Natural gas producers in West Virginia hope that a new law passed by the state Legislature and signed by the governor will help spur production in the state, which in recent years has seen a dramatic ramp-up in gas output from the Marcellus Shale play. Governor Jim Justice signed Friday the co-tenancy bill, which would allow drilling to take place on a tract of land if 75% of royalty owners agreed. The legislation amends current state law, which had allowed owners of a small minority stake in a given tract block development of that land. The legislation gathered the support of producer groups in West Virginia. Charlie Burd, executive director of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia, said the bill would make it easier for operators to acquire more individual tracts of land and to be able to accumulate those contiguous tracts in a way that […]