County Delays on Oil & Gas Examinations

(Published/Edited with Permission from Chicago Title Cleveland)

The increased interest and demand for leasehold information regarding oil and gas rights has put a good number of counties under a great deal of stress because their existing systems are unaccustomed to handling so much activity. Oil and gas companies have been sending in additional examiners to provide more detailed drilling and pipeline right of way exams. As more and more oil and gas company examiners flood these counties, anyone trying to obtain leasehold or other title related information is experiencing delays and subsequent increased exam costs. This increased cost is due to nature of the leasehold information being examined. This exam is a separate chain of title and is charged at an hourly rate. In addition to higher costs, the increase in activity has made determining the ETA of an exam challenging. Many counties have put time limits on the examiners, giving each examiner 15 to 45 minutes of exam time. Having prior policies or commitments can greatly reduce the search time.

Here is a list of the Ohio counties experiencing delays and exam time limits:

Athens
Belmont
Carroll
Columbiana
Coshocton
Guernsey
Harrison
Holmes
Jefferson
Mahoning
Noble
Portage
Stark
Trumbull
Tuscarawas


Chicago Title has been serving Ohio for over 50 years. Through their nationwide network, they provide title insurance, underwriting, escrow and closing services to every spectrum of the real estate industry. For more information, visit them at http://www.cticnow.com/.