club; in Culbertson, at the RC Complex; in Havre, at the Northern Agricultural Research Center; in Sidney, at the Richland County Extension office; in Terry, at the Prairie County Courthouse; and in Valier, at the Valier Civic Center). For details or accommodations at host classrooms, contact the county MSU Extension agent.

To run the webinar on your personal computer, participants should update their browser to ensure the software can communicate with MSU's webinar software. Detailed instructions for these updates and a connectivity test, which can be run any time before the webinar on April 4, are available at: http://www.montana.edu/softwaredownloads/energydownloads/usingadobeconnect.pdf/

Join the April 4 webinar by visiting the following link: http://www.msuextensionconnect.org/leasing/ Please log in about 10 minutes before the actual start time.