Indiana Court Applies Rule of Capture to Dismiss Coal Mine Methane Conversion Claims

Pioneer Oil Company, holding an exclusive lease to produce methane from abandoned coal mine voids in Gibson County, sued adjacent lessee GCC and its partner ECC for trespass, conversion, and civil conspiracy after defendants unsealed a 1,500-foot tunnel originating on their parcel to draw methane from the underground voids. The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal under Rule 12(B)(6), holding that the rule of capture precluded Pioneer's conversion claim because defendants captured the methane through operations entirely on their own leased property without physically entering Pioneer's leasehold.