Ohio’s ‘Bad Faith’ Bar for Mineral Trespass a Win for Drillers

Ohio’s Revised Code Section 5303.34 (part of House Bill 96, recently passed and signed into law) significantly shifts mineral trespass law, favoring oil and gas operators over landowners. Replacing common-law precedent, the new statute limits default damages to net revenue minus production costs, ensuring industry expense credits. Crucially, it creates a high bar for "bad faith," requiring plaintiffs (landowners and rights owners) to prove an operator’s specific intent to steal minerals or actual knowledge of illegality. Since a "reasonable belief" in a lease or permit now negates bad faith, landowners face a difficult path to full revenue recovery.

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