News & Analysis as of

Oil & Gas Lease Termination

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Pennsylvania Court Rules That Shut-In Royalty Provision Had No Connection to the Duration of an Oil and Gas Lease

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

In its May 22, 2024 non-precedential memorandum decision in Frye v. Penn View Exploration, Inc., 919 WDA 2023 (Pa. Super. Ct. May 22, 2024), the Pennsylvania Superior Court found that an oil and gas lease’s shut-in royalty...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

The Neale Rule – Who Really Owns the Oil and Gas Under Railroads?

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

Since the early 1900’s, your family has owned a 105 acre farm in Greene County, Pennsylvania. In 2024, you and your siblings sign an oil and gas lease with XYZ Drilling Company. The language in the lease states that it...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

The Colorado Supreme Court Declines to Adopt Commercial Discovery Rule

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

Let’s assume you own 136 acres in Tioga County. In 2011, you signed a new oil and gas lease with ABC Production (the “2011 Lease”). The 2011 Lease had a five-year primary term which expired in October 2016. In 2014, ABC...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Texas Court Confirms “Automatic Termination” Rule for Oil and Gas Lease

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

In Cromwell v. Anadarko E&P Onshore, LLC, 676 S.W. 3d 860 (Tex. App. 2023), the Texas Court of Appeals confirmed the automatic termination of an oil and gas lease, and simultaneously rejected the argument that a forfeiture...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Pennsylvania Federal Court Dismisses Gas Driller’s Declaratory Judgment Lawsuit Involving Oil & Gas Lease

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

In an October 10, 2023, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed a gas driller’s declaratory judgment lawsuit involving an oil and gas lease in the SWN Production Company, LLC v. Blue...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Can Cryptocurrency Mining Maintain an Oil and Gas Lease Beyond Primary Term?

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

The recently filed Hobe Minerals Limited Liability Company v. Bonanza Creek Energy Operating Company, LLC, et al lawsuit in a Colorado trial court challenges whether intermittent cryptocurrency mining can maintain an oil and...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Recent Federal District Court Decision Suggests New Approach for Oil and Gas Lease Termination

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania’s recent decision in Bootes v. PPP Future Development, Inc., C.A. No. 22-154 (W.D.Pa. March 21, 2023) denying a gas company’s request to dismiss oil...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Salt Water Disposal Well Leases Can Pose a Trap for the Unwary

Foley & Lardner LLP on

The victor in a lawsuit involving a salt water disposal well lease may depend on whether a Texas court treats the lease as being a mineral lease or simply a lease of real estate. That is because Texas law applies different...more

Gray Reed

Addendum Prevails over Form … Again

Gray Reed on

When the form contract says one thing and the addendum says another, which one would you expect to prevail?...more

Roetzel & Andress

Ohio Supreme Court Applies 21-Year Statute Of Limitations In Oil And Gas Lease Dispute

Roetzel & Andress on

In the closely-followed case of Browne v. Artex Oil Co., 2019-Ohio-4809, issued on November 26, 2019, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that Ohio’s 21-year statute of limitations applies to a landowner’s declaratory judgment...more

Gray Reed

Spudding? Reworking? What are “Operations” Under an Oil and Gas Lease?

Gray Reed on

Quick answer: It depends on what the lease says.  Last week featured a tug-of-war between a producer and the community in which it operates; this week in HJSA No. 3 LP v. Sundown Energy LP  it’s the producer and the lessor....more

Gray Reed

Lack of Proof Dooms Pugh Clause Defense

Gray Reed on

There are specific requirements for proving that an oil and gas lease has survived past its primary term. Fail to hit them all when the lease is challenged at the courthouse, wand disappointment will be order of the day....more

Gray Reed

A New Day for Louisiana Oil and Gas Lenders?

Gray Reed on

Lenders to Louisiana operators are likely to be reconsidering their business practices in light of Gloria’s Ranch v. Tauren et al. A rather ordinary lease termination suit resulted in the lender Wells Fargo being...more

Gray Reed

Can Reworking a Saltwater Disposal Well Maintain a Lease?

Gray Reed on

Should the sufficiency of reworking operations under the cessation-of-production clause of an oil and gas lease be limited to the producing well? Crystal River Oil and Gas, LLC et al v. Patton was a suit to terminate an oil...more

Gray Reed

Lessee Escapes Termination

Gray Reed on

Escondido and Justapor. Next up on Tiny Desk Concert? Good guess, but no. They are the parties in Escondido v. Justapor, a Texas case presenting the perils of lease termination clauses and vaguely-drawn contracts....more

Gray Reed

Washing Out a Lessee By Email

Gray Reed on

Behold Mr. Clean. Even he can’t remove a pesky stain as skillfully as the landman who framed the conversation in a way that washed out a lessee. See Anadarko Petroleum Corporation v. TRO-X, LP Did the lessee retain any...more

Gray Reed

What Happens to a Bundled Production Payment When a Lease Terminates?

Gray Reed on

Must a production payment out of four oil and gas leases be proportionately reduced if two of the leases expire because production ceased? In Apache Deepwater, LLC v. McDaniel Partners, Ltd., the Texas Supreme Court says yes....more

BakerHostetler

Pennsylvania Court Holds Oil and Gas Reservations Do Not Terminate Upon Expiration of Lease

BakerHostetler on

On Friday, October 9, 2015, a three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court held that a reservation of oil, gas and mineral rights in a deed does not terminate merely because the lease under which those rights were...more

Gray Reed

Another Lease Termination Case, a Different Ending

Gray Reed on

We recently discussed failure to produce in paying quantities. Another decision involving the same lessee had a different result. Why? The question in both cases was whether the well was capable of producing in paying...more

Locke Lord LLP

Locke Lord QuickStudy: Range Resources Case

Locke Lord LLP on

On March 6, 2015, the Texas Supreme Court decided a case involving the duties owed to the non-executive holder of a nonparticipating royalty interest by both the executive rights holder and the lessee that negotiated the...more

Locke Lord LLP

Locke Lord QuickStudy: Shades of Sheppard?

Locke Lord LLP on

In Wagner & Brown, Ltd. v. Sheppard, 282 S.W.3d 419 (Tex. 2008), the Texas Supreme Court held that the termination of Sheppard’s lease (Sheppard was the Lessor) did not terminate her participation in a unit into which her...more

Morgan Lewis

Harrison Decision: Cabot Oil Denied Equitable Extension of Oil and Gas Lease

Morgan Lewis on

The decision marks another departure by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from “mainstream” oil and gas jurisprudence. On February 17, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (the Court) unanimously ruled that state law does not...more

Gray Reed

Consider The Retained Acreage Clause

Gray Reed on

Have you ever wondered about the original purpose of the retained acreage clause? According to Professor Kramer, it was “to prevent the lessee from losing those portions of a lease that had productive wells thereon if the...more

Gray Reed

A Little-Used Doctrine Saves a Lease

Gray Reed on

Would this scenario keep you up at night? Your lease does not produce from May through August because a leak in a heater-treater makes it impossible or impractical to produce the well. Problems such as access to the site...more

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