Ohio Landowner Says Chesapeake Lost Lease by Not Paying Delay Rentals

CLEVELAND - An Ohio non-profit contends in a newly filed lawsuit that Chesapeake Appalachia lost mineral rights to nearly 4,000 acres of protected lands, not because it failed to drill but because Chesapeake failed to timely pay delay rentals required by the lease. Beaverkettle Farms LTD v. Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, No. 4:11-cv-02631-BYP (N.D. Ohio).

Beaverkettle Farms filed a claim for declaratory relief in the Columbiana County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas on Nov. 3; Chesapeake removed the action to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio a month later based on diversity jurisdiction.

At issue are mineral …