“Pooling” and “Unitization” are terms that are often used interchangeably. Generally speaking, Pooling and Unitization is the process of combining or bringing together multiple parcels into a Production Unit for oil or natural gas. Properties are pooled or combined together to create a Production Unit where these pooled parcels are jointly developed by the energy company to extract oil or natural gas from the Production Unit. All Landowners with Property located within a Production Unit Receive Oil or Gas Royalties from the Portion of their Property within the Production Unit.
Under Pennsylvania oil and gas law, natural gas companies have tremendous power and flexibility when designing and creating oil and gas Production Units. As gas companies exercise their broad powers and pool Landowner’s parcels together to create production units, a variety of legal issues and challenges have arisen.
Oil and Gas Leases generally provide basic rules addressing the formation of Production Units and how a participating Landowner’s royalties will be calculated. Some Oil and Gas Leases have Landowner friendly and detailed pooling and unitization provisions that govern how the gas company may design and develop Production Units. Regardless of the detail in a Landowner’s gas lease, many valid claims have arisen against gas companies for their unitization practices. These claims range from allegations of bad faith Unitization to comply with the terms of an existing gas lease to simple claims of inadvertently miscalculating or not properly crediting a Landowner’s acreage and interest within the Production Unit.
If Landowners do not identify and address valid pooling and unitization issues, financial damages may increase over time. Even worse, if Landowners do not timely raise pooling and unitization claims, they may be barred from doing so in the future due to the applicable statute of limitations. If you feel you have a claim against a gas company for any pooling and unitization issue, act quickly and do not delay. You must contact an experience oil and gas attorney to review and address your issue. The Clark Law Firm, PC represents Landowners to assure that the gas company complies with your Oil and Gas Lease pooling requirements and follow Pennsylvania oil and gas law when designating a Production Unit. We also represent Landowners to ensure that their proper acreage is attributed to the company designed Production Unit and that the Landowner is receiving proper royalty payments for their pooled acreage.
If you have any pooling and unitization issue with a gas company, contact The Clark Law Firm, PC. Doug Clark is Pennsylvania’s Landowner Lawyer and can help you resolve your pooling and unitization issues. Contact us today!