News & Analysis as of

Oil & Gas Surface Owner

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Texas Appeals Court Rules that Surface Owner Could Not Enforce Pipeline Burial Covenant in Oil and Gas Lease

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

Let’s assume that you purchase a 105 acre farm in Greene County in 2022. You purchase only the surface estate while the seller, Farmer Jones, retains the underlying oil and gas rights. You intend to grow corn and winter...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Navigating Solar Development in the Appalachian Basin: Surface and Subsurface Rights

Husch Blackwell LLP on

Solar developers in the PJM region, particularly in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, often encounter land with a complex history of mineral development. This history can significantly impact solar projects, from site...more

Jackson Walker

Mine: All Mine? Texas Ownership of Produced Water and Its Constituent Parts (Lithium)

Jackson Walker on

Is it mine? Is what’s in it mine too? The fight over produced water has become a contentious issue in the oil patch. Primarily, because it is a new and unforeseen source of revenue for operators and landowners....more

Gray Reed

Have You Recorded Your Saltwater Disposal Agreement?

Gray Reed on

According to Darkhorse Water LP v. Birch Operations Inc. et al., the form of an instrument affecting real property in Texas does not affect the interest conveyed by the instrument. It’s what the document says about the...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Who Owns the Produced Water From Oil & Gas Operations?

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

Although historically viewed as a waste, produced water that comes to the surface as part of the oil and gas production stream now potentially has value. Produced water can be recycled and reused as part of hydraulic...more

Gray Reed

Who Owns Produced Water in Texas?

Gray Reed on

In Cactus Water Services LLC v. COG Operating, LLC., a divided Texas court of appeals answered the question this way: The oil and gas producer prevails over the purchaser of the surface owner’s right to own and sell produced...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Coordinating Solar Farm Development With Oil and Gas Rights in Pennsylvania

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

Solar farm developers who do not enter into surface use agreements with Pennsylvania oil, gas and mineral owners (and their lessees) could create legal jeopardy for their solar farm projects. All surface developments in...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Pore Space Ownership: The North Dakota Supreme Court Issues Landmark Decision

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

Let’s assume you own a 93-acre farm in Tioga County. In 1986 your grandfather sold the oil and gas rights to his neighbor, John Mize. In the early 1990’s, Mr. Mize signed an oil and gas lease with XYZ Drilling. Several years...more

Roetzel & Andress

Court of Appeals Rules That Oil and Gas Company Has Ongoing Obligation to Restore Property Despite General Release of Damages in...

Roetzel & Andress on

On April 11, 2022, the Fourth District Court of Appeals issued a significant decision in Zimmerview Dairy Farms, LLC v. Protégé Energy III LLC establishing that a general release of damages signed in connection with a pad...more

Roetzel & Andress

What is “Reasonable Diligence” Under the DMA? The Ohio Supreme Court Offers More Guidance to Landowners

Roetzel & Andress on

On March 24, 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court reviewed the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act and further clarified the steps a surface owners must take to identify and locate mineral holders before serving notice of abandonment. ...more

Roetzel & Andress

Ohio Appellate Court Further Clarifies 'Reasonable Diligence' Standard Under the Dormant Mineral Act

Roetzel & Andress on

On November 18, 2021, in another significant case involving surface owners who were attempting to abandon severed mineral interests under the Dormant Mineral Act, R.C. § 5301.56, et seq. (“DMA”), the Seventh District Court of...more

Roetzel & Andress

Ohio Supreme Court Provides Guidance On Key Marketable Title Act Issue Regarding Preservation Of Severed Mineral Interests

Roetzel & Andress on

On March 16, 2021, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued another important opinion in the ongoing tug of war between surface landowners and severed mineral owners over the ownership of valuable mineral rights in Ohio. In Erickson...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

Ohio Supreme Court issues another major decision for surface and mineral owners in Ohio

Bricker Graydon LLP on

On December 17, 2020, just days after its decision in West v. Bode (previously summarized by Bricker attorneys), the Ohio Supreme Court issued another major decision for surface and mineral owners in Ohio. In Gerrity v....more

Gray Reed

Partition Agreement Outweighs Coal Surface Destruction Test

Gray Reed on

In Wheeler et al v. San Miguel  Electric Cooperative, we learn – again – the difficulty in asserting a position in litigation that is contrary to the actual words in the agreement you are fighting over....more

Gray Reed

“Construction” of a Well Pad Requires More than a Survey

Gray Reed on

In Evans Resources, L.P., et al. v. Diamondback E&P, LLC, two agreements left the terms “constructed” and “utilized” undefined. If the terms had been defined would the outcome have been different? Maybe. Should parties define...more

Gray Reed

Family History Guides Interpretation of a Texas Will

Gray Reed on

Generally, if your will leaves your beloved “all … right, title and interest in and to”, said beloved would receive the entirety of your interest, whether a surface estate, mineral estate, or both. But in ConocoPhillips, et...more

Gray Reed

Produced Water in Texas … Who Owns It?

Gray Reed on

As we welcome around 1,100 new Texans a day, water has become our most precious natural resource. According to the 2017 State Water Plan, Texas’ population is expected to increase more than 70 percent between 2020 and 2070,...more

Gray Reed

Water: The Hot Commodity in the Permian and Elsewhere

Gray Reed on

It’s still true, “Whiskey’s for drinkin’, water’s for fightin’.” Gray Reed lawyers Brock Neizgoda and Steven Cooney spoke to TIPRO’s summer conference on the use, control and ownership of water in oil and gas operations. ...more

(ACOEL) | American College of Environmental...

Does The Mineral Owner’s Dominance Foreclose Environmental Advocacy by the Surface Owner?

Since the beginning of recorded mineral law, the owner of the mineral interests has enjoyed an elevated status in its relationship with the surface owner, resulting in the universally accepted notion that the mineral estate...more

Gray Reed

Groundwater Law Continues To Evolve – Texas Landowners Be Ready

Gray Reed on

You have just arrived on the new ranch property you just purchased, leaving the rat race of city life and ready to get to work on the land. You allowed the seller to reserve the minerals so long as he waived his rights to...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

Currents - Energy Industry Insights - March 2019 #2

West Virginia Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in EQT Doddridge County Trespassing Case - "The state Supreme Court will decide if a lower court judge got it right when he ruled natural gas production company EQT trespassed...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

Currents - Energy Industry Insights - January 2019 #2

WV Supreme Court Mulls Marcellus Shale Mass Litigation Case from Harrison, WV - "While the case centers on Harrison County, where the surface owners live and the Marcellus Shale operations are underway, the case could have...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

West Virginia Cotenancy Modernization and Majority Protection Act

Summary of H.B. 4268 - At its core, the Cotenancy Modernization and Majority Protection Act ("Act") is a revision to the relationship between cotenants owning "oil or natural gas and their constituents." The Act is...more

Pillsbury - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real...

Texas Supreme Court Discusses Rights Conveyed by a Mineral Lease

The recent Lightning Oil Company v. Anadarko E&P Onshore, LLC F/K/A Andarko E&P Company, LP, decision of the Texas Supreme Court, which clarified the rights and obligations of owners of the surface property and the mineral...more

Blank Rome LLP

Drill on Through to the Other Side: No Trespass When Drilling Through Mineral Estate with Surface Use Agreement

Blank Rome LLP on

Action Item: The Texas Supreme Court annunciated two critical points in Lightning Oil Co. v. Anadarko E&P Onshore: (1) unauthorized interference may be a trespass only when it impacts the mineral lessee’s ability to exercise...more

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