News & Analysis as of

Mineral Rights

McGinnis Lochridge

26-Step Mechanical Framework For Interpreting Deeds? Texas courts reject "mechanical" deed interpretation while creating a 28-step...

McGinnis Lochridge on

The El Paso Court of Appeals recently published an opinion that provides what might be characterized as 26-step step system for analyzing a deed that (perhaps inadvertently) highlights a growing irony in Texas jurisprudence....more

Bracewell LLP

Texas Supreme Court Affirms Mineral Estate Ownership of Produced Water in Landmark Ruling

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In a significant decision for Texas property and energy law, the Texas Supreme Court has affirmed the Eighth Court of Appeals’ ruling in Cactus Water Services, LLC v. COG Operating, LLC, holding that produced water — a...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Are Statute of Limitations Battles Becoming the New Frontline in Water Injection Cases?

McGinnis Lochridge on

When your neighbor's wastewater tanks your oil wells, when exactly can you sue? A Texas court wrestles with a timing question reshaping industry battles....more

Jackson Walker

Pore Some More: Current Legal Considerations of Pore Space Ownership in Texas

Jackson Walker on

Texas has been the leader in American energy independence for more than a century. Decades of industry innovation have provided Texas real property owners with new ways to extract value from minerals, water, and more...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Ownership of Salt Caverns

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On May 16, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court issued a decision ruling that, absent specific contractual language, surface owners retain ownership of the caverns created by salt mining operations. The issue of ownership of salt...more

Bracewell LLP

Surface vs. Mineral Owners: Texas Supreme Court Settles Salt Cavern Ownership Dispute

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The Texas Supreme Court has settled the issue of who owns the voids, known as salt caverns, created in subsurface salt formations (whether naturally occurring or caused as a result of salt mining operations). In...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Texas Supreme Court: Subsurface Storage Rights Generally Belong to Surface, Not Mineral Owner

Holland & Knight LLP on

The Supreme Court of Texas has provided helpful guidance as to ownership of subsurface storage rights and pore space. In the recent holding in Myers-Woodward, LLC v. Underground Services Markham, LLC, the court held that "the...more

Pillsbury - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real...

From Shale to Salt: Texas Supreme Court Applies Uniform Rule for Ownership of Subsurface Caverns

In a closely watched opinion issued on May 16, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court in Myers-Woodward, LLC v. Undergrounds Services Markham, LLC, — S.W.3d —, No. 22-0878, 2025 WL 1415892 (Tex. May 16, 2025) resolved a long-uncertain...more

Gray Reed

Texas Pore Space Ownership – Royalty Calculation

Gray Reed on

In Myers-Woodward, LLC v. Underground Services Markham, LLC et al, (discussed previously) the parties disagreed on how to calculate Myers’ royalty on salt produced by Underground....more

Gray Reed

Who Owns the Subsurface Pore Space in Texas?

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In a word, the surface estate owner. If that’s all the learning you are up for today, proceed directly to the musical interludes. If you want to know why the Supreme Court of Texas had to say this again, read on....more

Baker Botts L.L.P.

Write it Down or Forever Hold Your Peace: Texas Supreme Court Rejects Fraud Claims Based on Oral Representations in Mineral Deals

Baker Botts L.L.P. on

On Friday, May 9th, the Supreme Court of Texas addressed important issues regarding the enforcement of written contractual representations in its per curiam opinion styled Roxo Energy Co., LLC et al. v. Baxsto, LLC, ---...more

McGinnis Lochridge

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

McGinnis Lochridge on

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

McGinnis Lochridge

Affirmative Defenses Are Insufficient to Rebut the Van Dyke Presumption

McGinnis Lochridge on

Under Van Dyke, deeds with double-fraction royalty reservations referencing “1/8” are presumed to reserve a floating royalty interest unless clearly contradicted. Defenses like waiver, ratification, and limitations cannot...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Texas Supreme Court Rules on Modification of NPRIs

McGinnis Lochridge on

In this recent case, the Texas Supreme Court resolved whether ratification of a lease or signing of a stipulation agreement could transform a fixed non-participating royalty interest (NPRI) into a floating NPRI....more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Balancing Old and New: Developing Renewable Energy Projects and Data Centers on Oil and Gas Sites

Husch Blackwell LLP on

Texas has been the top oil and gas producing state in the country since at least the 1970s, today contributing 42% of the nation’s crude oil and 27% of its natural gas. Now, the Lone Star State is also experiencing a boom in...more

Oliva Gibbs

Reservation or Limitation on Warranty? Navigating the Fine Line — Lessons from Valence Operating Co. v. Davidson

Oliva Gibbs on

In Valence Operating Co. v. Davidson1, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana addressed whether the provision, “all Oil, Gas and other Minerals have been excepted and reserved by former...more

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

Supreme Court of Ohio Dismisses Appeal Seeking to End Senterra’s “Rolling Analysis”

In Senterra Ltd. v. Winland, 2019-Ohio-4387, Ohio’s Seventh District Court of Appeals held that an examiner, after identifying the root of title and finding that an exception to marketable record title applies, should review...more

Gray Reed

Texas Court Shields Severed Mineral Interests from Tax Foreclosure Judgment

Gray Reed on

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

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Ohio Appeals Court Rules that Horizontal Shale Well Was “On” the Leased Premises

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

Let’s assume you own a 175 acre farm in Washington County. Your grandfather acquired the farm back in 1948 from Farmer Brown (the “1948 Deed”). Your grandfather always said that he bought both the surface and oil and gas. In...more

Gray Reed

Ratifications, Stipulations, and Fixed vs. Floating Royalty Interests

Gray Reed on

After four stops at the lower courts, Kenneth Hahn v. ConocoPhillips has been resolved by the Supreme Court of Texas. The Court opined on the effect of two instruments often used to clarify land titles in Texas: ...more

Gray Reed

Timing Matters: Deadlines for Filing a Texas Mineral Lien Under Chapter 56

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Not all liens are created equal. The most commonly discussed lien is related to construction improvements under Chapter 53 of the Texas Property Code. For those in the oil & gas/energy segment lien rights exist under Chapter...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Pennsylvania Superior Court Reaffirms the Dunham Rule

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

Let’s assume you inherited a 150 acre farm in Lycoming County that has been owned by your family since 1909. In 2020, you are approached by ABC Drilling about a new oil and gas lease for the farm. You retain counsel and...more

Gray Reed

Louisiana Operator Survives Forfeiture of Right to Recover Drilling Costs

Gray Reed on

In Mistretta v. Hilcorp Energy Company, unleased mineral owner Mistretta sued Hilcorp alleging failure to provide requested production and well cost information pertaining to an oil well operated by Hilcorp. The well was in a...more

Gray Reed

Choice of Words Matters in an Override Assignment

Gray Reed on

The question in Rock River Minerals, LP and Carr v. v. Pioneer Natural Resources, et al.: Did an assignment of overriding royalty interests in Texas oil and gas leases include a depth limitation? No....more

Gray Reed

Federal Court Gives a Primer on Oil and Gas Lease Maintenance

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In re: EP Energy E&P Company, LP considered three lease maintenance provisions in several oil and gas leases. The federal district court ruled that the leases were maintained in force after cessation of production despite...more

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