In the 1790s, the Dille Family settled in what is now known as Dilles Bottom in Belmont County, Ohio. By the end of 2017, we should know whether the latest settler to Dilles Bottom will be the Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical with their 450-acre ethane cracker plant.
In the meantime, PTTGC has spent—by some estimates—over $150M to investigate the feasibility and desirability of building its cracker plant at Dilles Bottom. From my experience, oil and gas companies don’t spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a whim…
What does this mean for Dilles Bottom residents? The answer is simple: PTTGC will have to buy out residents of Dilles Bottom who will then have to relocate. PTTGC has already begun the process of doing so by holding town hall meetings and contacting individual landowners.
July 29, 2016: Former R.E. Berger plant demolished to make room for Dilles Bottom cracker plant.
What Is PTTGC’s Code?
PTTGC’s objective is not to aid the residents of Dilles Bottom, Ohio—PTTGC’s objective is to buy Dilles Bottom landowners out as cheaply as possible.
In a determined effort to do so, PTTGC is seeking to obtain buyouts based upon what residents’ homes are worth as if they were on sale on the open market, between a willing seller and a willing buyer. That is why it is PTTGC’s plan to use “fair market” appraisals against residents in order to set the price at which it can acquire properties.
Don’t Be Fooled: Crack The Code!
The real issue is not what a resident’s home is worth to him or her or on the open market. The real issue is what the property is worth to PTTGC.
While a Dilles Bottom, Ohio home might be worth $100,000 on the open market, it is worth many times more to PTTGC if it needs to acquire it to build its cracker plant. The problem is the company is offering far less than these properties are actually worth to it. That is why the use of “fair market” appraisals is only a smokescreen used by PTTGC to acquire properties far below their true value.
Beyond Dilles Bottom
These types of issues are not unique to Dilles Bottom and PTTGC’s proposed cracker plant. Anytime an oil and gas company wants to purchase your property, it will likely use similar tactics to do so.
Whether it’s for a compressor site, a valve site, or any other type of facility, the important thing to remember is the value of your land is what it is worth to the oil and gas company. Don’t be fooled when an oil and gas company makes a “fair” offer on your property. Odds are your land is worth far more than the “fair market” value.
That’s cracking the code!
Learn more: GKT attorneys represent several residents of Dilles Bottom in regard to the proposed PTTGC ethane cracker plant. If PTTGC or any other company is seeking a buyout of your property and you are interested in learning more, please contact GKT today at (304) 845-9750 for a free consultation or live chat with us at GKT.com.
