Oil and Gas Giant EOG Sues Noble County Land Owner

EOG Resources, Inc. is suing Lucky Land Management, LLC for the placement of two horizontal well pads on its property in Sharon Township. Lucky acquired roughly 300 acres from CNX Land in 2022 but the mineral rights were reserved, which EOG is now leasing.
Owner of Lucky Land, Brian Lucky, is an out of state investor of hunting real estate who bought the parcels in order to improve the land as a prime deer hunting property in Noble County. Lucky has reportedly spent $300,000 in clearing the land and installing food plots in addition to other costs including the purchase of the land itself. Lucky fears the investment will be lost if EOG places the well pads on the property, which construction and placement is projected to disturb more than 45 acres, he says.
Last year, EOG sent two surface use agreements (one offering compensation of $40,000.00, the other $200,000.00) to Lucky, both of which he rejected. EOG says the severance deeds do not require them to enter in to surface use agreements but gives them the right to use the land to acquire gas and oil from the property and neighboring properties.
EOG reportedly plans to utilize the space that Lucky had already spent money on to clear for placement of his food plots. Lucky says the compensatory offer is not enough to make up for that expenditure.
On February 23, the U.S. District Court in the Southeastern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, granted a motion from EOG for a preliminary injunction that allows it to begin use of Lucky’s property. That includes clearing of trees that EOG says must be completed by March 31 to avoid violating federal regulations on protected bat species.
In the opinion portion of that order, the court stated that it found no express or implied right for EOG to install horizontal well pads on the surface of the property to drill for oil from neighboring property. However, the court issued the injunction in favor of EOG because of its willingness to show due regard for Lucky’s surface rights.
The court also ordered EOG to pay Lucky $100,000.00 in compensation for use of the property, which Lucky says does not compensate for the disruption to Lucky’s property, which is now more valuable than it was when it was initially purchased.
A motion for stay filed on March 11 from Daniel Corcoran, attorney for Lucky, states that other area landowners have contacted him stating that EOG is pointing to the February 23 opinion and order and threatening legal action if they refuse to sign surface use agreements.
“EOG is telling these landowners that (the order) will make it ‘easy’ for EOG to obtain similar injunctive relief against them” the brief states.
Mr. Corcoran and Lucky are arguing that EOG shouldn’t be able to place well pads anywhere they want without an agreement. Corcoran said he is concerned this will set a precedent in the court for companies to infringe on property owner’s rights.
In a brief filed on February 16, Mr. Corcoran said “In a county where the median annual income is about $50,000, most landowners are not in a position to litigate their property rights against a team of lawyers and a well-funded opponent.  To bring Mr. Lucky and other area landowners to heel, EOG wants to see this case through to the end. The message it intends to send is that everyone should graciously accept whatever amount EOG shall deign to offer in its own benevolence….”
“This Court should not allow EOG to disregard and trample on the rights of landowners like Mr. Lucky that won’t agree to fall in line by simply handing over the most valuable parts of their property to ensure that EOG can maintain is preferred drilling schedule.”
Corcoran also said that the “oil and gas industry provides many benefits to the people that live in Southeastern Ohio, and we hope that additional drilling and development will continue.  But when a single property owner is asked to give up a significant portion of his land to accommodate two massive horizontal well pads that are producing oil and gas from thousands of other acres, that property owner should be fairly compensated.”
In a brief filed in response to Lucky’s motion, EOG states that maintaining its rights as lessee of an oil and gas lease is critical to maintaining the integrity of countless acres of severed mineral rights it possesses in the state.