Chesapeake Energy is seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit that alleges it took oil and gas from a property without a lease agreement with the owners.
The Intelligencer and Wheeling News Register reports that six nonprofit groups in Wheeling sued the company in federal court in Wheeling on May 1. The lawsuit says Chesapeake incorporated 224 acres jointly owned by the groups in Ohio County in two pooled drilling units it formed without leasing the property.
The lawsuit also alleges that Chesapeake trespassed by taking oil and gas from the property without a lease.
Chesapeake’s lawyers say in a response to the lawsuit that the plaintiffs can’t prove any of the allegations.
Chesapeake sold its operations in West Virginia to Southwestern Energy Co. late last year.