The Oil and Gas Addendum
An Oil and Gas Blog for Landowners.
The law of oil and gas here in Pennsylvania and throughout the Marcellus Shale region is complex and continues to evolve and change. If you own oil and gas rights, keeping up to date on these changes and trends is critical. The Oil and Gas Addendum is your resource for timely and informational articles on the latest developments in oil and gas law. Our oil and gas practice here at Houston Harbaugh is dedicated to protecting the interests of landowners and royalty owners. From new lease negotiations, to title disputes, to royalty litigation, we can help. We know oil and gas.
Articles posted in Lease Expiration and Lease Development
Pennsylvania Court Rules That Shut-In Royalty Provision Had No Connection to the Duration of an Oil and Gas Lease
In its May 22, 2024 non-precedential memorandum decision in Frye v. Penn View Exploration, Inc., 919 WDA 2023 (Pa.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...
Continue Reading
The Centerline Presumption – Who Really Owns the Oil and Gas Under Roads and Highways? (Part II)
A troubling and confusing issue here in Pennsylvania concerns the ownership of oil and gas rights under roads and highways. For example, let’s assume Farmer Joe owned 115...
Continue Reading
Could a Proposed New York Carbon Dioxide Injection Program Work In Pennsylvania?
A company in New York is attempting to secure leases to allow it to produce oil and gas and to use the leased land for a carbon dioxide...
Continue Reading
The Colorado Supreme Court Declines to Adopt Commercial Discovery Rule
Let’s assume you own 136 acres in Tioga County. In 2011, you signed a new oil and gas lease with ABC Production (the “2011 Lease”). The 2011 Lease...
Continue Reading
Texas Court Confirms “Automatic Termination” Rule for Oil and Gas Lease
In Cromwell v. Anadarko E&P Onshore, LLC, 676 S.W. 3d 860 (Tex. App. 2023), the Texas Court of Appeals confirmed the automatic termination of an oil and gas...
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Federal Court Dismisses Gas Driller’s Declaratory Judgment Lawsuit Involving Oil & Gas Lease
In an October 10, 2023, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed a gas driller’s declaratory judgment lawsuit involving an oil and gas...
Continue Reading
North Dakota Supreme Rules That Driller Did Not Commence Reworking Operations In Timely Manner
The modern producing gas well is a sophisticated and complex piece of equipment. The basic well head itself consists of several meters, valves and other components, each of...
Continue Reading
Repurposing Oil and Gas Wells for Renewable Energy in Pennsylvania Raises Multiple Legal Issues
The potential for repurposing old oil and gas wells for renewable energy raises a number of complex legal issues in Pennsylvania. In recent years, the federal government has...
Continue Reading
Can Cryptocurrency Mining Maintain an Oil and Gas Lease Beyond Primary Term?
The recently filed Hobe Minerals Limited Liability Company v. Bonanza Creek Energy Operating Company, LLC, et al lawsuit in a Colorado trial court challenges whether intermittent cryptocurrency mining...
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Superior Court Clarifies Nature of Oil and Gas Lease Under Pennsylvania Law
Let’s assume you own a 160-acre farm in Washington County. Your father purchased the farm in 1992 from a local farmer named Jones. (the “1992 Deed”). At the...
Continue Reading
Landowners Should Be Careful Before Making Representations About Prior Oil and Gas Development on their Property
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....
Continue Reading
Recent Federal District Court Decision Suggests New Approach for Oil and Gas Lease Termination
The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania’s recent decision in Bootes v. PPP Future Development, Inc., C.A. No. 22-154 (W.D.Pa. March 21, 2023) denying...
Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Rules That Scheduling Mistake Does Not Qualify as Force Majeure Event
Let’s assume you signed a new oil and gas lease with XYZ Drilling in August 2018 (the “2018 Lease”). Your lease contains a “continuous drilling” clause which requires...
Continue Reading
Can Owners of Severed Oil and Gas Estates in Pennsylvania Lease Gas Storage Rights?
A dual purpose oil and gas lease transitions into its secondary term, and remains in its secondary term, if oil and gas is produced from the leasehold or...
Continue Reading
Can Retroactive Pooling and Unitization Revive An Expired Lease?
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...
Continue Reading
What the Hedge? - The Impact of Price Hedging on Landowner Production Royalties
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...
Continue Reading
Is Deducting Fuel Costs Authorized by Your Lease?
Not only are landowners denied a royalty on the fuel gas volume, but they are also having that same “cost” deducted from their production royalty.
Continue Reading
Pore Space Ownership: The North Dakota Supreme Court Issues Landmark Decision
Let’s assume you own a 93-acre farm in Tioga County. In 1986 your grandfather sold the oil and gas rights to his neighbor, John Mize. In the early...
Continue Reading
Pore Space: The Next Leasing Frontier for Pennsylvania Landowners?
Let’s assume you own a 135 acre farm in Washington County. In 1976, your grandfather signed an oil and gas lease with ABC Oil. Several years later, ABC...
