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Breach of Contract Oil & Gas

McGinnis Lochridge

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Limits of Shut-In Payment Notations in Lease Disputes

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In this case (Scout Energy Mgmt., LLC v. Taylor Properties, No. 23-1014, 2024 WL 5249490 [Tex. Dec. 31, 2024]), the Texas Supreme Court held that vague notations on shut-in royalty check receipts cannot modify an unambiguous...more

Gray Reed

Operator Excused from Texas Relinquishment Act Claims

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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

McGinnis Lochridge

All Depths or Just One Formation? Court Clarifies Royalty Conveyance in Rock River v. Pioneer

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This recent case (Rock River Minerals, LP v. Pioneer Nat. Res. USA Inc., No. 08-23-00216-CV, 2024 WL 4528917 [Tex. App.—El Paso Oct. 18, 2024, no pet. h.]) explored whether an assignment of an overriding royalty interest,...more

Gray Reed

Uri Force Majeure Cases Still Percolating

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Thought you’d heard the last of force majuere cases arising from Winter Storm Uri? Think again. In Marathon Oil Company v. Koch Services LLC. the question was how to measure damages suffered by Koch for Marathon’s...more

Gray Reed

Geophysicist’s Claims Turn on Definitions

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Sewak v. Sutherland Energy Co. Ltd. is of interest for how the court defined terms commonly used in consulting contracts in the oil and gas industry, and how difficult it is to foresee all contingencies when negotiating a...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Tackling Free-Use and At-The-Well Royalties

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This lease royalty case involved a dispute over whether the lessee was permitted to deduct volumes of gas used off the premises to power post-production activities on other gas produced from the same well. Carl v. Hilcorp...more

Gray Reed

Marcel Exception to Louisiana Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Act Clarified

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An understanding of Willis v. Barry Graham Oil Service LLC requires knowledge of two principles underlying the Louisiana Anti-Oilfield Indemnity Act: The LOAIA bars an oilfield agreement to the extent that the agreement...more

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Une mine de bitcoins exploitée sur une concession de pétrole et de gaz fait l’objet d’une injonction permanente

Dans Roy Flowers v. Persist Oil and Gas Inc., la Cour du Banc du Roi de l’Alberta (la « Cour ») a prononcé une injonction permanente interdisant à la défenderesse d’exploiter une entreprise de minage de bitcoins parce que le...more

Gray Reed

Texas Court Limits Tortious Interference Claims in Oil & Gas Assignment Dispute

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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

McGinnis Lochridge

Who Can Enforce Surface Provisions in an OGL?

McGinnis Lochridge on

Unitex WI, LLC v. CT Land & Cattle Co., LLC, No. 07-23-00390-CV, 2024 WL 3249338 (Tex. App.—Amarillo June 28, 2024, pet. filed)...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Winter Storm Uri and Force Majeure: The Legal Battles Continue

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Winter Storm Uri sent shockwaves through Texas, freezing gas supplies at a time of critical need and plunging the state into widespread power outages. In the aftermath, the courts have been flooded with force majeure claims,...more

Gray Reed

How Does the Model Form JOA Address an Operator/Non-Operator Dispute?

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Texas Crude v. Burlington Resources Oil and Gas considers the relationship between the operator and non-operators under Articles V and VI of the 1982 Model Form Joint Operating Agreement....more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Don’t Be a Junkyard Dog: Put Your Agreements in Writing!

A federal judge in Louisiana has dished out some harsh criticism of contractors who don’t reduce their contracts to writing. The case involves the decommissioning of 26 orphaned oil and gas wells near Baton Rouge. The...more

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Court Issues Permanent Injunction Against Bitcoin Mining on Oil and Gas Lease

In Roy Flowers v. Persist Oil and Gas Inc., the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta issued a permanent injunction precluding the defendant from operating a Bitcoin mining operation, based on the failure of the underlying lease...more

Gray Reed

Texas Supreme Court Allows Enforcement of a JOA Debt After Foreclosure

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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

Gray Reed

How to Work for Free Under a Master Service Agreement

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Kouatli v. Endeavor Energy Resources L.P. offers valuable (and obvious) lessons on how NOT to perform a Master Service Agreement in the oil patch (or, per Billly Bob and friends, “The Patch”), to wit...more

Gray Reed

Arbitration Result Can Be “Good”, “Bad” or “Ugly”

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The message in RSM Production Corporation v. Gaz du Cameroun SA: According to the federal Fifth Circuit, an arbitration tribunal’s construction of a contract and the arbitration rules governing the dispute “hold, however...more

Oliva Gibbs

Happiness is Setting Clear Boundaries — Especially in Overriding Royalty Assignments

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Assignments of interests in oil and gas leases often incorporate by reference outside agreements. This can be a helpful shortcut to avoid including every lengthy and confidential provision that was drafted during negotiations...more

Gray Reed

Definitions Mattered in Oil Field Master Services Agreements

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MDC Enegy LLC v. Crosby Energy Services Inc. et al. was an indemnity dispute in which the players were many and the facts complicated. But first...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Oil and Gas/Surface Use Agreement: Federal Appellate Court Addresses Authority to Place Water Pipeline

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (“Eighth Circuit”) addressed an interpretive dispute regarding a Surface Use Agreement (“SUA”) pertaining to oil and gas operations in a July 23rd opinion. See...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Eighth Circuit Applies FERC’s Filed Rate Doctrine to Reject Allegations that SPP Breached an Oral Contract Made During Winter...

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On August 5, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (“Eighth Circuit”) denied Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.’s (“AECI”) petition for review of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”)...more

Gray Reed

Sole Discretion Not to Close Renders Texas Oil Deal Unenforceable

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Maverick Natural Resources, LLC at al v. Glenn D. Cooper Oil & Gas, Inc. is for control freaks wherever you are … and for those of you who advise the aforesaid control freaks....more

Oliva Gibbs

The Force (Majeure) May Not Be So Strong in This One

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In a recent lawsuit, an oil producer claims significant monthly losses due to a forced pipeline shutdown, alleging the pipeline company violated their contract by failing to adhere to U.S. laws and ensure operational...more

Oliva Gibbs

The Texas Division Order Statute: How It Works and Who It Serves to Protect

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A division order is a statement executed by all owners of interests in an oil and gas well.  The division order’s essential purpose is to “authorize and direct to whom and in what proportion to distribute” proceeds from the...more

Oliva Gibbs

If the Lease Requires Notice, Then Provide Notice: Simple Enough?

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I. Background In the case of Kirkbride v. Antero Res. Corp., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals is faced with a novel argument on the interpretation of a condition precedent within an oil and gas lease. The case comes to the...more

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