Aren’t All Leases the Same? Comparing and Contrasting Energy Leases
Original Program Date :
Length: 60 Minutes
While there are many differences between renewable energy development, like solar and wind, and more traditional energy development, like drilling and mining, they have one thing in common: the land upon which the development takes place. This presentation will look at how different kinds of energy development have all utilized the lease as the means for securing the land rights necessary for energy development. We’ll review the important ways that these different energy leases are the same, especially execution and property description, as well as how they address common important questions like time (term), money (royalty), and competing land uses (development rights) in significantly different ways.
Andy Graham has practiced energy and mineral law with Steptoe & Johnson PLLC over the last 17 years in Texas and West Virginia, focusing on mineral title examinations, assisting clients buying or selling mineral, midstream and renewable energy assets, and handling surface use issues arising from energy development. He also teaches energy land management at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia and writes about energy law developments for the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law’s Mineral and Energy Law Newsletter. He has been included in Woodward/White’s The Best Lawyers in America® every year since 2012. He graduated summa cum laude from Shepherd College, in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, with a degree in political science, and received his law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law in Morgantown, West Virginia, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif. He is admitted to practice law in Texas, Ohio, and West Virginia.