Landowners in Pennsylvania Get Good News in Fight Against Chesapeake Energy Royalty Scheme
From the PA Environment Digest Blog:
On March 15, Commonwealth Court issued a decision allowing Attorney General Josh Shapiro to pursue Unfair Trade Practices Act cases against Chesapeake Energy and Anadarko for promises they made to landowners when leasing their land for natural gas drilling.
The Court found that natural gas leases were in fact “trade” and “commerce” and therefore covered by the state Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act.
With respect to a second claim based on anti-trust by the Attorney General that the companies made an unlawful market sharing agreement to not lease properties for drilling in areas where one or the other company was operating intrinsically violated the Unfair Trade Practices Act, the Court said the law does not support that conclusion.
However, with respect a separate count argued by the Attorney General that the companies allegedly disingenuous and misleading behavior constitutes unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices under the Unfair Trade Practices Act, the Court sided with the Attorney General.Read more by clicking here.