Just because parties agree that disputes over a contract will be subject to binding arbitration doesn’t mean there won’t be wrestling at the courthouse beforehand. In LLOG Exploration Offshore, LLC v. Samson Contour Energy...more
At issue in RKI Exploration and Production LLC v. AmeriFlow Energy Services LLC and Crescent Services, LLC. were two Master Service Agreements. RKI was the operator of a well in Loving County; AmeriFlow and Crescent were...more
7/21/2022
/ Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Damages ,
Employees ,
Indemnity ,
Liability ,
Master Service Agreement ,
Negligence ,
Oil & Gas ,
Settlement Negotiations ,
Workplace Injury
Today we will skip our usual routine of explaining how court rulings on the question of the day might affect your interests. Instead we will discuss the fallout from abysmal document drafting. In Rosetta Resources Operating...more
A subcontractor’s mineral lien in Texas is invalid when, at the time the mineral owner receives notice of the lien affidavit, the mineral owner is not yet obligated to pay the contract price to its contractor. So says Pearl...more
Federal Insurance Company et al v. Select Energy Services LLC and Exco et al. is a reminder for negotiators of indemnity and defense obligations in oilfield contracts that choice of law is important. Ignore it when drafting...more
In resolving a dispute over post-production cost deductions from oil and gas royalties (PPC’s), the court in Shirlaine West Properties Ltd et al v. Jamestown Resources, LLC and Total E&P USA, Inc. opined that the case ” … is...more
In Emerald Land Corp. v. Trimont Energy (BL) LLC, a Louisiana federal court considered whether a lessee was required to remove flowlines buried beneath the surface and canal bottoms of property subject to mineral leases....more
Let’s begin with a question: Master service agreements (“MSA’s” in the trade), once agreed upon, often remain in force for years. As time passes and circumstances change, the parties amend, sometimes losing sight of the...more
Jatex Oil & Gas, L.P. v. Nadel & Gussman Permian, L.L.C. presents several teachable moments:
The Texas Property Owner Rule does not allow a non-expert testify on matters requiring expert testimony....more
9/25/2020
/ Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Fair Market Value ,
Joint Operating Agreement ,
Mineral Extraction ,
Mineral Rights ,
Oil & Gas ,
Property Owners ,
Revenue ,
Tortious Interference
Lessons from BEPCO, L.P. v. RMTDC Operations, LLC d/b/a Total Energy Services. Operator BEPCO hired TOTAL for drilling consultant services under an MSA and hired Latshaw Drilling to drill a well on federal land in New...more
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
7/21/2020
/ Breach of Contract ,
Condition Precedent ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Damages ,
Failure To Pay ,
Horizontal Wells ,
Judicial Foreclosure Process ,
Mineral Leases ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Wells ,
Surface Owner
In Chalker Energy Partners III LLC v. LeNorman Operating LLC, the Texas Supreme Court reaffirmed its belief in the sanctity of the written contract and the freedom of parties to negotiate and agree to contracts as they...more
3/10/2020
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Business Disputes ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Contract Terms ,
Counterclaims ,
Energy Projects ,
Oil & Gas ,
Property Owners ,
Reversal ,
TX Supreme Court
It is no surprise to Texas Supreme Court watchers that in Energy Transfer Partners et al v. Enterprise Products Partners LP et al. the court rejected claims that the parties had created a partnership by actions that varied...more
2/11/2020
/ Business Disputes ,
Business Formation ,
Condition Precedent ,
Construction Project ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Contract Terms ,
Energy Projects ,
Oil & Gas ,
Partnership Agreements ,
Partnerships ,
Pipelines ,
TX Supreme Court
Suing a state and its public officials is difficult because of the doctrine of sovereign immunity. There are exceptions. State of Texas v. Signal Drilling, et al. presents several of them....more
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
10/31/2019
/ Ambiguous ,
Bad Faith ,
Breach of Contract ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Contract Terms ,
Deepwater Horizon ,
Diversity Jurisdiction ,
Good Faith ,
Joint Operating Agreement ,
Offshore Drilling ,
Oil & Gas ,
Operating Agreements
Did the lessor’s deposit of royalty checks for production from a pooled unit that she contends was improper ratify the improper pooling? In Strickhausen v. Petrohawk et al, a jury will have to sort out the answer....more
Imagine how much better off you would be if the contract you want to enforce had been reduced to writing. See West v. Quintanilla for what happens when it wasn’t....more
In resolving disputes among the mineral interest family, there is no bright-line rule delineating the duty of the executive right holder. In Texas Outfitters Limited v. Nicholson, the Texas Supreme Court explained why. The...more
Less than a year ago, we discussed the “Unanswered Questions” left in the wake of Devon Energy Prod. Co., LP v. Apache Corp. (which did answer the question, “Who is a ‘Payor’ Under the Texas Natural Resources Code?”). ...more
An opinion that observes “Obviously the jury was not overly enamored with Appellants.” is worth discussing. The decision is Stephens et al v. Three Finger Black Shale Partnership et al....more
Are you buying oil and gas leases in Ohio and expecting to be paid for your work? Consider Dundics v. Eric Petroleum, in which the Ohio Supreme Court concluded that land professionals who do not possess an Ohio real estate...more
Did Texas law or New Mexico law apply to knock-for-knock indemnity provisions of a Master Work and Services Agreement? When a contract itself explicitly calls for Texas law, that is likely to be the outcome, as it was in...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
7/17/2018
/ Breach of Contract ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Damages ,
Energy Sector ,
Gas Royalties ,
Liability ,
Mineral Exploration ,
Mineral Leases ,
Negligence ,
Oil & Gas ,
Statutory Requirements
As promised, here is a more in-depth analysis of the recent Supreme Court of Texas opinion in TRO-X LP v. Anadarko Petroleum Corp.
...more
In Murphy Exploration & Production Co. — USA v. Adams the Texas Supreme Court held that an offset well clause in an oil and gas lease did not require the lessee to drill wells calculated to protect against drainage. Four...more