We at Energy and the Law solemnly swear and affirm that we will no longer report on the Van Dyke Presumption just as soon as litigants – win, lose or remand – exhaust their efforts to confirm, refute, distinguish or overcome...more
6/10/2026
/ Appellate Courts ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Deeds ,
Gas Royalties ,
Judicial Review ,
Land Titles ,
Mineral Leases ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Royalties ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Texas ,
TX Supreme Court
In WMH Farms v. Apache Corporation the Third Circuit Court of Appeal reversed summary judgment in favor of plaintiff/landowner WMH against lessee JP Oil and dismissed JP’s third-party demand against Walter Oil and Gas....more
6/8/2026
/ Appellate Courts ,
Contamination ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Litigation ,
LA Supreme Court ,
Land Owners ,
Mineral Leases ,
Oil & Gas ,
Property Damage ,
Property Owners ,
Site Remediation ,
State and Local Government ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Third-Party Liability
Another dispute is resolved according to the provisions in a Master Service Agreement.
Have you reviewed yours lately? Jones was employed by Murphrey Oil Company....more
In Zarvona Energy v. Black Stone Minerals Company, a Texas Court of Appeals reiterated that the cessation-of-production clause in an oil and gas lease cannot be read in absolute terms as a lessor might want it to be. The...more
After reading Devon Energy Production Company, L.P. v. Oliver if you’ recall a similar post-production cost dispute, it was last week. And the result was the same. Royalties under this lease are to be calculated at the...more
5/18/2026
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Damages ,
Mineral Leases ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Wells ,
Royalties ,
Summary Judgment ,
Texas
You might know Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, for ’60’s political boss-segregationist Leander Perez. or maybe for its role in launching Huey Long’s political career after the New Orleans city fathers blew a hole in the levee...more
5/11/2026
/ Appellate Courts ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Federal Contractors ,
Jurisdiction ,
Louisiana ,
Oil & Gas ,
Permits ,
Removal ,
SCOTUS ,
State and Local Government ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Wetlands
In Fasken Oil and Ranch, Ltd. v. Puig the Supreme Court of Texas resolved whether a deed conveying a non-participating royalty interest “free of costs forever” relieved the royalty owners from bearing postproduction costs for...more
Way back in 2023 it was predicted that the Supreme Court of Texas’ decision in Van Dyke v. Navigator would spawn years of litigation. How right the predictions were!...more
4/29/2026
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Breach of Contract ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Deeds ,
Mineral Leases ,
Oil & Gas ,
Royalties ,
Summary Judgment ,
Texas ,
TX Supreme Court
Davis v. Aethon Energy Operating LLC is more for lawyers than business people but it is worth noting. A Texas court of appeals affirmed a take-nothing judgment against lessors who sued over the lessee’s failure to provide...more
4/27/2026
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Contract Disputes ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Energy Sector ,
Evidence ,
Jury Trial ,
Natural Gas ,
Natural Resources ,
Oil & Gas ,
Royalties ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Texas
Robert May et al v. Ineos USA Oil & Gas, LLC et al, could, if you are so inclined, serve as a tutorial on terms used in oil and gas transactions or, if you are further along than that, it could be your guide for negotiating...more
4/23/2026
/ Breach of Contract ,
Business Litigation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Drafting ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Contract Terms ,
Energy Sector ,
Mineral Leases ,
Oil & Gas ,
Summary Judgment ,
Texas ,
Transfer of Interest ,
Well Drilling
“Gambit”: A calculated move, a stratagem. An example might be to buy a mineral interest with a long and complicated title history from the incarcerated son of a deceased parent and to bet on a court favoring your...more
4/14/2026
/ Community Property ,
Estate Planning ,
Intestate Succession ,
Marital Assets ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Probate ,
Separate Property ,
Spouses ,
Texas ,
Trusts ,
Wills
Moore et al v. 1789 Minerals Fund I, LP, et al is another Texas decision addressing the effect of a Sheriff’s Deed after a tax foreclosure. Was the deed void for want of a sufficient property description? No, but the trial...more
4/7/2026
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Deeds ,
Inheritance ,
Interpleaders ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Property Tax ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Royalties ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Tax Sales ,
Texas
We begin our discussion of Cornucopia Oil and Gas, LLC v. Berry et al with a quiz...more
Yes … sometimes. In ConocoPhillips Company v. Totem Well Service, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas applied New Mexico law to an oilfield indemnity dispute, voiding the Master Service Agreement’s...more
