Unit Petroleum Company v. Koch Energy Services, LLC is another force majeure case arising out of winter storm Uri. Unlike a similar case, summary judgment was denied because, said the United States District Court, The word...more
If perpetuation of a mineral lease beyond the primary term is contingent upon continuous operations, do traditional notions of “production in paying quantities” always matter? Spoiler: No....more
The concurrence and dissent in Briggs et al v. Southwestern Energy Production Company appears to be of little help to property owners complaining of trespass by fracking where there is no invasion of frack fluids on to the...more
1/30/2020
/ Adjacent Property Owners ,
Discovery ,
Fracking ,
Natural Resources ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pleading Standards ,
Property Owners ,
Real Estate Market ,
Rule of Capture ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trespass ,
Well Drilling
Herein, highlights from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Briggs, et al. v. Southwestern Energy Production Company. The rule of capture applies to oil and gas produced from wells completed using hydraulic fracturing and...more
1/28/2020
/ Adjacent Property Owners ,
Fracking ,
Natural Resources ,
Oil & Gas ,
PA Supreme Court ,
Popular ,
Property Owners ,
Real Estate Market ,
Rule of Capture ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trespass ,
Well Drilling
In Texas losing a title dispute doesn’t mean you committed myriad heinous torts by asserting your rights in the first place. The test: Were you reasonable in bringing your colorable but not correct claim? So says Dorfman v. J...more
It’s a tale as old as the oilfield: A non-operator doesn’t pay joint interest billings, operator sues, non-payer claims the expenses were unwarranted and the operator was negligent—no, grossly negligent—for incurring them in...more
In the spirit of Halloween, Le Norman Operating v. Chalker Energy Partners III is about a scary statute: The Texas Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, the UETA....more
We now know what it takes to establish common carrier pipeline status in Texas. According to the Texas Supreme Court in Denbury Green Pipeline Texas LLC v. Texas Rice Land Partners Ltd., all that is required is a reasonable...more
You might recall previous entries discussing Parr v. Aruba – a suit for personal injuries from oilfield pollution (and a $2.9MM verdict for the plaintiffs). Not all similar suits have the same result....more
10/28/2015
/ Appeals ,
Chemical Spills ,
Energy Sector ,
Hydrocarbons ,
Marathon Oil ,
Negligence ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pollution Control ,
Private Nuisance ,
Summary Judgment ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
Political actions have consequences. A force majeure clause in New York oil and gas leases does not modify the primary term of the habendum clause and the leases are not extended because of the state ban “moratorium” on...more
You do, whether you are a vendor or an operator. Matador Production Company vs. Weatherford Artificial Lift Systems, Inc. is a treatise on what can go wrong with a frac job: Failure of pumps, worker inexperience, failure of...more