News & Analysis as of

Oil & Gas Contract Interpretation

Oliva Gibbs LLP

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

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Where Old Meets New: Energy Transition Projects Collide with Oil, Gas Law

Over the course of a century of oil and gas development in the U.S., a robust body of law developed, covering virtually every aspect of E&P and interpreting every provision in oil and gas leases, joint operating agreements...more

Gray Reed

“Harmony” in a Texas Mineral Reservation

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In Smart v. 3039 RNC Holdings LLC, the court reminds us that it will harmonize all parts of a contract, even one that “is not a model of clarity”, to reach the correct result. ...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Contextual “Construction” of Force Majeure Clauses

The Texas Supreme Court recently provided new guidance in interpreting force majeure language in an oil and gas drilling dispute. In Point Energy Partners Permian, LLC v. MRC Permian Company, the court held that the oil and...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

You Can Stand Under My Umbrella (by Clearly Manifesting It)

In Texas, many master service agreements (MSAs) related to the oil and gas industry typically contain provisions related to mandatory minimum insurance coverage and indemnity obligations. The Texas Supreme Court recently held...more

Gray Reed

Texas Supreme Court Rules on “Bespoke” Add-Back Royalty Clause

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In Devon Energy Production Company, LP et al v. Sheppard et al, the Supreme Court of Texas construed what it referred to as a “bespoke” and “highly unique” royalty clause in several oil and gas leases to prohibit the...more

Gray Reed

Oops! Sellers Didn’t Read The Mineral Deed Before Signing

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Precious little legal analysis is required to grasp the lesson from Springbok Royalty Partners v. Cook.  No mode or manner of legal gymnastics is likely to save parties from the legal effect of a contract they didn’t bother...more

Gray Reed

Texas Correction Deed Statute Revisited

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Those who continue to be horrified by Broadway National Bank, Trustee v. Yates Energy Corp. should be relieved that the result in Endeavor Energy Resources, LP v. Anderson was more equitable. In Yates, the Texas Supreme Court...more

Holland & Knight LLP

A Closer Look at Nettye Engler Energy, LP, v. BlueStone Natural Resources II, LLC

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The Supreme Court of Texas has once again tackled the heavily contested issue of postproduction costs in royalty calculations. In Nettye Engler Energy, LP, v. BlueStone Natural Resources II, LLC, No. 20-0639, the Court was...more

Gray Reed

Texas Court Accepts Only One Meaning of “Leased Premises” in an Oil and Gas Lease

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How many different meanings can parties attribute to a term in an oil and gas lease?  Answer: As many as they want, but the court will only use one, says King Operating et al v. Double Eagle Andrews, LLC et al....more

Gray Reed

Texas Court Rules on a Retained Acreage Clause

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Sometimes writing too many alternatives into an oil and gas lease invites confusion … which provokes litigation … which results in disappointment for somebody … or everybody. ...more

Gray Reed

Texas Court Addresses Anti-Washout Clause and Rule Against Perpetuities

Gray Reed on

Yowell v. Granite Op. Co. and Apache Corp. v. Peyton Royalties, L.P. is another Rule Against Perpetuities case. Keep reading. The anti-washout protection for your reserved overriding royalty could be at risk....more

Gray Reed

Oil and Gas Lease Addendum Supersedes Printed Form

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In Apache Corp. v. Hill, et al.,  lessors prevailed in a lease construction dispute because of the court’s unsurprising conclusion that a typewritten addendum to oil and gas leases superseded conflicting provisions in the...more

Gray Reed

Texas Court Parses Three Retained-Acreage Clauses – Part 2

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Yesterday we discussed aspects of PPC Acquisition Co., LLC, et al. v. Delaware Basin Res., LLC, et al. Today we consider whether the retained-acreage clauses created a special limitation or a covenant and the relationship...more

Gray Reed

Texas Supreme Court Deems Continuous Development Clause Ambiguous

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In Endeavor Energy Resources, L.P. v. Energen Resources Corp. et al. the Supreme Court of Texas construed a continuous development clause in an oil and gas lease covering 11,300 acres in Howard County. After the primary term,...more

Gray Reed

Texas Court Evaluates Consent to Assign an Oil and Gas Lease

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In Mayo Found. For Med. Educ. & Research v. BP Am. Prod. Co. a United States District Court considered the circumstances under which a lessor can withhold its consent to assign an oil and gas lease....more

Gray Reed

Texas Supreme Court to Consider Continuous Development Clause

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The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments in a dispute over an “accumulation” provision in a continuous development clause of an oil and gas lease.  The case is Endeavor Energy Resources L.P. v. Energen...more

BCLP

Joint Operating Agreements: What have we learned from the High Court’s decision in TAQA v Rockrose

BCLP on

On Friday 17 January 2020, the High Court gave its judgment in the TAQA Bratani v Rockrose case (TAQA Bratani Ltd and others v. RockRose UKCS8 LLC [2020] EWHC 58 (Comm)). In this judgment, the Court held in favour of the...more

Bracewell LLP

JOAs: “Good Faith” and the implied qualification of express contractual powers

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There have been a number of recent English Court decisions concerning implied obligations of good faith. In May 2019, we considered the potential impact of those decisions on joint operating agreements in the oil & gas...more

Gray Reed

Fake Mineral Leases Thwarted by the Texas Legislature

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The 2019 Texas legislature enacted a new Property Code Section 5.152 to protect mineral and royalty owners from a certain species of fraudulent transactions perpetrated on trusting and/or naïve and/or out of state mineral...more

Gray Reed

Louisiana Operator’s Bad Faith Does Not Preclude Recovery

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Under Louisiana law, does the operator’s bad faith preclude recovery for the non-operator’s breach of a joint operating agreement if the operator caused the non-operator to breach the JOA but did not itself breach?...more

Bracewell LLP

Obligations of Good Faith in JOAs - The Impact of Recent Decisions on 'Relational Contracts'

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In the international upstream oil and gas exploration and production industry, joint operating agreements (“JOAs”) are the key agreements which govern the terms upon which oil and gas companies regulate their upstream joint...more

Pillsbury - Policyholder Pulse blog

Texas Supreme Court Requires Insurers to Pay Anadarko Full Deepwater Horizon Defense Costs Under CGL “Joint Venture Provision”

The Supreme Court of Texas delivered good news to policyholders insured under a “Joint Venture Provision” endorsement commonly used in the oil and gas industry. In Anadarko Petroleum Corp. v. Houston Casualty Co.—a case...more

King & Spalding

Texas Supreme Court Finds Anadarko is Entitled to Over $100 Million in Deepwater Horizon Defense Costs Based on Undefined Term in...

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Insurance coverage litigation arising out of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion continues to result in important precedents that will impact energy companies and policyholders with operations in Texas. On January 25, the...more

Bracewell LLP

JOAs and the Operator's "blank cheque" – UK Court of Appeal upholds decision on budget overruns

Bracewell LLP on

The UK Court of Appeal in Spirit Energy Resources Limited & Ors v Marathon Oil U.K. LLC [2019] EWCA Civ 11 has affirmed the February 2018 decision of Mr Justice Robin Knowles of the High Court. Knowles J’s decision concerned...more

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