Ohio Justices Set Parameters for Oil, Gas Rights in Old Deeds

A former landowner didn’t reserve underground oil and gas rights in a 1953 deed that mentioned coal and “other minerals,” the Ohio Supreme Court said Thursday in a case that could have implications for how deeds drafted before the fracking boom are read.

Using the phrase “other minerals” may refer to oil and gas but that isn’t necessarily the case, the justices said in a 6-1 ruling. The phrase was considered in relation to how it’s contextualized in a deed, Justice Megan E. Shanahan (R) wrote.

“In contrast to the use of words that are commonly associated with solid mineral ...