Continue Reading
Kentucky Federal Court Fumbles Lease Expiration Claim
Let’s assume you own a 110 acre farm in Washington County. The farm is subject to an oil and gas lease which was signed by your grandfather in...
Continue Reading
Claim Based On Implied Covenant To Market Gas To Move Forward In Federal Royalty Litigations
For many landowners in Pennsylvania, the receipt of the monthly royalty statement is an ongoing source of frustration and anger. In addition to excessive and unreasonable deductions for...
Continue Reading
Is the Implied Covenant of Reasonable Development Irrelevant?
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has continued the unfortunate recent trend of eroding the implied covenant of reasonable development in Pennsylvania. Generally, upon discovery of hydrocarbons, the implied covenant...
Continue Reading
To Drill or Not to Drill – Does Pennsylvania Recognize an Implied Covenant of Further Exploration?
Over the last 18 months natural gas operators from all over the world have converged on Western Pennsylvania. Their goal has been to secure new leases from landowners...
Continue Reading
Federal Court in Kentucky Allows Novel Royalty Claim to Move Forward
Federal Court in Kentucky Allows Novel Royalty Claim to Move Forward
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Superior Court Rules that Oil and Gas Rights Did Not Transfer to Buyer
The question of whether a sale of real estate includes the underlying gas rights remains a troubling issue for some Pennsylvania landowners. For example, let’s assume your family...
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Superior Court Fumbles Lease Expiration Claim
Pennsylvania Superior Court Fumbles Lease Expiration Claim Every oil and gas lease has essentially the same objective: the drilling of a well and the eventual payment of production...
Continue Reading
Ohio Supreme Court Observes That Driller Cannot Maintain Lease Indefinitely by Paying Delay Rentals
In the early days of the Marcellus leasing boom, your grandfather executes an oil and gas lease covering the 100 acre family farm in Mercer County. The landman...
Continue Reading
Ohio Supreme Court Declines To Recognize Implied Covenant Of Further Exploration
There are thousands of shallow oil and gas wells across Pennsylvania. Many of these shallow wells were drilled pursuant to leases that were originally executed in the early...
Continue Reading
Federal Court in Scranton Rules That Litigation Filed by Landowner Did Not “Repudiate” the Lease
Continuing a trend that puts Pennsylvania at odds with most oil/gas jurisdictions, the federal court in Scranton recently ruled that an unsuccessful suit filed by a landowner challenging...
Continue Reading
Federal Court Rules that Assignment of Oil/Gas Lease May Not Extinguish Liability of Original Lessee
Landowners are often alarmed and angered when they receive word that the oil/gas lease they executed several years ago, after months of intense and personal negotiations, has been...
Continue Reading
Federal Court in Pittsburgh Allows Lease Cancellation Suit to Move Forward
Throughout Pennsylvania it is not uncommon to encounter gas wells that were drilled over 100 years ago. These ancient wells were drilled pursuant to oil/gas leases that often...
Continue Reading
Temporary Cessation of Production: How much time does a producer have under Pennsylvania law?
The modern producing gas well is a sophisticated and complex piece of equipment. The basic well head itself consists of several meters, valves and other components, each of...
Continue Reading
Non-Producing Oil and Gas Lease Deemed Abandoned by the Pennsylvania Superior Court
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...
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Superior Court Rules Driller had no Implied Obligation to Develop Deeper Formations
In a recent non-precedential decision, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that a driller did not breach the implied covenant of reasonable development by failing to drill a Marcellus...
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Landowners May Not Own Oil and Gas Rights Under Rivers and Streams
Since the 1890s, your family has owned a 150 acre farm in Washington County, Pennsylvania. In 2014, you and your siblings sign an oil and gas lease with...
Continue Reading
My Driller Filed for Bankruptcy; What Happens to My Lease in Pennsylvania?
The oil and gas business has been defined by cyclical “booms” and “busts”. Increased investment, drilling and production during growth years can lead to oversupply in the marketplace,...
Continue Reading
Kentucky Court Rules That Lease Expired Due To Driller’s Failure To Market And Produce Gas
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...
Continue Reading
Not Your Father’s Oil and Gas Lease
Horizontal Drilling Presents Unique Leasing Issues The modern oil and gas lease is a sophisticated and complex legal instrument that has evolved over the last several decades. This...
Continue Reading
What Is A Shut In Well? Can the Payment of a Shut-In Royalty Maintain an Oil/Gas Lease Indefinitely?
This is a familiar but troubling issue for a growing number of landowners throughout the Marcellus Shale fairway. Imagine you own 145 acres in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. You...
Continue Reading
Non-Production During Secondary Term Results in Termination of Lease
In a recent decision, the Washington County Court of Common Pleas granted a landowner’s request to terminate a ninety-one year old oil/gas lease due to non-production. In Wilson...
