Dressler Family v. PennEnergy Resources

• Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Decided: February 15, 2023
• Docket: 208 WAL 2022 (Granted)
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA WESTERN DISTRICT

DRESSLER FAMILY, LP, : No. 208 WAL 2022 : Respondent : : Petition for Allowance of Appeal : from the Order of the Superior Court v. : : : PENNENERGY RESOURCES, LLC, AS : SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST TO R.E. GAS : DEVELOPMENT, LLC, : : Petitioner :

ORDER

PER CURIAM

AND NOW, this 15th day of February, 2023, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal

is GRANTED. The issues, rephrased for clarity, are:

(1) Whether the Superior Court’s decision failed to apply how this Court defined the key Lease terms in Kilmer v. Elexco Land Services, Inc., 990 A.2d 1147 (Pa. 2010), and violated the longstanding principle that custom and usage in an industry or trade is always admissible to show that a contract is unambiguous.

(2) Whether the Lease unambiguously allows for the deduction of post[-]production costs is a key question to Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry, which needs the guidance this Court’s review will provide.

(3) Whether the Superior Court’s decision breaks from other courts that have interpreted materially identical lease language, and leaves Pennsylvania as an outlier in not recognizing the significance of common oil and gas lease terms.

(4) Whether the Superior Court’s decision violated the longstanding principles set by this Court that, to be found ambiguous, a contract must be interpreted to give effect to all of its terms and be subject to a second reasonable interpretation.