If methane rights are granted but a previous coal severance exists, who owns the coalbed methane?

In situations where methane rights are granted but a previous severance of coal ownership has occurred, the ownership of the coalbed methane typically belongs to the coal owner. This is because the severance of coal rights means that the owner of the coal reserves retains rights over that portion of the subsurface resources. The coalbed methane is considered a resource that is predominantly associated with the coal itself, given that it is produced from the coal seams. Therefore, the coal owner has the legal rights to extract and benefit from the methane that is present in the coalbed.

Even if methane rights are granted separately, the existence of a prior coal severance means that the rights to extract resources must adhere to the hierarchy of property rights established by earlier agreements. This principle is particularly important in areas where multiple resources are extracted concurrently or where rights may have been divided or assigned separately over time. In such cases, the coal owner retains their rights to all gas associated with their coal, reaffirming that they are the rightful entity to any methane extracted from the coal seams.