I haven’t read the background to this case, but I’m willing to bet that I know what happened.  I expect that the landowner signed a lease with Chesapeake and found out after the fact that they could have gotten a much better deal.  Fast forward a few years and Chesapeake decided to exercise the right to extend the lease.  Knowing that there was better money out there for a new lease, the landowner decided to fight the automatic extension.

The landowner tried to argue that the wording of the extension clause required Chesapeake to negotiate a new lease.  Chesapeake disagreed, and they ended up in court.  The court found the landowner’s argument to be not persuasive, as well it should.  I don’t side with the companies, and I think the automatic extension only works in the company’s favor, but when you have signed your name to an agreement you abide by that agreement.  If you didn’t read it and understand it, that’s your own fault.

The moral of this story is that you should read every part of your lease, understand every part of your lease, and find competent counsel to explain the parts you don’t understand.  Then you need to negotiate for a better lease.  You won’t get everything you want in negotiations (which is why you always ask for more than you think you can get) but you can make the lease better.  Once you’ve signed the lease, you have to live with it.