On March 11, 2015, the Supreme Court of Ohio accepted review of two cases involving the 1989 version of the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act (“1989 DMA”): Eisenbarth v. Reusser and Dahlgren v. Brown Farm Properties, L.L.C.
Eisenbarth and Dahlgren both concern the issues of whether the 1989 DMA is self-executing, and, if the 1989 DMA is self-executing, what is the proper look-back period for determining whether a mineral interest has been abandoned. Eisenbarth will also consider whether an oil and gas lease is a “title transaction” for the purposes of the 1989 DMA.
Dahlgren was stayed pending the Court’s decisions in Walker v. Shondrick-Nau and Corban v. Chesapeake.