The Provisions Needed by Surface Owners In Surface Use Agreements

The Supreme Court has ruled in the Crowder case that the mineral owner (“lessee” and “driller”) has to have the agreement of the surface owner in order to use the surface owner’s. This page on our website has been updated to include the effect of a recent West Virginia Supreme Court case that in essence says that surface owners’ agreement is needed for the placement of well sites for horizontal wells on their land.  In particular the updated page links to advice to surface owners who might agree to use of their land for the right price and with the right protections.

The article can be read and downloaded here.