Energy Environmental Blog

Supreme Court of Ohio Decides That Oil and Gas Leases Are Title Transactions Under the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act

Written by Ilya Batikov | Nov 6, 2015 5:41:33 PM

On November 5, 2015, the Supreme Court of Ohio answered two questions concerning the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act (DMA). In Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C. v. Buell, the Court held that under the DMA: (1) a recorded oil and gas lease is a title transaction that serves as a savings event that prevents minerals from being abandoned to a surface owner; but (2) that the unrecorded expiration of an oil and gas lease is not a savings event.

Click here to read our Client Alert about this important decision. You can read the full text of Buell here.