On June 8th, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania upheld Defendant’s motion to compel arbitration. The oil and gas lease Plaintiffs executed on their property included an arbitration clause which provided that a “unanimous decision of the arbitrators…shall be final.” After the primary term of the lease expired, Plaintiffs’ attempted to get a declaration from the court saying their oil and gas lease was no longer in effect because the gas company had failed to conduct any operations to trigger a lease extension. Defendant responded with a motion to compel arbitration. The court held that the arbitration clause in the oil and gas lease required arbitration in this case. The court reasoned that the arbitration provision, applying to “disagreement[s] between Lessor and Lessee concerning this lease,” is a broad provision, and includes disagreements of the lease term.
Written by Joseph Negaard, Research Assistant
June 9, 2012
June 9, 2012
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