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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

Texas Pore Space Ownership – Royalty Calculation

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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

McGinnis Lochridge

Who Owns the Empty Space? Texas Supreme Court Affirms Surface Ownership of Salt Caverns in Landmark Ruling

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In Myers-Woodward, LLC v. Underground Services Markham, LLC, No. 22-0878, 2025 WL 4356581 (Tex. May 16, 2025), the Texas Supreme Court resolved two significant issues affecting mineral owners and surface owners: (1) who owns...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

McGinnis Lochridge

Affirmative Defenses Are Insufficient to Rebut the Van Dyke Presumption

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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

Can "Free of Cost" Term Achieve Point-of-Sale Royalty Base?

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A lessee who halts production for less than 40 days and resumes without drilling or reworking does not terminate the lease. The continuous development clause keeps the lease active, and the cessation clause allows resumed...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Texas Supreme Court Rules on Modification of NPRIs

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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

Gray Reed

Ratifications, Stipulations, and Fixed vs. Floating Royalty Interests

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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

Oliva Gibbs

Coverting a “Fixed” to a “Floating” NPRI: What (If Anything) Does ConocoPhillips v. Hahn Add to the Conversation?

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In ConocoPhillips Co. v. Hahn, the Supreme Court of Texas addressed whether a “fixed” nonparticipating royalty interest (“NPRI”) was later converted to a “floating” NPRI. The court weighed two possible means of this...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Texas Appellate Court Rules That ‘Free of Cost’ Clause In 1960 Deed Prohibits The Deduction of Post-Production Costs

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Let’s assume you own a 135 acre farm in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. In 2020, you negotiate a new oil and gas lease with XYZ Drilling Company. During the negotiations, you insist on a cost free, no deduction royalty of 17%. ...more

Oliva Gibbs

All Means All, Y’all: The Fifth Circuit Addresses CAFA Exception

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The Fifth Circuit recently rendered a decision in Cheapside Mins., Ltd. v. Devon Energy Prod. Co., L.P. concerning a class action that arose from Devon Energy Production Company’s (“Devon”) alleged underpayment of royalties...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

Foley & Lardner LLP

Texas Supreme Court Decides What “One-Half of One-Eighth” Means in 1924 Oil and Gas Deed

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Simple math isn’t always simple. As the Texas Supreme Court recently put it, “[o]nly in a legal text could the formula ‘one-half of one-eighth’ mean anything other than one-sixteenth.” No. 21-0146, 2023 WL 2053175 (Tex....more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Is Deducting Fuel Costs Authorized by Your Lease?

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Deducting fuel costs from landowner royalties continues to be an ongoing and widespread practice. Not only are landowners denied a royalty on the fuel gas volume, but they are also having that same “cost” deducted from their...more

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