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
Author Paul Yale* In the summer of 2022, the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the American Association of Professional Landmen approved the first ever Model Form Participation Agreement to be approved by the...more
Fasken Ranch Ltd et al v. Puig et al featured a reservation in the sale of a ranch of an undivided 1/16 non-participating royalty interest “free of cost forever.” What does that mean? In particular, does it mean that the...more
When one tires of owning real estate with his co-owners, Texas law allows him the right to sue for partition of the property. In James et al v. Thornberry, 59.79 acres in Walker County, Texas, was owned by Ms. James and Mr....more
Carson et al v. Winter Gordon, Junior is a reason you should not name your son after yourself. But if you insist, at least spell his name correctly.
...more
Remnant LLC v. Permico Royalties LLC, et al determined that a 90-year-old claim to ownership of a forfeited corporation was not valid.
The players -
Hoffman: By most accounts a scoundrel and con man who plied his...more
If you follow the Texas Railroad Commission closely, you should read Ammonite Oil & Gas v. Railroad Commission of Texas, in which the Supreme Court rejected a mineral owner’s effort to force pool an interest under the Mineral...more
Once again, a federal district court has enjoined enforcement of a rule implemented by a wayward federal agency as it governs oil and gas activities. This one is North Dakota, et al v. US Department of Interior, et al. from...more
Unitex WI LLC v. CT Land and Cattle Company LLC rejected the surface owner’s effort to force the mineral lessee to bury a pipeline below plow depth. Surface owner CT’s claim was based on a mineral lease signed by former owner...more
Once upon a time a good way to commit oil patch theft was to back a truck up to the tank battery in the middle of the night, fill ‘er up, and drive off into the darkness. In re: Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations LLC shows...more