NEW MARTINSVILLE, W.Va. -- The rush to tap the Marcellus shale natural gas field has made one West Virginia landowner a millionaire -- 22 times over.
Ed Broome, who owns an oil and gas company of his own in Glenville, says Chesapeake Energy offered him $22 million for 22,000 acres of oil and gas rights in Wetzel County.
Broome told The Intelligencer of Wheeling he knew it was a good deal. He didn't pay anything close to that in the mid-1990s.
Broome's land is on 250 plots stretching from New Martinsville to the borders of Marion and Monongalia counties.
Oklahoma-based Chesapeake says it won't comment on deals it makes.
Broome, who lives in Glenville, says it was just the right time to sell.