There are two recent court decisions in the Appalachian Basin to bring to your attention (in the event you have similar issues):
- Allegheny Wood Products, Inc. v. Marathon Oil Company, in which the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia held that Marathon had not contracted to lease property owned by Allegheny. Allegheny claimed that it was a third-party beneficiary to a lease package entered into by Marathon, while Marathon asserted that the Allegheny property has been purposefully excluded. Relying on fundamental principles of contract law, the court agreed with Marathon: "[B]ased on [the lease package agreement's] plain terms, [Allegheny] did not receive a third-party option to lease its lands to Marathon." (See Civil Action No. 1:09CV149). And,
Swallie v. Rousenberg, in which an Ohio court of appeals examined (i) whether a grant of mineral interests that had been improperly notarized was nonetheless valid with respect to a subsequent grant of the property (looking at whether the subsequent grantee was a bona fide purchaser), and (ii) whether an oil and gas lease had expired pursuant to its terms. It answered both in the affirmative. (See Case No. 09-MO-2).