Gov. Wolf Reinstates Leasing Ban 

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has granted allocatur in Herder Spring Hunting Club v. Keller.        

The dispute in Herder Spring involves competing claims of oil and gas ownership based on the validity of a so-called "title wash."  In May, the Superior Court overturned a trial court summary judgment order and re-affirmed the legitimacy of the title wash.

The issues taken up by Supreme Court are: (1) Whether the Superior Court erred in ruling that a tax sale that occurred 36 years after the severance extinguished petitioners' interest where the tax deed and related documents described the assessed property as being held by the then-unseated surface estate owner and when it is undisputed that there was no prior production or other basis upon which a valid assessment could be made of the reserved oil and natural gas interests; (2) Whether the Superior Court denied the petitioners' due process rights when it held that the 1935 tax sale divested petitioners of their properly reserved oil and natural gas interests; (3) Whether the Superior Court overlooked controlling authority which provides that a grantee is bound by prior exceptions and reservations cited in its deed; and (4) Whether the Superior Court exceeded the scope of its appellate authority by making a factual finding that the Kellers never notified the Centre County Commissioners of their severed oil and gas estate when the trial court found that there was no evidence one way or another as to whether such notice was provided.