After two years of rulemaking, and more than a year of public comments, on Thursday, March 25, 2021, New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Commission (OCC) unanimously approved new regulations on natural gas emissions that require...more
After a trial court order, two appellate opinions, a dissent, and another appellate opinion, the tension between a well operator and an adjacent mineral owner over whether hydraulic fracturing can constitute a subsurface...more
The oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania attained a narrow victory after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania endorsed the application of the rule of capture, the century-old legal principle shielding drillers from trespassing...more
In a case of first impression that drew interest across Appalachia, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court determined on January 22, 2020, that the rule of capture applies when natural gas is extracted through hydraulic fracturing...more
The concurrence and dissent in Briggs et al v. Southwestern Energy Production Company appears to be of little help to property owners complaining of trespass by fracking where there is no invasion of frack fluids on to the...more
Herein, highlights from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Briggs, et al. v. Southwestern Energy Production Company. The rule of capture applies to oil and gas produced from wells completed using hydraulic fracturing and...more
The Rule of Capture has been a foundational concept of oil and gas prospecting for 150 years. The Rule of Capture exists to provide an affirmative defense to drillers when they tap into oil and gas pockets that cross property...more
It’s still true, “Whiskey’s for drinkin’, water’s for fightin’.” Gray Reed lawyers Brock Neizgoda and Steven Cooney spoke to TIPRO’s summer conference on the use, control and ownership of water in oil and gas operations. ...more
The fight over the historical concept of the “Rule of Capture” as applied to gas rights in Pennsylvania continued recently as the appellees in the matter of Briggs v Southwestern Energy Prod. Co. recently requested a...more
On April 2, the Pennsylvania Superior Court held that hydraulic fracturing that results in the extraction of natural gas from adjoining land may constitute a claim for trespass. In Briggs v. Southwestern Energy Production...more
Bobby D. Fentress, et al, vs. Exxon Mobil Corporation, et al - "This is an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case alleging a breach of fiduciary duties in the management of a defined contribution plan. Defendants'...more
On April 2, 2018, the Pennsylvania Superior Court issued a decision in Briggs v. Southwestern Energy Production Company, No. 1351 MDA 2017, reversing a lower court judgment entered in favor of the defendant producer....more