US Supreme Court Decision in Nitro-Lift Technologies case this week
One of our Partners, Bryan Faller, added an interesting post to our Employer Law Report blog today we thought you might find of interest. In United States Supreme Court: A Challenge To The...
View ArticleLawsuits Over “Fraudulent” Oil & Gas Leases Often Lack Merit
The Ohio shale boom started slowly when a few small companies quietly began acquiring mineral leases for as little as $25 per acre. This soon gave way to a full blown land rush in the fall of 2010....
View ArticleLife Estates: Oil and Gas Law Implications
Life estates have been recognized as an interest in land at common law since the Middle Ages. Even so, how they relate to the ownership of and payment for oil and gas can result in outcomes that may...
View ArticleIs Gas a Mineral?
A case pending before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania considers a question that seemingly has been settled in that state for 130 years: Is gas a mineral? In Butler v. Charles Powers Estate,...
View ArticleWho Owns the Mineral Rights on My Property?
As oil and gas companies flock to eastern Ohio to take advantage of the Utica shale play, trying to figure out “who owns the mineral rights” continues to be a difficult and increasingly important...
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Mandatory Pooling and Unitization in Ohio, Part I: History and Constitutionality
Landowners, in certain situations, can be compelled by the state to combine their mineral interest with their neighbors for the purpose of producing oil and gas. In Part I of a multi-part series, I...
View ArticleWhen Is an Assignment of a Lease not an Assignment of Obligations?
When oil companies transfer oil property among themselves, they frequently do so by an assignment of lease rights. Sometimes they assign all their interest under a lease, but they often assign just a...
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A Tool of Last Resort: Mandatory Pooling in Ohio
This is the second in a multi-part series on the practice of compelled participation – forcing unwilling mineral rights owners to participate in oil and gas production from their property. Part I...
View ArticleBe Careful Drafting Contracts and Deeds When the Ownership of Minerals Is at...
A recent decision by the Court of Appeals of Ohio highlights several errors by a seller of property who may have intended to reserve mineral rights. (See Mong v. Kovach Holdings LLC, 2013 Ohio 882,...
View ArticleODNR Issues Second Unitization Order for Horizontal Utica Shale Wells
The chief of the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management (DOGRM) recently issued a new unitization order pursuant to R.C. §1509.28. This is only the second such order since the beginning of Ohio’s...
View ArticleLife Estates: More Oil and Gas Law Implications
We recently received a question regarding our earlier post Life Estates: Oil and Gas Law Implications, wondering: “What happens to a mineral lease which the life tenant entered into and received...
View ArticleOil and Gas Rights — Reserved? A Litigator’s Perspective On The Mong Case
A decision out of the Eleventh District Court of Appeals of Ohio, Mong v. Kovach Holdings, LLC, 2013-Ohio-882 (Ohio 11th Dist. March 11, 2013), represents a cautionary reminder that parties should...
View ArticleFinancing in the Energy Sector: A Primer for Lenders
Our colleagues at the Banking & Finance Law Report recently ran a four-part series on energy financing. They compiled those articles into a resource that’s relevant to anyone involved with lending...
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Unitization in Ohio: Compelled Participation in the New Context of the Utica...
In many ways, the Utica Shale play caught Ohio off guard. The state became a main focus of the oil and gas industry almost overnight. Ohio responded by updating its oil and gas laws, including major...
View ArticleOwnership Theory of Oil and Gas Influences Bankruptcy Law in Ohio
One of the most fundamental questions in oil and gas law is whether oil and gas in the ground are capable of being “owned.” The answer to this question shapes the law and influences legal analysis in a...
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Ownership of Minerals Under Adjoining Waters
This post is the first in a series of three articles examining ownership of minerals located under bodies of water, railroads and roads. Who owns the minerals under bodies of water? When oil and gas...
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Common Oil and Gas Lease Conundrums
Understanding rights and obligations associated with oil and gas leases can be challenging. Imprecise lease language, implied legal duties, formulaic statutes and evolving case law all affect oil and...
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Ownership of Minerals Under Public Roads
This is the second post in a two-part series examining ownership of minerals located under bodies of water and roads. See part I discussing the ownership of minerals under adjoining waters. Who owns...
View ArticleNothing New Under the Sun — A 1901 Oil and Gas Lease
Mineral and land owners in Ohio who are presented with a proposed lease from a landman or oil company often launch an intense study of royalty provisions, development covenants, delay rentals, Pugh...
View ArticleWho Owns the Minerals Under Ohio Township Section 16?
Oil and gas law is, at its core, real estate law that has been shaped by a thousand years of common law and, more recently, statutory law. Ohio is no exception, and one area that has been impacted...
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