Butler v. Charles Powers Estate
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
65 A.3d 885 (2013)
An 1881 deed from Charles Powers to the Butlers' (plaintiffs) predecessors conveyed land while reserving "one-half [of] the minerals and Petroleum Oils," without mentioning natural gas. In 2009, the Butlers sued Powers's heirs, the Charles Powers Estate (Estate) (defendants), to quiet title including all minerals and natural gas beneath the land; the Estate's heirs sought a declaratory judgment that the "minerals" reservation included one-half of the natural gas in a shale formation below the surface, while the Butlers argued the deed reserved no natural gas since it wasn't specifically mentioned. The trial court ruled for the Butlers, the superior court reversed, and the Butlers appealed to the state supreme court.
Whether, if a deed conveying land reserves minerals without any specific mention of natural gas or oil, there is a rebuttable presumption that the parties did not intend the word "minerals" to include natural gas or oil.