The Commonwealth Court en banc has ruled 6-1 in a case of first impression that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office can sue natural gas operators under the state Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law for alleged conduct related to subsurface mineral rights leases entered into with private landowners.

The majority also ruled in its March 15 precedential opinion that the office can bring a cause of action against lessees, under the UTPCPL, for alleged violations of antitrust law. However, the court said that in this specific case, only one of the two antitrust claims advanced by prosecutors was legally viable.