Football pundits like to discuss Red Zone effectiveness. Driving to the goal line doesn’t much matter if you don‘t score. So, why would a negotiating party fail to score an enforceable contract while negotiating from the Red...more
Political actions have consequences. A force majeure clause in New York oil and gas leases does not modify the primary term of the habendum clause and the leases are not extended because of the state ban “moratorium” on...more
Riddle: What’s the difference between a hydrocarbon molecule and the underground structure which the molecule inhabits?
Answer: In Texas, you can own one and not the other, according to Lightning Oil Co. v. Anadarko E&P...more
9/3/2015
/ Hydrocarbons ,
Leases ,
Mineral Leases ,
Mineral Rights ,
Minerals ,
Oil & Gas ,
Subsurface Estates ,
Surface Estates ,
Tortious Interference ,
Trespass ,
Well Drilling
Your Texas legislators have done their work and the citizens are safe for the next two years. The other good news is that industry supporters generally believe the 2015 Legislature was their friend.
House Bill 2: Set...more
8/13/2015
/ Desalination ,
Disposal Wells ,
Earthquakes ,
Energy Sector ,
Fracking ,
Fracking Bans ,
Groundwater ,
Groundwater Management Plan ,
Hydraulic Fracturing Study ,
Mineral Leases ,
New Legislation ,
Oil & Gas ,
Seismic Data ,
Water Supplies
We recently discussed failure to produce in paying quantities. Another decision involving the same lessee had a different result. Why? The question in both cases was whether the well was capable of producing in paying...more
One consequence of falling oil prices is leases that cease to produce in paying quantities. The producer’s question: How soon must the well return to profitability? The answer in BP American Production Company v. Laddex, Ltd....more
Another Louisiana court has ruled that the Subsequent Purchaser Rule applies to damages following a mineral lease. In Bundrick v. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. it is the 3rd Circuit.
The Rule:
An owner of property...more
Whoa! I didn’t see this one coming. Pennsylvania lessees are not entitled to an equitable extension of the primary term of an oil and gas lease in the face of a legal challenge to the validity of the lease....more
What must a Louisiana lessee do to avoid statutory penalties for non-payment of royalty, and what must a royalty owner do to put the lessee on notice that royalties are not being paid? The answers are, more than the lessee...more
You are negotiating to take a big oil and gas lease. The run sheets show you are dealing with an executive right owner on behalf of himself and his NPRI owner. His proposed terms are odd: a lower-than-market royalty and a...more
The duty owed by the executive right holder to its non-participating royalty interest holder in Texas, long haunted by the ghost of Clinton Manges, is again examined. From KCM Financial, et al. v. Bradshaw and its...more
It s been said that if you don’t ask for what you want you’ll get what you deserve. Mr. Hooks took that truism to heart.
Hooks v. Samson is about more than the discovery rule (See last week). Here are the other claims...more
The Texas Supreme Court – that elephants’ graveyard of claims and causes of action – has sided with a lessor-plaintiff who relied on the discovery rule to defeat a limitations defense. For the many with low expectations when...more
A Quiz -
You are in Louisiana and are described as having a “lesion beyond moiety”. What do you do?
A. Contact your primary care physician for an appointment...more
Have you ever wondered about the original purpose of the retained acreage clause? According to Professor Kramer, it was “to prevent the lessee from losing those portions of a lease that had productive wells thereon if the...more
Would this scenario keep you up at night? Your lease does not produce from May through August because a leak in a heater-treater makes it impossible or impractical to produce the well. Problems such as access to the site...more
In Lightning Oil Company v. Anadarko E&P Offshore, LLC, the surface and 1/6 of the minerals of the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area is owned by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. 5/6th of the minerals is owned by the...more
In Olympia Minerals et al v. HS Resources, et al, the Louisiana Supreme Court addressed a decision we discussed in a February entry by affirming in part, reversing in part, amending in part and remanding (because why do one...more
It looks like what you’d expect: a bunch of litigants spending lots of time at a courthouse in Goliad, Texas, with no end in sight. After much ”sprawl” in Harkins v. Northshore Energy it came down to the meaning of this...more
The Question -
In order to be a good faith purchaser, a party must not have actual or constructive notice of another’s rights. Northern Oil and Gas v. Creighton asked, When should the determination of whether a party...more
No. In 2008 as the Haynesville Shale was being developed at breakneck speed, companies rushed to lease and landowners banded together in groups in order to obtain the best terms. Landowner Mr. Walsworth joined the “Go...more
Oh, how a simple Favored-Nations clause in an oil and gas lease can get complicated, with large financial consequences! In BP America Production Company v. Zaffirini, BP paid Solis a $1,300 per acre bonus for a lease covering...more
Vestiges of the early Haynesville Shale land rush remain.
Imagine: The lease is about to expire. Lessee (Mecom) offers lessor (Henderson) $90 per acre for an extension, telling him, “I could extend for two more years...more
How is a producer to deal with a demanding and formidable lessor’s insistence on stringent surface protection? How about demands from environmental groups and government entities?...more
A provision in a contract, no matter how unequivocal, does not always trump the law....more