Recently, Ohio’s Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management (Division) has issued several unitization orders that include unleased lands owned by the State of Ohio, including lands owned by the Department of Transportation (see here), the Ohio Rail Development Commission (see here), and the Department of Information Technology (see here). The orders are on terms that closely match previous unit orders issued by the Division under R.C. 1509.28, with one notable exception – given the duration that some have been pending, the Division has allowed 25 months from the approval of the order to commence drilling operations as opposed to the 12-month period it usually prescribes.
