Video: Update on DMA Cases Before Ohio Supreme Court
For several years a thorny legal issue in Ohio has been bubbling in the background–the Dormant Minerals Right Act (DMA). In a nutshell, there are two DMAs in Ohio–one passed in 1989 that went into effect in 1992, and another in 2006 which added certain additional procedural requirements to the 1989 version. The DMA in its various versions provides for mineral rights that had previously been separated from surface rights to transfer to the surface owner under certain conditions. The problem for both drillers and for landowners in Ohio, is in knowing which set of DMA rules to use (1989 or 2006) in determining who owns the mineral rights. It’s a big problem when drillers are spending sometimes up to $15,000 per acre in lease bonuses, to say nothing of where to send the royalty check. Some drillers are holding back on leasing because of this issue. There are now 12 (!) different cases before the Ohio Supreme Court dealing with the DMA and decisions may come soon for many of them. We get a good overview and update on DMA litigation from the legal beagles at the Bricker & Eckler law firm…
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There are over 300,000 miles of natural gas pipelines in the ground in the United States–did you know that? Those pipeline bring cheap, abundant, clean-burning natgas to American households, businesses, and electric generating plants. Nobody gave pipelines a second thought for oh, the past 75 years or more. That is, until coordinated campaigns by groups of nutters who irrationally oppose fossil fuels, seeking to demonize pipelines–the safest form of transportation in existence. Unfortunately their lies require a response. The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) has stepped up to the plate, launching a nationwide campaign, complete with a TV commercial, to educate American consumers about the benefits of natural gas and natural gas pipelines…
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Antis oppose 3 Tetco pipelines; PA’s Engelder goes to OH; antis oppose fracking near Pittsburgh; Shell’s emissions quota for cracker plant; Sunoco LP shops for pipeline land; hearing set for Hilcorp wellpad; Moxie electric plant clears another hurdle, and more!
Three weeks ago MDN told you that Aubrey McClendon and his American Energy Partners had made their first foray into international oil and gas drilling (see 
Landowners in Pennsylvania have been upset with shenanigans by Chesapeake Energy in shorting them out of royalties for years. In 2013 a group of landowners in Bradford County, PA filed a lawsuit against Chesapeake over the royalty issue (see 
A couple of bits of news from Gulfport Energy, a driller focused primarily on the Utica Shale in eastern Ohio. In April, MDN reported that Gulfport had inked a deal with Paloma Partners III, a small energy & exploration company headquartered in Houston, to purchase 24,000 acres in Belmont and Jefferson counties (Ohio) for $12,500 per acre (see 
Sunoco Logistics Partners, which owns the Mariner series of pipelines (East, West and South), has just launched a new binding open season–time when drillers and other shippers can sign up for capacity–for an expansion of the planned Mariner East 2 project. In April 2014 MDN brought you the news that Sunoco LP had completed an open season for Mariner East 2 and had enough customers to move forward with the project (see 
In February MDN told you that Spanish oil giant Repsol was accelerating plans to build an LNG export terminal on the coast of Saint John, Newfoundland (see 
Basin Energy, which acts as a holding company to invest in (and run) other companies located in the Marcellus/Utica, is based in Bridgeport (Harrison County), WV. Basin’s first acquisition was ProActive Services, an operator of natural gas pipeline compressor stations and other related oilfield services. On Sept. 1, Basin closed a deal on their second subsidiary–the Jane Lew (Lewis County), WV-based Starett’s Well Service, a specialty roustabout services firm, focused on well site and midstream natural gas infrastructure in the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions…
In an example of yet another instance of our wonderful industry blessing the communities in which it works, Rice Energy has just completed an annual fundraising event which raised $600,000 which they donated to 36 different first responder organizations in Pennsylvania and Ohio at a ceremony last Friday, September 11th. The first responder organizations include local volunteer fire departments, emergency medical services, regional safety organizations and police departments. Kudos to Rice for being good corporate citizens. By the way, when was the last time you heard about a “green” group like Delaware Riverkeeper, Food & Water Watch, or the Sierra Club raising and donating money to anyone but themselves? Oil & gas industry = generous givers; Environmental wackos = selfish takers…
We occasionally bring you news of when senior management or members of the board of directors for an upstream (drillers) or midstream (pipelines) company either buy or sell shares of stock in their own company. It’s called “insider trading.” There are good reasons to do both–buy or sell. But let’s be honest, if you see upper management/board members repeatedly selling their shares of stock, it just doesn’t look good (see 
Below are upcoming events for the next three months (90 days). To see the full list of future events, visit this page: 