Last week’s discussion of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury’s report on alleged failures in enforcement of hydraulic fracturing is worthy of a follow-up. Here, combined into one document, is the Grand Jury’s report, the Department...more
Let’s set aside fracking challenges, low prices, and pipeline rejections to discuss the mundane. Should you as an owner of property be concerned about premises liability claims? We’re talking about the office environment and...more
There is “new news” and there is the same-old-same-old. Today is mostly the latter but it seems more “out there” than in it used to be....more
In combined cases featuring California cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Mateo and several California counties and public officials against Exxon Mobil Corporation, Texas’ Fort Worth Court of Appeal denied Exxon...more
Estate of Trickett was a dispute over heirship of Claralyn Trickett, possibly the wife of Robert Bowerman (who must have forgotten to divorce his previous wife)....more
When Winston Churchill used this phrase in 1906 in his speech to the House of Commons, he probably did not have in mind the construction of language contained in a deed. Nevertheless, terminological inexactitude in drafting a...more
The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments in a dispute over an “accumulation” provision in a continuous development clause of an oil and gas lease. The case is Endeavor Energy Resources L.P. v. Energen...more
From Great Western. Drilling, Ltd. v. Pathfinder Oil & Gas, Inc. we learn that if you want one agreement to be conditioned on execution of another one, you’d better say so … in writing … in the first one....more
Geary v. Two Bow Ranch Limited Partnership* is an example of the havoc an unusual contract provision can create....more
The question in Cannisnia Plantation, LLC v. Cecil Blount Farms, LLC was whether a well was drilled in good faith in order to interrupt the running of prescription on a Louisiana mineral servitude....more
Samson Expl., LLC et al v. Moak considered the duties owed by a unit operator to an unleased mineral interest owner in tracts within the unit but on which no well is drilled or completed....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
Contract construction cases are fact-specific, but one can take lessons of general application from all of them. Here are the takeaways from Jones Energy, Inc. v. Pima Oil & Gas, L.L.C....more
WTX Fund, LLC v. Brown, is Texas mineral deed construction case.
In the same year that crazy thing happened at Coogan’s Bluff, the Roaches executed a Mineral Conveyance to the Holts. Let’s review the transaction and ask...more
I start with a promise: To leave you-know-what behind as soon as possible. In the meantime, here are summaries of your federal government’s effort to alleviate the distress caused by the situation....more
4/1/2020
/ Business Interruption ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Injury Disaster Loans ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Price Gouging ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Small Business ,
Tax Relief
Here we continue our discussion of the Texas Supreme Court’s opinion in Piranha Partners et al. v. Joe B. Neuhoff et al. determining that an assignment of an overriding royalty in minerals unambiguously conveyed the override...more
The question for the Texas Supreme Court in Piranha Partners et al. v. Joe B. Neuhoff et al. was whether an assignment of an overriding royalty in minerals conveyed the override only in production from the identified well...more
If you have employees, or you are an employee, you should know that Congress has passed and the President has signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to address the impact COVID-19 is having on the American...more
Many oil and gas contracts – leases and JOAs for example – have force majeure clauses. The purpose is to allow contracting parties to suspend or terminate performance when certain circumstances arise that are beyond their...more
3/17/2020
/ Breach of Contract ,
Business Interruption ,
China ,
ConocoPhillips ,
Contract Drafting ,
Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Delay Claims ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Foreign Commerce ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Infrastructure ,
Liability ,
Oil & Gas ,
Performance Standards ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Well Drilling
In Chalker Energy Partners III LLC v. LeNorman Operating LLC, the Texas Supreme Court reaffirmed its belief in the sanctity of the written contract and the freedom of parties to negotiate and agree to contracts as they...more
3/10/2020
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Business Disputes ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Contract Terms ,
Counterclaims ,
Energy Projects ,
Oil & Gas ,
Property Owners ,
Reversal ,
TX Supreme Court
Copano Energy, LLC v. Stanley Bujnoch, Life Estate, et al. asked whether an enforceable easement had been established by email. The trial court and court of appeal said yes, holding in favor of landowner the Bujnochs....more
Generally, if your will leaves your beloved “all … right, title and interest in and to”, said beloved would receive the entirety of your interest, whether a surface estate, mineral estate, or both. But in ConocoPhillips, et...more
2/26/2020
/ Appeals ,
Beneficiaries ,
ConocoPhillips ,
Estate Claims ,
Inheritance ,
Jointly-Owned Property ,
Land Parcels ,
Land Titles ,
Life Estates ,
Mineral Leases ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Property Division ,
Real Party in Interest ,
Reversal ,
Surface Owner ,
Wills
Is the world hurtling irreversibly
toward incinerating, extinction-causing, fossil-fuel induced destruction while we’re doing nothing about it? Maybe not, if you consider overlooked and ignored sources of information....more
2/19/2020
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Coal Industry ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Renewable Energy ,
Solar Energy
As we welcome around 1,100 new Texans a day, water has become our most precious natural resource. According to the 2017 State Water Plan, Texas’ population is expected to increase more than 70 percent between 2020 and 2070,...more
It is no surprise to Texas Supreme Court watchers that in Energy Transfer Partners et al v. Enterprise Products Partners LP et al. the court rejected claims that the parties had created a partnership by actions that varied...more
2/11/2020
/ Business Disputes ,
Business Formation ,
Condition Precedent ,
Construction Project ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Contract Terms ,
Energy Projects ,
Oil & Gas ,
Partnership Agreements ,
Partnerships ,
Pipelines ,
TX Supreme Court