Sixth Circuit Rules in Lease Extension Case
The Sixth Circuit recently affirmed summary judgment granted to Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C. by the Southern District of Ohio court, holding that Chesapeake could extend its oil and gas lease with the plaintiffs on the same terms in the original lease. In Eastman v. Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C., the plaintiffs had argued that a provision providing Chesapeake with an option to “extend or renew under similar terms a like lease” required renegotiation of the lease’s terms. The court held that the lease could be unilaterally extended by Chesapeake, and that they would also have had the right to renegotiate a renewed lease.