Columbiana County landowners lose lease appeal
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Four landowners who challenged Chesapeake Appalachia over extension clauses in their leases have lost, WFMJ reports.
The background to the lawsuits dates to 2007, when the landowners leased their mineral rights. The mineral rights were acquired by Range Resources, which then assigned all of its leases in Columbiana County to Chesapeake and Statoil in 2011.
The landowners each received letters when their five year primary terms were about to end, and that Chesapeake was exercising its right to extend the primary term of the leases by five years. The landowners filed suit in 2013.
In April 2014, the Columbiana County Common Pleas Court ruled in favor of Chesapeake. The landowners challenged this ruling, but lost when the Seventh District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Chesapeake.
Via: WFMJ > Court denies Columbiana County gas and oil lease appeal
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Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
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