Westmoreland County sits east of Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania, with a combination of active Marcellus development in its western townships and a long legacy of conventional oil and gas production stretching back to the nineteenth century. EQT Corporation has the largest current Marcellus position in the county, with active development across Hempfield, Unity, and Rostraver townships among others. Apex Energy and other independents have maintained positions in both the shale and conventional formations.
The county's deep oil-and-gas history is also its most complex title problem. Many Westmoreland County families own land under which old vertical wells — sometimes plugged, sometimes still technically producing — may be 'holding' deep Marcellus and Utica rights under broad lease language written generations ago. Sorting out which old wells qualify as producing in paying quantities, which leases have expired, and what the title looks like beneath the surface is often the first step before any current offer can be properly evaluated.
We've worked with Westmoreland County mineral owners through exactly that kind of lease review, as well as through new leasing opportunities and competitive mineral sales. The county's proximity to Pittsburgh and its mix of suburban and rural development means its mineral owners are varied — some have been receiving royalty checks for years, and some have never thought about what's below their property. We treat both situations the same way: free review, honest advice, no upfront cost.
What Westmoreland County owners are up against
Legacy lease audits are the most common starting point
Westmoreland County has more 'legacy lease situations' — old leases on old wells that may be holding deep formations worth far more than the existing production — than many other PA counties. Determining whether an old well is actually producing in paying quantities under your specific lease terms is a threshold question that often reveals either trapped value or an opportunity to re-lease at dramatically better terms.
Rural and suburban mineral ownership both exist here
Westmoreland County spans from Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs into more rural townships to the east. Suburban parcel owners near Murrysville have received mineral rights offers; so have rural landowners in Ligonier and Derry townships. The geology runs under both kinds of properties, and the offers that arrive in suburban mailboxes can be just as significant as those arriving in rural ones.
Royalty rates vary widely across the county
Westmoreland County owners in current leases hold a wide range of royalty rates — from the 12.5% statutory minimum in older leases to significantly higher rates negotiated more recently. The spread between what legacy-lease owners are receiving and what newly negotiated leases provide represents real money that compounds over the life of every well on the property. Lease renewal is the moment to close that gap.
Where activity is concentrated in Westmoreland County
Active drilling, leasing, and mineral purchasing in Westmoreland County is tied to the townships below — and to the operators who have built positions in the county.
Active townships & areas
- —Derry Township
- —East Huntingdon Township
- —Hempfield Township
- —Ligonier Township
- —Mt. Pleasant Township
- —Murrysville Municipality
- —Penn Township
- —Rostraver Township
- —South Huntingdon Township
- —Unity Township
Active operators in the county
- —EQT Corporation
- —Apex Energy
- —CNX Resources
Westmoreland County owners ask us
There's an old gas well on my Westmoreland County property. Does it affect what I can do with my minerals?
It might — and finding out is the first step. If the old well is operating under a valid lease that covers the deep Marcellus or Utica, the lessee may have the right to keep those deep rights even if they were never drilled. Whether the well is actually producing in paying quantities, and whether the lease language covers the formations modern operators want, are the two most important questions. We review both.
EQT is the major operator in my area of Westmoreland County. Are their lease terms negotiable?
Yes. EQT's lease forms are starting points, not final offers. In Westmoreland County's active Marcellus development areas, we have helped owners negotiate meaningfully better royalty rates, limit or exclude post-production deductions, narrow the pooling clause, and add depth restrictions that preserve the owner's ability to lease separately for formations EQT isn't targeting. Call us before you sign anything.
My grandparents signed a lease decades ago on the Westmoreland County farm. Are we still bound by it?
Possibly not. Leases from decades ago were typically written for shallow conventional production, and whether their language actually covers modern shale formations and horizontal drilling is a legal question that has been litigated across Pennsylvania with mixed results. Additionally, if the well drilled under that old lease is no longer producing in paying quantities, the lease may have expired by its own terms — freeing your land to be leased anew at modern rates.
Are there active buyers for Westmoreland County mineral interests?
Yes, though the market is less deep than in Washington or Greene counties. Westmoreland County producing royalty interests and acreage in EQT's active development footprint attract qualified buyers. Unleased acreage adjacent to active development also draws interest. The key, as elsewhere, is not accepting the first offer that arrives — a competitive process finds the real market price.