Last August, we reported that a Pennsylvania Superior Court decision (Butler v. Charles Powers Estate) threatened to undermine nearly 200 years of mineral-rights law in Pennsylvania by rejecting the “Dunham Rule” – a legal doctrine that presumes that in private deed transactions where there is a reservation or exception for “minerals,” without any specific mention … Continue Reading
Title to Oil and Gas in PA Threatened In 1882, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania pronounced what would be known as the Rule in Dunham’s Case. In Dunham and Shortt v. Kirkpatrick, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a grant or reservation of "all minerals" does not include oil or gas, despite the fact that … Continue Reading
On July 26, 2012, in a decision of major significance to the Marcellus Shale industry, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in the case of Robinson Township et al. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission et al., No. 284 M.D. 2012 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2012), declared Section 3304 of Act 13 of Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas … Continue Reading
