On May 6, 2025, the Pennsylvania Senate passed Senate Bill 349 by a vote of 49-1. A week later, on May 13, 2025, the legislation was referred to the state House Environmental and Natural Resource Protection Committee to begin...more
On September 6, 2024, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania denied dueling summary judgment motions concerning the interpretation of a royalty provision in Chambers v. Equinor USA Onshore...more
In its May 22, 2024 non-precedential memorandum decision in Frye v. Penn View Exploration, Inc., 919 WDA 2023 (Pa. Super. Ct. May 22, 2024), the Pennsylvania Superior Court found that an oil and gas lease’s shut-in royalty...more
Before signing oil and gas leases, landowners should pay close attention to lease provisions asking for warranties and representations about prior oil and gas development on the land. These provisions are often buried in a...more
This is a familiar yet troubling question. Imagine you own 135 acres in Washington County. You have received offers from several oil and gas drillers but have not yet signed a lease. Your neighbor, however, did sign a lease...more
On February 15, 2023, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of PennEnergy Resources, LLC in the Dressler Family, LP v. PennEnergy Resources, LLC matter. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s review of this...more
An oil and gas lease with a “free gas” clause may be a valuable tool for landowners to push back against drillers’ inaccurate attempts to value gas at the “wellhead”. Prior to the advent of Marcellus Shale drilling, "free...more
As we have written about before, a troubling issue facing landowners in the Marcellus Shale region is the practice of retroactive pooling and unitization. Retroactive pooling and unitization occurs when a driller records an...more
Let’s assume you own 125 acres in Greene County, Pennsylvania. A landman from XYZ Gas Co. approaches you about a new oil and gas lease. The lease purports to grant XYZ Gas Co. exclusive drilling rights to the Marcellus...more
There is no way to avoid it. It seems like everything costs more now than it did last week, last month and last year. Energy is one area with very sensitive prices. You have likely experienced the significant changes in...more
Many Pennsylvania landowners have leases with “market enhancement” royalty clauses. These clauses typically prohibit the deduction of any post-production costs that are incurred transforming the gas into marketable form. Once...more
Many Pennsylvania oil and gas leases have what is commonly known as a “market enhancement” royalty clause. These clauses typically prohibit the deduction of any post-production costs that are incurred transforming the raw gas...more