The Texas Supreme Court has clarified Texas law concerning how to calculate interest that is being paid pursuant to an agreement or statute. Samson Exploration, LLC v. Bordages, No. 22-0215, 2024 WL 2869049 (Tex. June 7,...more
On March 12, 2021, the Supreme Court of Texas issued a unanimous opinion that clarifies when a lessee is entitled to deduct post-production costs from royalties paid to the lessor under oil and gas leases. Construing a lease...more
In Yowell v. Granite Operating Co . 557 S.W.3d 794 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2018, pet. granted), the Texas Court of Appeals for the Seventh District in Amarillo affirmed the trial court’s determination that an “anti-washout”...more
On September 6, 2018, the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas issued a decision in Theresa Jacobs, et al. v. Dye Oil, LLC, et al., C.P. Monroe No. 2017-189 (September 6, 2018), granting summary judgment for the operator of an...more
In 2016 Ridge contacted the McDaniels (Double Eagle’s predecessors) with an offer to “lease” their mineral interests in Winkler County. The McDaniels informed Ridge about a producing lease from 2004, and were assured that it...more
Is an overriding royalty interest lasting beyond the term of a lease-now-in-effect impossible to create? You saw the recent Texas Supreme Court opinion invalidating an anti-washout clause in TRO-X v. Anadarko Petroleum Corp....more
Louisiana practitioners and their clients tend to know this particular point of Louisiana law, but it could surprise out-of-staters (known in their native habitat as “Texans”), so it’s worth a reminder...more
Coke or Pepsi? Elvis or the Beatles? Left Twix or Right Twix? Fixed or floating royalty? Among the great debates of recent decades, few have proven quite as frustrating as the great “Fixed v. Floating” royalty debate in Texas...more
In Ohio, in calculating royalties in a market-value-at-the-well lease (as distinguished from a “proceeds” lease), post-production costs are to be shared proportionately by the working interest and royalty owners. ...more
In Glassell Producing Company v. Naquin, the question was: Did a conveyance among siblings create a real right in property, or was it an appendage of a lease that ceased to burden the property once that lease was...more
How many times must an operator suffer for a mistake in a unit declaration? Samson Exploration LLC v. T. S. Reed Properties Inc. makes it twice. (See Hooks v. Samson Lone Star for the first round). The Texas Supreme Court...more
Energy Industry Update - Action Item: In Texas, watch out for overlapping units when exercising your contractual authority to unilaterally pool leases. You could be paying double. In Samson Exploration, LLC v. T.S. Reed...more
A phrase currently in common usage begins with “‘cluster” and ends with a vulgarity that has been around for centuries. Saheid v. Kennedy presents facts that pretty much exemplify the meaning of the phrase...more
Prevails over what, you ask? In Gladney v. Anglo-Dutch Energy, LLC, a conditional allowable from the Office of Conservation didn’t supersede lease royalty obligations....more
You might conclude that the but-for-the-grace-of-God-that-could-be-me nightmare presented in In re: RPH Capital Partners is instructive only for lawyers. If so, you would be mistaken. The lesson: If you want to win the...more
Westport Oil & Gas Company, L.P. v. Mecom et al. presented this question: Was the lease royalty based on a gas purchase agreement formula or on the royalty clauses’s market value at the well provision? Spoiler alert:...more