Wednesday, January 30, 2013
ADENA, Ohio — Two Jefferson County landowners are seeking a summary judgment in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, on a joint lawsuit they filed last year against the Hess Energy Corporation. The case involves oil and gas leases they signed five and six years ago with the Mason Dixon corporation.
David E. Cameron, and Stephen J. Griffith and Melissa D. Griffith filed the original joint lawsuit in January 2012. Cameron owns approximately 166 acres in Jefferson County and the Griffiths own approximately 228 acres in Jefferson County as well. The Griffiths signed their lease in 2007 and Cameron signed his lease in 2008, both with the Mason Dixon Corporation. The Mason Dixon leases were sold to Hess Energy in 2011.
Like similar lawsuits filed over oil and gas leases, both Cameron and the Griffiths claim the leases are invalid. According to the lawsuit, Cameron signed his lease without a notary present, and Stephen Griffith claims in the lawsuit he was told to sign his wife’s name without her present.
The landowners also claim the leases are fraudulent because they were never told about the potential Utica and Marcellus shale drilling. Instead, they understood the leases to be for the traditional Clinton wells.
No wells have been drilled on either property since the leases were signed.
What the landowners are most upset about is the ability to hold their property through the delayed rentals without production. In essence, their land could be held without drilling for 10 years after they signed the leases.
According to the lawsuit, the Cameron lease is now in the delayed rental stage and the Griffiths’ lease has ended the primary term and is now entering the delayed rental term.
The outcome of the lawsuit could affect many landowners in Belmont, Jefferson and Harrison counties who signed leases with the Mason Dixon Corporation before the potential of the shale boom was public knowledge. Some of the landowners leased their land for as little as $5 or $20 like the Griffiths and have been waiting to get out of the lease as they have been entering the extended term on many leases.
Both Cameron and the Griffiths were supposed to receive $100 per acre of the delay rentals after the initial term of the lease expired. Although the checks have been issued to both landowners, they are not cashing them.
However, a statement in the lease agreement is what the Griffiths and Cameron are banking on that can help end the lease now rather than waiting for the delay rental or lease extension to expire.
According to the lawsuit, the lease states “if operations for drilling are not commenced on the leased premises or on acreage pooled therewith, on or before twelve months from the date (June 14, 2007 in the Griffiths’ case), this lease shall then terminate as to both parties unless lessee (Mason Dixon), on or before the expiration of the said period, shall pay or tender to lessor the sum of $100 per mineral acre of the associated lease, hereinafter the called the ‘delay rental,’ which shall extend for 12 months the time within which drilling operations may be commenced.”
Earlier this month, the three landowners filed a motion in the federal court asking for a summary judgment. A summary judgment in the case is expected within a couple of months. According to the lawsuit, Cameron and the Griffiths are asking for an answer from the judge on the legality of the lease(s) and the law itself. They are asking what their rights are according to the terms of the lease instead of a lawsuit that would involve depositions and a lengthy court battle. This will make this case proceed faster than others.
In a summary judgment, the landowners are questioning the terms of the lease and asking that it be declared void. Cameron and the Griffiths are asking the court to determine what a reasonable time period would be for the company to begin drilling. They are asking that their land not be held by the leasing company without production.
According to the landowners, they feel it comes to the primary term limit and not the additional time, as the company claims.
The lawsuit seeks to create a precedent that would stop leasing companies from holding the land beyond the primary term without drilling. Both landowners are seeking the right to cancel the lease or put the land into production.
Cameron and the Griffiths are seeking in excess of $25,000 and an injunction that would stop Hess Energy from drilling on the property.
A phone call was placed to Hess Energy seeking comment, but they declined.
Farm and Dairy, a weekly newspaper located in Salem, Ohio, has been reporting on topics that interest farmers and landowners since 1914.
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