The category is “terms that confuse us” for one hundred dollars. Without resorting to your favorite legal dictionary or lawyer, explain the difference between a reservation and an exception in a Texas warranty deed. Stumped?...more
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
We begin with a word from your sponsor. After enduring several generative AI tutorials, we urge you to keep on reading Energy and the Law. Why? Our blog is more accurate, at least a little “fun”, offers insightful musical...more
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
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
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
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
3/14/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Breach of Contract ,
Contract Terms ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreclosure ,
Jurisdiction ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
State and Local Government ,
TX Supreme Court
DALF Energy, LLC v. GS Oilfield Services addresses a fiduciary’s deceptive actions in oil and gas transactions. The Fifth Circuit held:
self-dealing may constitute a breach of fiduciary duty even when the principal is...more
Patch LLC et al v. Indio Minerals LLC et al was a dispute over title to a 1/8th NPRI in land in Midland County. Viola Ash, an Illinois resident, executed a warranty deed in 1932 for land in Midland County, reserving a 1/8...more
Boren Descendants et al v. Fasken Oil and Ranch, LTD, offers something to talk about beyond interpretation of the fixed-or-floating NPRI question. At issue was this reservation, expressed as a double fraction, in a 1933...more
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
2/26/2025
/ Contract Terms ,
Land Titles ,
Mineral Leases ,
Mineral Rights ,
Mining ,
Oil & Gas ,
Property Owners ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Royalties ,
Texas ,
TX Supreme Court
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
Who owns produced water in Texas? And what is produced water anyway – oil and gas waste and part of the mineral estate, or groundwater and part of the surface estate? We may be closer to an answer to these questions now...more
Alas, we might never know. Opiela v. Railroad Commission of Texas and Magnolia Oil & Gas Operating, was a challenge to the Commission’s authority to issue permits for allocation wells and wells drilled under Production...more
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
In In the Matter of Offshore Oil Services, Inc., Offshore owned and operated the M/V Anna. Offshore sued Island Operating Company for exoneration and/or limitation of liability for a personal injury claim by an employee of...more
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
For the Osage Indian Tribe, it’s more like “IMBY if you pay me”. In the latest interation of United States and Osage Minerals Council v. Osage Wind LLC et al the US District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma awarded...more
It looks like they do. In Held et al v. State of Montana the Montana Supreme Court declared the “MEPA Limitation” unconstitutional. The plaintiffs were 16 youths, ages 2 to 18 at the time of filing....more
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
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
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
Mr./Ms. Negotiator/scrivener/reviewer of Master Service Agreements: When did you last review your go-to indemnity provision? In light of Century Surety Company v. Colgate Operating LLC., perhaps you should do it now. The...more
COP29 is upon us (Perfidy, thy name is the UNIPCC) being held in the greenwashing Republic of Azerbaijan. And ironically, there are dire warnings from some quarters about the methods “anti-science” Donald Trump will deploy to...more
In legal parlance, it was a “remand”, but the result in Energy Transfer, LP et al v. Culberson Midstream LLC et al was the same. According to Judge Bill Whitehill of the Business Court of Texas, First Division, the Texas...more