After two years of courtroom battles with landowners in the state of New York to retain land leases obtained in the past decade, Chesapeake Energy decided not to pursue the matter. Attorneys of some of the landowners involved in the case sent a letter to their clients which they shared through the phone with Reuters. One client read the letter which was dated July 26. "Chesapeake contacted us and offered to withdraw Chesapeake's appeal and provide complete release of the leases. Obviously, this is excellent news as it constitutes an end to the litigation," lawyers from Levene Gouldin & Thompson wrote.

Once the decision gets finalized, it would allow landowners in the counties of Tioga and Broome to offer their land to other interested drillers for a much higher price. That is, if New York would finally put an end to a five-year ban it imposed on hydraulic fracturing activities in the state.