Chesapeake Cites 1860 Deed in Suit Over Mineral Rights to W.Va. Site

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Chesapeake Appalachia LLC is relying on an 1860 deed in a lawsuit asserting mineral rights to an 82-acre site in West Virginia that is already the site of another energy company's productive natural gas well. Chesapeake Appalachia LLC v. Mountain v. Oil & Gas Inc., et al., No. 2:11-0207 (S.D. W.Va.).

Chesapeake filed the lawsuit on March 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia against Mountain V Oil & Gas Inc., which drilled the producing well, and property owners Grover C. Bias Jr. and Phyllis Bias.

The Biases are residents of …