Application of Pennsylvania’s Dunham Rule
Business Law Articles
By Paul R. Yagelski, Esquire
Rothman Gordon
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Do Two Separate Deeds Read Together Provide Clear and Convincing Evidence of the Conveyance of Oil and Gas?
In Jenkins v. P.P.& V. Corp., No. 692 WDA 2020, 2021 Pa. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1629 (Pa. Super. June 21, 2021)[1], Defendant, P.P.& V. Corporation (“PPV”), appealed from a judgment on the pleadings in favor of David and Anne Jenkins (collectively “Jenkins”) in a dispute over oil and natural gas rights. The parties disagreed as to whether PPV conveyed these rights to its successors in title, including Jenkins. The trial court, sitting en banc, unanimously determined that two deeds, when read together, transferred the oil and gas rights to Jenkins. The Superior Court agreed and affirmed.
The oil and natural gas at issue in Jenkins lies beneath a plot of land in Cambria County, known as the “Boyle Tract.” The parties agreed that on June 27, 1967, PPV acquired a one-half interest in the Boyle Tract’s oil and natural gas from the Cherry Tree Coal Company. The parties also agreed that, on December 29, 1981, PPV executed a quit-claim deed to one Harry M. Keilman. The parties disagreed on whether the PPV-to-Keilman Deed conveyed the oil and natural gas to Mr. Keilman and through him and other successors to Jenkins.