Drillers in Ohio’s Utica Shale are increasingly using the state’s “unitization” or forced pooling laws to force landowners who don’t want drilling to be included in drilling units where a majority of the neighboring land is leased. According to an article in the Akron Beacon Journal, 22 such requests have been filed in Ohio to date. Of those 22 filed, 6 were approved, 6 were resolved or dropped, and 10 are pending.
We know the arguments for and against forced pooling, and you know where we stand on the issue (we take a dim view of it), so we won’t belabor the point. Here’s the Beacon Journal’s update on some of the forced pooling cases in eastern Ohio, including which drillers are doing the forcing, and the results…
