Contacted at his seaside villa, Captain Renault said he was shocked that Elsie and Adrian Opiela are asking the Texas Supreme Court to review questions surrounding the Railroad Commission’s approval of a drilling permit for a...more
We read the comments and listened in on portions of the historic April 14 hearing on the proposal that the Commission order market demand prorationing of Texas oil and gas production. Of the 120+ written comments, 51...more
Yet another entry in the Strip and Gore universe (2012’s “Beware of Strips and Gores”, and 2019’s “Strip and Gore 2: The Sequel”) comes to us from Fort Worth Court of Appeals: Richard D. Crawford v. XTO Energy, Inc....more
1/21/2020
/ Appeals ,
Energy Exploration ,
Grantors ,
Ingress/Egress ,
Land Titles ,
Mineral Leases ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Real Estate Market ,
Transfer of Rights ,
Well Drilling
How long – if ever – has it been since you pondered the difference between a “tenancy in common” and a “joint tenancy”? Same for us, until the wheels came off a family relationship and a lawsuit was filed in Wagenschein v....more
Speedier than Jesse Owens in the ‘36 Olympics, Democrats railroaded the Colorado legislature passed, by party-line vote, Senate Bill 181, a new law that will have a profound effect on oil and gas operations in that state. It...more
4/9/2019
/ Climate Change ,
Energy Exploration ,
Energy Policy ,
Green New Deal ,
Mineral Extraction ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
Well Drilling
How many times must an operator suffer for a mistake in a unit declaration? Samson Exploration LLC v. T. S. Reed Properties Inc. makes it twice. (See Hooks v. Samson Lone Star for the first round). The Texas Supreme Court...more
Benjamin Franklin would be relieved. Just when it seems that the taxman always wins, he doesn’t. In CGG Americas, Inc. v. Commissioner the U. S. Tax Court concluded that a taxpayer need not own underlying hydrocarbons in...more
You are selling properties. The buyer thinks you own the deep rights but you know your long-time partner owns them. You attend the closing. You don’t tell the buyer that he’s got the ownership wrong. You are protected by a...more
In re: Louisiana Crawfish Producers arises out of the collision between two of Louisiana’s favored enterprises: crawfish and hydrocarbons....more
We begin with an existential question:
“The philosophy behind all of the model form agreements is that aggressive drilling under the JOA should be promoted and rewarded.
Agree or disagree?
...more
If you’ve ever tried to escape penalties for the operator/producer’s failure to comply with La. R.S §30:103.1 and §103.2, take comfort in XXI Oil & Gas, LLC v. Hilcorp Energy Company. You are not alone. No excuse has...more
My blogging sensei Cordell Parvin says the title should always inform the reader of the content. Mea culpa on this one; I couldn’t resist the alliterations.
Some time back I reported on Carlton Energy Group et al v....more
9/21/2016
/ Actual Damages ,
Appeals ,
Contract Disputes ,
Energy Exploration ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Fair Market Value ,
Lost Profits ,
Oil & Gas ,
Purchase Agreement ,
Reversal
U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl in State of Wyoming et al v. U.S. Department if Interior et al. struck down Bureau of Land Management regulations applying to hydraulic fracking on federal and Indian lands. He...more
7/6/2016
/ Bureau of Land Management ,
Contamination ,
Energy Exploration ,
Energy Policy Act ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Fracking ,
Fracking Bans ,
Native American Issues ,
Oil & Gas ,
Safe Drinking Water Act ,
Tribal Lands
The state laws of Louisiana regulating oil and gas exploration and production will trump local regulations. See St. Tammany Parish Government v. State of Louisiana, Office of Conservation. (Forgive us for that word that...more
A condition precedent was the issue in Preston Exploration Company, et al v. Chesapeake Energy Corporation. This opinion was the result of the parties’ second visit to the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In the first...more
In Walton v. City of Midland, the surface owner of a 35 acre tract within the city limits of Midland, Texas, contended that a provision in a city permit for an oil or gas well was a regulatory taking because it required the...more