An Agreement to Accept an Oil & Gas Lease is An Enforceable Contract in Ohio

From Oil & Gas Law Report:
An agreement to enter into an oil and gas lease is an enforceable contract in Ohio
Landowner enters into an agreement to sign an oil and gas lease, finds outs there may be a better deal elsewhere and tries to get out of the first deal. A federal court in Ohio says, “No, a deal is a deal.” Bruzzese v. Chesapeake Exploration, LLC, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division (Feb. 13, 2014).
Background
A group of landowners in eastern Ohio had engaged attorneys to negotiate oil and gas leases on their collective behalves. They signed an Agreement to Accept Lease Offer from Chesapeake Exploration, LLC. About 75 members of the group later sued Chesapeake Exploration, LLC, claiming that the agreement was unenforceable. Chesapeake settled with all the landowners except Stephen and Elizabeth Albery.
The Alberys had printed out the agreement, filled in blanks, signed it and emailed it to the group attorneys on July 16, 2011. Immediately thereafter, Mrs. Albery’s sister told them that she had heard that other energy companies were making better offers to landowners. Under the apparent understanding that they could back out of the agreement because they believed they could still opt out of the landowners group, the Alberys sent a letter to counsel on July 24, 2011, stating that they wished to terminate the agreement.
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