Yes, says Trivista Oil Company LLC v. Fort Apache Energy, Inc., Trivista sued Fort Apache for poaching its mineral lessors and obtaining top-leases in what could have been a more or less typical dispute of that nature. But a...more
3/24/2026
/ Anti-SLAPP ,
Appellate Courts ,
Business Litigation ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Dismissals ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Free Speech ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Oil & Gas ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
TCPA ,
Texas ,
Tortious Interference
Several weeks ago the Supreme Court of Texas addressed the double-fraction mineral conveyance, reinforcing the “Van Dyke presumption” but not addressing how the presumption could be rebutted or the presumed-grant doctrine....more
3/17/2026
/ Appellate Courts ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Land Titles ,
Mineral Leases ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Property Owners ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Royalties ,
Texas ,
TX Supreme Court
Navigator Group, et al. v. Van Dyke, et al.* is the latest stopover in the journey of the double-fraction mineral conveyance through the Texas courts. The Eastland Court of Appeals rejected challenges to the Supreme Cout of...more
3/11/2026
/ Appellate Courts ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Deeds ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Land Titles ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Property Owners ,
Royalties ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Texas
Slant Operating, LLC and Slant Holdings, LLC v. Octane Energy Operating, LLC, reveals the benefits and purposes of the Texas Business Court in resolving complex energy disputes (such as convincing businesses to abandon...more
3/2/2026
/ Breach of Contract ,
Business Court ,
Business Litigation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Damages ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Energy Sector ,
Jurisdiction ,
Oil & Gas ,
Summary Judgment ,
Texas ,
Third-Party Beneficiaries
It is often an attractive political gambit for legislative bodies to pass laws of doubtful constitutional validity in order to please their constituents. It can be a two-fer; when the court rules as expected the vanquished...more
2/17/2026
/ Boycotts ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Due Process ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Litigation ,
First Amendment ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Oil & Gas ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Texas ,
Unconstitutional Condition
It’s hardly a win for the little guy against The Man, but in San Patricio County Appraisal District v. Gunvor USA LLC (consolidated with a similar suit against Devon Gas Services, agent for Glencore Ltd.), a Texas court...more
2/9/2026
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Energy Sector ,
International Trade ,
Oil & Gas ,
Property Tax ,
State and Local Government ,
State Taxes ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Taxation ,
Texas
In SM Energy Company v. Buzzard Roost Farms, Inc. a Surface and Subsurface Use and Compensation Agreement between operator SM and surface owners included a right of first refusal (ROFR) relating to placement of saltwater...more
2/3/2026
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Breach of Contract ,
Business Litigation ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Damages ,
Oil & Gas ,
Property Owners ,
Right of First Refusal ,
Texas ,
Well Drilling
Last year we reported on Steelhead Midstream Partners, LLC v. CL III Funding Holding Company, LLC, where the Texas Supreme Court held that a pipeline owner’s breach-of-contract claim was not an impermissible collateral attack...more
1/29/2026
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Energy Sector ,
Joint Operating Agreement ,
Liens ,
Oil & Gas ,
Operating Agreements ,
Payment Terms ,
Pipelines ,
Texas
The Collins mineral lease covers 1131.5 acres in Bienville Parish spread across 10 semi-contiguous tracts. The lease - Provision 6 of the form lease provides: In the event of cessation of production for any cause following...more
1/28/2026
/ Contract Disputes ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Energy Sector ,
Judicial Interpretation ,
Louisiana ,
Mineral Leases ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Wells ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Summary Judgment
In Ageron Energy LLC v. ETC Texas Pipeline, LTD Justice Busby authored a concurring opinion in the denial of a petition for review to the Supreme Court in which he criticized the majority opinion of the Court of Appeals...more
1/20/2026
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Energy Sector ,
Land Titles ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Property Owners ,
Res Judicata ,
Texas ,
TX Supreme Court
North Dakota surface owners defeated the carbon-storage lobby’s effort to steal their interstices.* In Northwest Landowners Association, et al, v. State of North Dakota et al, a district court declared a portion of the CO2...more