Marcellus & Utica Shale Gas Development
Steptoe & Johnson is at the forefront of efforts to shape the law in the rapidly developing Marcellus and Utica Shale gas plays. Steptoe & Johnson oil and gas attorneys know the unique opportunities and challenges that exist in deep shale plays. The firm is strategically located throughout the Appalachian basin with offices in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia and well-versed in the complicated legal issues associated with the industry. Team attorneys also frequently travel to the firm’s Houston office to assist mid-continent clients with interests in Appalachia.
With 100 years of energy industry knowledge and advocacy throughout the region, Steptoe & Johnson energy attorneys know the critical issues encountered in shale gas development. Steptoe attorneys have proven to be powerful allies on behalf of developers, engaging leading industry players and government officials to pave the way for productive shale gas exploration utilizing horizontal drilling techniques and hydraulic fracturing. Team attorneys have experience in:
- Marcellus Shale Well Drilling Permit Requirements
Joint Ventures, Farmouts and Joint Development Arrangements
Pooling and Unitization Agreements
Marcellus Shale Leasing Disputes
Surface and Subsurface Ownership Rights
Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases
Team members actively leverage leadership roles in the most prominent oil and gas organizations throughout the Appalachian basin to benefit clients.
- Energy and Mineral Law Foundation
- Kentucky Independent Oil and Gas Association
- Marcellus Shale Coalition
- Ohio Oil and Gas Association
- Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association
- Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation
- West Virginia Independent Oil and Gas Association
- West Virginia Oil and Gas Association
Representative Experience
- Represented the owner of a substantial block of eastern Ohio (Utica Shale) oil and gas acreage in connection with negotiation and sale of those assets to Texas-based oil and gas company for cash and overriding royalty interest, enabling client to realize substantial return on investment
- Litigated Marcellus shale well claims on surface use, ownership, drilling rights and pooling
- Directed, supervised and assisted in title review, title analysis, business risk analysis, legal analysis, contracts, rights of way, deeds, estate matters and pooling for the conventional, coalbed methane and horizontal drilling operations in the Appalachian Basin of a Fortune 500 energy company’s oil and natural gas branch
- Represented oil and gas exploration and production companies in all aspects of their Pennsylvania operations including lease and other document design, negotiations, permitting, administrative proceedings, joint operating agreements, farmouts, acquisitions, dispositions, due diligence reviews, title examination and reporting, financing and litigation in state and federal courts
- Performed title examinations and prepared oil and gas title opinions to assist a wide variety of clients in Marcellus shale development
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