Continue Reading
Federal District Court in Pittsburgh Rules That 1897 Deed Did Not Grant a Non-Participating Royalty Interest
When a landowner executes an oil and gas lease, the developmental rights are transferred to the lessee. The lessor’s interest in the transferred developmental rights is known as a “possibility of reverter”. If the oil and gas lease expires, the developmental rights automatically revert back to the lessor-landowner.
Continue Reading
The New Royalty Bill is Good for Pennsylvania Landowners
On August 5, 2021, Rep. Eric Davanzo (R-Westmorland County) introduced HB 1763. The bill seeks to clarify Pennsylvania oil and gas law by defining the term “royalty”. It...
Continue Reading
Is Your Driller Really Enhancing the Value of Your Gas?
The driller cannot deduct the cost of dehydrating the raw gas and then moving the gas 165 miles away to a distant buyer unless the final net sales price at that location is better than the price the driller would have received selling the gas locally.
Continue Reading
Federal District Court Injects Confusion into Definition of Gross Royalty Under Pennsylvania Law
Drillers are becoming more creative and aggressive in their effort to avoid lease language that was intended to prohibit or restrict the deduction of post-production costs.
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Superior Court Rules That Payment Of Delay Rentals Alone Cannot Maintain A Lease Beyond Primary Term
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...
Continue Reading
Landowners Beware: Warranty Clause in Oil and Gas Lease Can Obligate Landowner to Repay Signing Bonus
The fine print in an oil and gas lease can have some serious repercussions for an unwary landowner. One of the fine print clauses that often gets overlooked...
Continue Reading
Driller Bankruptcy Could Raise Environmental Concerns for Landowners
In mid-2019, Fram Operating, LLC and its parent, Fram Americas, LLC filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in Colorado. Fram was an oil and gas producer with wells...
Continue Reading
Murphy Exploration v. Adams: Texas Supreme Court Suggests That Horizontal Well Bore Will Not Drain Hydrocarbons From Adjacent Tract
As more and more horizontal well bores are being drilled across Pennsylvania, landowners are now keeping a closer eye on the location of nearby wells. For example, imagine...
Continue Reading
New Legislation May Allow Drillers To Revive Expired Oil And Gas Leases
If you have an abandoned oil and gas well on your property, it may no longer be just an ugly eye-sore. As a result of controversial legislation recently...
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Superior Court Interprets Forfeiture Clause in Oil and Gas Lease
In McCausland v. Wagner, the Pennsylvania Superior Court was confronted with the question of whether the lessor under an oil and gas lease was entitled to terminate the...
Continue Reading
Free Natural Gas On Property: Who’s Entitled To Free Gas?
Suppose you purchase a 100-acre farm in Armstrong County. You are told that the property is subject to an old gas lease but that the farmhouse receives “free...
Continue Reading
About Us
Oil and gas development can present unique and complex issues that can be intimidating and challenging. At Houston Harbaugh, P.C., our oil and gas practice is dedicated to protecting the interests of landowners and royalty owners. From new lease negotiations to title disputes to royalty litigation, we can help. Whether you have two acres in Washington County or 5,000 acres in Lycoming County, our dedication and commitment remains the same.
We Represent Landowners in All Aspects of Oil and Gas Law
The oil and gas attorneys at Houston Harbaugh have broad experience in a wide array of oil and gas matters, and they have made it their mission to protect and preserve the landowner’s interests in matters that include:
- New lease negotiations
- Pipeline right-of-way negotiations
- Surface access agreements
- Royalty audits
- Tax and estate planning
- Lease expiration claims
- Curative title litigation
- Water contamination claims
Robert Burnett - Practice Chair
Robert’s practice is exclusively devoted to the representation of landowners and royalty owners in oil and gas matters. Robert is the Chair of the Houston Harbaugh’s Oil & Gas Practice Group and represents landowners and royalty owners in a wide array of oil and gas matters throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Robert assists landowners and royalty owners in the negotiation of new oil and gas leases as well as modifications to existing leases. Robert also negotiates surface use agreements and pipeline right-of-way agreements on behalf of landowners. Robert also advises and counsels clients on complex lease development and expiration issues, including the impact and effect of delay rental and shut-in clauses, as well as the implied covenants to develop and market oil and gas. Robert also represents landowners and royalty owners in disputes arising out of the calculation of production royalties and the deduction of post-production costs. Robert also assists landowners with oil and gas title issues and develops strategies to resolve and cure such title deficiencies. Robert also advises clients on the interplay between oil and gas leases and solar leases and assists clients throughout Pennsylvania in negotiating solar leases.
Brendan A. O'Donnell
Brendan O’Donnell is a highly qualified and experienced attorney in the Oil and Gas Law practice. He also practices in our Environmental and Energy Practice. Brendan represents landowners and royalty owners in a wide variety of matters, including litigation and trial work, and in the preparation and negotiation of:
- Leases
- Pipeline right of way agreements
- Surface use agreements
- Oil, gas and mineral conveyances
