The recently passed Consolidated Appropriations Act, providing additional COVID pandemic relief, also includes important extensions for renewable energy tax credits....more
In Endeavor Energy Resources, L.P. v. Energen Resources Corp. et al. the Supreme Court of Texas construed a continuous development clause in an oil and gas lease covering 11,300 acres in Howard County. After the primary term,...more
Enterprise Products Operating v. Trafigura, A G. asks, Who should pay when a “black blob” that had “the stench of a skunk” was left behind after $27 million worth of an odorless product is delivered from a ship?...more
12/22/2020
/ Ambiguous ,
Article III ,
Contamination ,
Contract Terms ,
Environmental Violations ,
Insurance Claims ,
Mineral Leases ,
Oil & Gas ,
Parol Evidence ,
Standing ,
Terms and Conditions
Now that our new president has been elected (Proud Boys, its over!), let’s take a look at what people smarter than I are predicting it will mean for the domestic oil and gas industry and the climate. In summary: bad for one,...more
12/15/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
Fracking ,
Net Zero ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Renewable Energy ,
Solar Energy ,
Wind Power
In May et al v. Succession of Mayo Romero et al a Louisiana court of appeal denied the plaintiff’s efforts to suspend the running of liberative prescription in the face of peremptory exceptions. The discovery rule is one...more
BlueStone Nat. Res. II, LLC v. Nettye Engler Energy, LP is another Texas case deciding whether language creating a nonparticipating royalty interest prohibited deduction of post-production costs. (Spoiler alert: it didn’t....more
Dayston v, LLC v. Brooke, voided a real estate contract because it failed to satisfy the Texas statute of frauds. Let’s see how the drafting mishap occured....more
In re Plains Pipeline, L.P., is a suit to adjudicate title to groundwater. Did the trial court err in allowing a party to drill seven test holes on a tank farm? (Spoiler alert: It didn’t.) This decision evaluates an order in...more
The battle lines between pipeline companies and landowners are still being drawn. In Bayou Bridge Pipeline v. 38.00 acres nobody had a gun, nobody got taken away, and one side was right and one side was wrong....more
In Hlavinka v. HSC Pipeline P’ship, LLC, a Texas court denied a pipeline company’s claim that it is a common carrier with the power of eminent domain....more
In Mayo Found. For Med. Educ. & Research v. BP Am. Prod. Co. a United States District Court considered the circumstances under which a lessor can withhold its consent to assign an oil and gas lease....more
10/20/2020
/ Consent to Assignment ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Contract Terms ,
Lessor ,
Mineral Extraction ,
Mineral Leases ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Operating Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reasonableness Factors
As the US continues to be more successful in reducing CO2 emissions than the parties to the Paris Climate Accord, those who would do the St. Vitus dance on the grave of the domestic oil and gas industry should consider the...more
10/14/2020
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Efficiency ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hydropower ,
Oil & Gas ,
Renewable Energy ,
Solar Energy ,
Wind Power
The focus from many quarters on “Environmental, Social, & Governance” is intensifying. If you attended TIPRO’s annual summer conference week before last you heard Rep. Kenny Marchant confirm his belief that ESG considerations...more
The threat: You, the operator, are operating unprofitable wells where monthly costs exceed or barely equal revenues, making money on the fixed COPAS overhead charges. Your non-operators are going into the economic hole and...more
With the plunge in commodity prices many formerly profitable wells are now in the red, and we don’t know for how long. This is causing non-operators to question the bona fides of the operations … and of the operator, and to...more
Jatex Oil & Gas, L.P. v. Nadel & Gussman Permian, L.L.C. presents several teachable moments:
The Texas Property Owner Rule does not allow a non-expert testify on matters requiring expert testimony....more
9/25/2020
/ Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Fair Market Value ,
Joint Operating Agreement ,
Mineral Extraction ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Property Owners ,
Revenue ,
Tortious Interference
Gas flaring, especially in the Permian and the Eagle Ford, is coming in hot these days at the Texas Railroad Commission. Presented here are viewpoints from several stakeholders in the discussion. My comments are summaries....more
San Miguel Electric Coop is a Texas nonprofit electric cooperative that owns and operates a power plant that supplies electricity to 38 Texas counties. After a four-week absence, they return to these pages, this time in DCP...more
Lessons from BEPCO, L.P. v. RMTDC Operations, LLC d/b/a Total Energy Services. Operator BEPCO hired TOTAL for drilling consultant services under an MSA and hired Latshaw Drilling to drill a well on federal land in New...more
Who pays for fluid containment in an oil field emergency? It depends on your contract and, we are told in Pearl Resources, LLC v. Charger Services, LLC, oil and gas industry custom....more
Devon Energy Prod. Co., et al. v. Sheppard, et al is your kind of case if you are in search of:
- A roadmap for slicing and dicing royalty calculations in myriad ways,
- Pretty good summaries of the Supreme Court’s...more
In Wheeler et al v. San Miguel Electric Cooperative, we learn – again – the difficulty in asserting a position in litigation that is contrary to the actual words in the agreement you are fighting over....more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued guidance for oil and gas industry workers and employers in light of the increased risk of workplace exposure to COVID-19. ...more
In a suit to foreclose a property tax lien, if the taxing authority does not exercise due diligence to support service of citation by a method other than by personal service can the owners, as a matter of due process, raise...more
In Evans Resources, L.P., et al. v. Diamondback E&P, LLC, two agreements left the terms “constructed” and “utilized” undefined. If the terms had been defined would the outcome have been different? Maybe. Should parties define...more
7/21/2020
/ Breach of Contract ,
Condition Precedent ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Damages ,
Failure To Pay ,
Horizontal Wells ,
Judicial Foreclosure Process ,
Mineral Leases ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Wells ,
Surface Owner