U.S. Fourth Circuit Upholds Viability Of Flat Rate Leases

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has issued an important decision upholding viability of flat rate leases in face of challenges that the lack of production terminated the lease.  Here is a synopsis of the ruling:

In Wellman v. Bobcat Oil & Gas, Inc., Docket No. 12-1533, an unpublished per curiam opinion, the Fourth Circuit recently addressed the issue of whether lack of production and a missed or late payment could invalidate a flat-rate lease.  The Court held that under longstanding West Virginia law, “the quantity of production is irrelevant to the expiration of the secondary term” of a flat-rate mineral lease.  In addition the Court held that the lessors’ claims that missed or late rental payments resulted in a forfeiture of the lease failed on the basis of ratification and the principles of equity.   The Court specifically stated that absent a clear and unequivocal stipulation in the lease that a failure to pay will result in forfeiture, missed or late payments are insufficient to justify cancelling or forfeiting the lease. 

Lewis Glasser Casey & Rollins PLLC has been involved in representing other lessees in similar claims by lessors.  We will continue to keep you apprised of these legal matters. 

New Attorney At LGCR Expands Firm’s Legal Capabilities For Title, Deed, Pooling Matters

Lewis Glasser Casey & Rollins PLLC has hired Heather R. Bates to expand the law firm’s capabilities for its growing natural gas practice.  Bates’ focuses on a wide range of legal services (title, deeds, leases, joint-operating agreements, etc.) to oil and natural gas clients. Prior to joining the law firm Bates worked for CONSOL Energy, Inc. where she analyzed, reviewed, and drafted various oil and gas documents such as title opinions, drilling opinions, deeds, leases, pooling agreements, farm-in agreements and joint operating agreements for horizontal drilling operations in the Appalachian Basin.

Marcellus Shale Vaults To Top U.S. Natural Gas Production Formation

Thanks to horizontal drilling activities over the past several years, the vast Marcellus Shale formation is now the most prolific producing region of natural gas in the United States. And West Virginia is positioned right in the middle of the "shale gas revolution," said David McCurdy, president and chief executive officer of the American Gas Association.  McCurdy provided these comments yesterday at the West Virginia University College of Law's spring natural gas conference in Morgantown, W.Va.  Click to read a news story on his comments.

W.Va. DEP Cuts Time Period To Approve Horizontal Well Permits

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has made progress on its efforts to reduce the time it takes to review and approve a horizontal well drilling permit. DEP Secretary Randy Huffman says his agency has cut the average time to get a drilling permit to be about 75 days...instead of 110-130 days a year ago.  He also reported that permitting activity remains steady so far this year.  As of mid-April this year, the W.Va. DEP had received applications for 194 well permits and issued 168.  That compares to a total of 500 well permits being issued in 2011, which was the peak year.

Click to read more: http://www.statejournal.com/story/22001105/dep-acclimating-to-gas-boom-permit-delay-stabilizing …

Shale Could Grow To Become A $1 Billion Industry In West Virginia

If natural gas demand continues to grow as predicted, shale production could be a billion dollar industry in West Virginia in a couple decades.  That was the upbeat message delivered recently by Chris Guith, the Vice President for Policy at the Institute for 21st Century Energy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He was the guest speaker at the 2013 Marcellus2Manufacturing Conference at the Charleston Civic Center. Shale production is becoming a bigger and bigger part of West Virginia's economy and it looks like that's going to continue for years to come. "It's transformational. It has changed the entire landscape both from an economic stand point, from an energy stand point and, frankly, a geo-political stand point,” Guith said. Click to read more.

Lewis Glasser Opens Law Office In Ohio To Meet Growth

Lewis Glasser Casey & Rollins PLLC has expanded and opened an office in the state of Ohio.  The office is located on the northeast side of Columbus, 81 Mill Street, Suite 300, Gahanna, Ohio, and it is needed to serve the firm’s significant client growth in the Buckeye State.  “Lewis Glasser is very pleased to be expanding and opening this new office in Ohio, which will allow our law firm to better serve our new clients, particularly those engaged in the state’s booming shale production industry,” said G. Nick Casey, LGCR’s Managing Member.  He noted that Lewis Glasser is nationally recognized as one of the leading law firms in the Utica/Marcellus region. “Our law firm has a long history of representing the oil and natural gas industry – producers, midstream companies and interstate pipelines – and we pride ourselves on our high-quality, personal and results-oriented services.”

The opening of the Ohio office also follows the law firm’s recent hiring of attorney Paul Garinger, who has experience providing a variety of legal services and has litigated on a number of areas pertinent to Ohio oil and natural gas industry: title, lease, permitting, pipeline work and environmental matters. He also represented a multinational oil and natural gas company in a large-scale federally regulated pipeline project across the State of Ohio and aided financial institutions in consumer banking disputes under federal and state regulations

Garinger’s legal career also has included representing employers before state and federal courts and state and federal administrative agencies such as the Ohio Department of Labor, Ohio Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Ohio Civil Rights Commission. 

To contact Garinger, email him at pgaringer@lgcr.com or call (614) 416-8148.

Ohio's Shale Production Region May Extend Westward

Ohio's oil-rich shale deposits may exist further west in Ohio than previously thought, according to information provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.  In a recent article published by The Associated Press, revised maps from the department indicate that the counties between Mansfield and Lima show promising results.  Those counties are Hancock, Hardin, Seneca and Wyandot.  The ODNR also reported that as of March 2, production companies had taken out nearly 300 well permits.  Click to read more.

EMLF To Present Utica Title, Development Issues Conference April 14-16

The Energy & Mineral Law Foundation will host a two-day conference on "Title and Development Issues in the Utica Shale – Ohio" on April 14-16 in Columbus, Ohio.  The event is being held at the Hilton Columbus at Easton, 3900 Chagrin Drive.  A number of presentations will be provided on important and timely title, deed, ownership and mineral law issues. (Click to see agenda.)

The conference registration fee covers all educational sessions, looseleaf handbook with written materials by speakers, CD containing all written materials and PowerPoint presentations plus selected mineral titles articles previously published by the EMLF. Sunday night reception and dinner program, Continental breakfasts, Monday lunch and Monday reception, and refreshment breaks on both days are included in the registration fee

Hotel Accommodations: The EMLF has lined  up a block of hotel rooms at the Hilton at a special rate, but that block will be released on Sunday, March 24th.  Complete information and online registration and link to hotel reservations is available on the website at http://www.emlf.org

MCLE Credit: Conference accreditation is pending from states with mandatory Continuing Legal Education. The conference consists of 885 minutes (14.75 hours in 60-minute states and 17.7 hours in 50-minute states). Registrants may be required to reimburse EMLF for MCLE filing fees for certain states.