In Byrne Oil Co. v. Walraven, a court of appeals held that a surface owner/lessor cannot bury his lessee’s pipelines and recover costs when adequate time exists to pursue judicial remedies, even after years of operator delay....more
11/3/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Breach of Contract ,
Contract Disputes ,
Damages ,
Injunctions ,
Mineral Leases ,
Nuisance ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Surface Owner ,
Texas
Once again, a Texas court has barred a lawsuit because the plaintiff waited too long to file. And once again, perhaps, the suit was a Hail Mary after alternatives failed.
In Hobson v. Commissioners Court of Palo Pinto...more
10/21/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Easements ,
Injunctions ,
Lack of Authority ,
Lack of Jurisdiction ,
Land Owners ,
Land Use Claims ,
State and Local Government ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Texas
Ambiguity is handy for office-seekers intending to walk back “promises” they later say they really didn’t make. It doesn’t work so well for the stability of land titles. In Thagard Mineral Partnership, LP v. Cass v. RIM, LLP,...more
Defendants – five oil and gas operators – challenged a venue selection clause requiring that suits be filed in Nueces County for disputes over La Salle County acreage. In In re INEOS USA Oil & Gas LLC, a Texas Court of...more
City of Crowley v. TotalEnergies E&P USA, is a post-production cost (PPC) case with a predictable result. The Fort Worth Court of Appeals confirmed its reasoning in Shirlaine W. Props. Ltd. v. Jamestown Res., L.L.C from 2021,...more
The Texas Supreme Court in Roxo Energy Company, LLC v. Baxsto, LLC reinforced a fundamental contract principle: when fully integrated agreements plainly conflict with prior oral representations, reliance on those inconsistent...more
“He who comes for the inheritance is often made to pay for the funeral”.* When heirs inherit property together and can’t agree on its use, Texas courts strongly prefer dividing the land physically rather than forcing a sale,...more
8/5/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Heirs ,
Inheritance ,
Land Titles ,
Oil & Gas ,
Partitions ,
Petition for Partition ,
Property Owners ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Tenancy-in-Common ,
Texas
It seems to be fairly well settled that you can’t use trespass-to-try-title to recover a nonpossessory royalty interest in Texas. What if you call the interest a “mineral interest stripped of every attribute except the right...more
In American Midstream (Alabama Intrastate), LLC v. Rainbow Energy Marketing Corporation, the Texas Supreme Court held that the trial court improperly inserted the words “scheduled” and “physical” into a contract. By...more
In Williams O & G Resources, LLC v. Diamondback Energy, Inc., a federal magistrate judge concluded that the Texas Relinquishment Act does not apply to public-school lands patented after 1931. The report and recommendation was...more
In In re Pearl Resources LLC, a Houston bankruptcy court rejected the Texas General Land Office’s attempt to partially terminate state oil and gas leases in Pecos County, despite finding the operator had breached offset well...more
In Bush v. Yarborough Oil & Gas, LP a decades-old tax foreclosure judgment did not affect a previously severed mineral interest not owned by the delinquent taxpayer. The mineral owners were neither named nor served in the...more
We begin with a word from your sponsor. After enduring several generative AI tutorials, we urge you to keep on reading Energy and the Law. Why? Our blog is more accurate, at least a little “fun”, offers insightful musical...more
The growling and barking presented by a claim for tortious interference is often far worse than the bite. Consider Segundo Navarro Drilling, Ltd. v. Chilton , which is a good example of that phenomenon in an oil and gas...more
In Steelhead Midstream Partners, LLC v. CL III Funding Holding Company, LLC, the Texas Supreme Court authorized a pipeline owner’s breach-of-contract claim—alleging a co-owner used foreclosure to avoid cost-sharing...more
3/14/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Breach of Contract ,
Contract Terms ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreclosure ,
Jurisdiction ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
State and Local Government ,
TX Supreme Court
DALF Energy, LLC v. GS Oilfield Services addresses a fiduciary’s deceptive actions in oil and gas transactions. The Fifth Circuit held:
self-dealing may constitute a breach of fiduciary duty even when the principal is...more