By: Robert J. Burnett A number of oil and gas leases in the Marcellus Shale region allow a driller to deduct post-production costs after the gas is in “marketable” form. These clauses are known as “market enhancement” clauses. Under a typical “market enhancement”...
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Houston Harbaugh
Oil And Gas
Hordis v. Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation: Landowner Challenges Whether Driller Can Ignore Pooling Clause and Simply Rely on Act 85
By: Robert J. Burnett, Esquire and Brendan A. O’Donnell, Esquire Oil and gas law is replete with unique terms and concepts. Perhaps one of the most confusing and complex areas of oil and gas law is the concept of “pooling”. Simply stated, pooling is the mechanism by...
Why Is The Driller Deducting Post-Production Costs My Lease Doesn’t Allow? Kilmer V. Elexco Land Services: A Decade Later
By: Robert J. Burnett, Esquire and Brendan A. O'Donnell, Esquire You own a 175 acre farm in Washington County. In 2014, you signed an oil and gas lease with XYZ Gas Company. The royalty clause, which you specifically negotiated, states that you are entitled to a...
Kentucky Court Rules That Lease Expired Due To Driller’s Failure To Market And Produce Gas
By: Robert J. Burnett, Esquire There are thousands of older vertical wells scattered across Pennsylvania. Many of these wells have not produced oil or gas in years and have fallen into disrepair. Despite this non-production, drillers often contend that these idle...
Ohio Court Rules That Driller Did Not Breach Lease By Deducting Post-Production Costs Incurred By Affiliate
By: Robert J. Burnett, Esquire Assume you own 110 acres of timber in Washington County. You decide to cut and clear 75 acres. You hire ABC Logging Inc. ("ABC Logging") to cut and sell the timber. ABC Logging agrees to pay you a royalty of 25% of the proceeds received...
Is Your Property At Risk If The Driller Or Pipeline Company Doesn’t Pay Its Contractors?
A great deal of infrastructure is needed to move oil and gas from their reservoirs thousands of feet below the ground to the places where these hydrocarbons are bought and sold. Wells must be drilled. Pipelines must be installed. Compressor stations must be built....
Pennsylvania Superior Court Rules That Payment Of Delay Rentals Alone Cannot Maintain A Lease Beyond Primary Term
By: Robert J. Burnett, Esquire Your family owns a 87 acre farm in Tioga County. Back in 1979, your grandfather signed a lease with ABC Oil Co with a customary primary term of five years. In that 1979 lease, ABC Oil Co. promised to pay 12.5% on all oil and gas...
Coronavirus, Chinese LNG Imports & Force Majeure: A Canary in a Coal Mine?
Pressure continues to mount on the Chinese economy as fears of the coronavirus mount. Though the Chinese government has taken steps to halt the spread of the virus, the impact of the virus is widespread, marked by decreased trade and commerce and citizens fearful of...
Energy Independence? Current Events May Prove Test Case
"Energy Independence" has been frequently heard in recent years as a tag-line to marshal public support for shale drilling. But, is there a connection between shale drilling and American energy independence? Recent developments may start to provide more of an answer....
Does a Well Passing Horizontally Under A Property Trigger A “Payment in Lieu of Free Gas” Clause? The Pennsylvania Superior Court Says “No”.
In a recent ruling in Mitch v. XTO Energy, Inc. the Pennsylvania Superior Court has reasoned that a well drilled horizontally below a landowner's property does not trigger the "free gas" clause in a lease as no burden or limitation on the landowner's use and enjoyment...
