Cowley County’s Strother Field industrial park stands to make more than $400,000 under an agreement to lease oil and gas rights at the field.
Officials with Oklahoma City-based Basin Management Group and Strother Field have reached a three-year arrangement in which Basin Management will lease rights for just over 2,000 acres. The land includes the main industrial park area and the east auxiliary field, according to Strother manager Shawn McGrew.
“It’s huge for us,” he said. “It’ll be a real shot in the arm for the field.”
McGrew said two or three groups approached Strother officials around the same time to inquire about the rights.
Strother Field sold the east auxiliary field in 2005, but retained mineral rights on the property. Oil and gas rights for the west auxiliary field have been under contract for a number of years.
Basin Management is to pay $436,120, or $200 an acre, for the rights. The agreement, which must be reviewed and approved by city commissions in Winfield and Ark City, includes an option for two more years of leasing at the same price.
Strother Field would be entitled to roughly 18 percent of any money made should actual drilling occur.
Both city commissions approved a contract last month but revisions have since been made, which means the contract will likely be sent back to commissioners again for approval, McGrew said.
The unexpected windfall is likely to help fund some capital-improvement projects at the field. Among those would be improved lighting for the north entrance of the industrial park, which is located just off U.S. 77.
Though the money is expected to be a big benefit for Strother, McGrew said the main focus now is to get the deal approved and in place.
"Until we have the money in the bank, it’s all on paper," he said.