In Davis v. Consolidation Coal Company, 2017-Ohio-5703, Ohio’s Seventh District Court of Appeals held that a recorded release of an oil and gas lease qualifies as a “savings event” under the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act (R.C. 5301.56) (ODMA). One of the six savings events under the ODMA occurs whenever the mineral interest has been the subject of a title transaction – i.e., any transaction that affects title to any interest in land – that has been recorded in the office of the county recorder where the mineral interest is located. The court in Davis found that a recorded release of an oil and gas lease qualifies as a title transaction savings event because the release provides notice both of the expiration of the lease and the reversion of rights to the lessor.
Ohio’s Seventh District Court of Appeals is the first appellate court to hold that a recorded release of an oil and gas lease qualifies as a “savings event” under the ODMA.