Pennsylvania Judge Upholds Forced Pooling of Oil/Gas Leases | 2014-04-21 | Natural Gas Intelligence
A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that a new addition to the state Oil and
Gas Lease Act allowing forced pooling of oil and gas leases is
constitutional. The ruling said EQT Corp. has the right to pool several
contiguous leases in Allegheny County unless a lease specifically
prohibits it.
Last July, Pittsburgh-based EQT filed suit against 69 landowners and a
golf course for the right to drill for Marcellus Shale gas under the
Bunola Storage Field, which an EQT subsidiary uses to store gas
underground in Allegheny County (see Shale Daily, Aug. 6, 2013). In a 10-page ruling issued on April 8, Court of Common Pleas Judge Christine Ward sided with EQT.
"Though the leases may reserve certain rights, and the law may place
restrictions on the developers' activities, [the] answering defendants
present no support for their claim that they have implicitly retained
the right to dictate the manner of EQT's subsurface development of its
lease," Ward said. "So long as the lessors' rights granted by lease and
law are not impinged upon, the lessee has broad powers to develop the
oil and gas estate as it sees fit, including crossing property lines
between contiguous leases while engaging in horizontal drilling." Read more... http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/98112-pennsylvania-judge-upholds-forced-pooling-of-oilgas-leases
