News & Analysis as of

Breach of Contract Texas Oil & Gas

McGinnis Lochridge

"Void" Means Void: How Missing Consent Toppled a $2.5 Million Pipeline Judgment

McGinnis Lochridge on

The Tyler Court of Appeals reversed a $2.5 million judgment against pipeline successors (Coffeyville Resources Crude Transportation, LLC v. ExxonMobil Pipeline Co., No. 12-23-00276-CV, 2025 WL 356222 [Tex. App.—Tyler Jan. 31,...more

McGinnis Lochridge

When "Imprudent" Becomes Irrelevant: How Express JOA Language Overrides Operator Discretion

McGinnis Lochridge on

In this case, Texas Crude Energy, LLC (Texas Crude) and Warwick-Athena, LLC (Warwick) (collectively, the non-operators) sued Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Co., LP (Burlington or the operator) after Burlington refused to...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Plain Language Meets Common Sense: Hidden Traps in Oil Patch Contract Interpretation

McGinnis Lochridge on

What happens when a court reads your contract literally for one issue but decides what 'makes sense' for another? A geophysicist just found out. In early April 2025, the Amarillo Court of Appeals reversed in part and...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Texas Business Court Weighs Jurisdiction over Out-of-State Property Interests

McGinnis Lochridge on

When can a Texas court rule on New Mexico property disputes? The answer hinges on whether the property interest is 'central' or just 'incidental' to the real fight....more

Gray Reed

Texas Operator Protected From Royalty Payment Error

Gray Reed on

The takeaway from DDR Weinert, Limited et al v. Ovintiv USA Inc. is that equitable recoupment rescued a royalty payor from its mistaken payment of royalties. But first, The events. The Richters were mineral lessors...more

Gray Reed

Texas Supreme Court Decides Who Must Produce to Maintain an Oil and Gas Lease

Gray Reed on

In Cromwell v. Anadarko E & P Onshore LLC the Supreme Court of Texas did what it so often does: In order to provide “legal certainty and predictability”, the Court considered the plain language of a contract in order to...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Limits of Shut-In Payment Notations in Lease Disputes

McGinnis Lochridge on

In this case (Scout Energy Mgmt., LLC v. Taylor Properties, No. 23-1014, 2024 WL 5249490 [Tex. Dec. 31, 2024]), the Texas Supreme Court held that vague notations on shut-in royalty check receipts cannot modify an unambiguous...more

Gray Reed

Operator Excused from Texas Relinquishment Act Claims

Gray Reed on

In Williams O & G Resources, LLC v. Diamondback Energy, Inc., a federal magistrate judge concluded that the Texas Relinquishment Act does not apply to public-school lands patented after 1931. The report and recommendation was...more

McGinnis Lochridge

All Depths or Just One Formation? Court Clarifies Royalty Conveyance in Rock River v. Pioneer

McGinnis Lochridge on

This recent case (Rock River Minerals, LP v. Pioneer Nat. Res. USA Inc., No. 08-23-00216-CV, 2024 WL 4528917 [Tex. App.—El Paso Oct. 18, 2024, no pet. h.]) explored whether an assignment of an overriding royalty interest,...more

Gray Reed

Uri Force Majeure Cases Still Percolating

Gray Reed on

Thought you’d heard the last of force majuere cases arising from Winter Storm Uri? Think again. In Marathon Oil Company v. Koch Services LLC. the question was how to measure damages suffered by Koch for Marathon’s...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Tackling Free-Use and At-The-Well Royalties

McGinnis Lochridge on

This lease royalty case involved a dispute over whether the lessee was permitted to deduct volumes of gas used off the premises to power post-production activities on other gas produced from the same well. Carl v. Hilcorp...more

Gray Reed

Texas Court Limits Tortious Interference Claims in Oil & Gas Assignment Dispute

Gray Reed on

The growling and barking presented by a claim for tortious interference is often far worse than the bite. Consider Segundo Navarro Drilling, Ltd. v. Chilton , which is a good example of that phenomenon in an oil and gas...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Who Can Enforce Surface Provisions in an OGL?

McGinnis Lochridge on

Unitex WI, LLC v. CT Land & Cattle Co., LLC, No. 07-23-00390-CV, 2024 WL 3249338 (Tex. App.—Amarillo June 28, 2024, pet. filed)...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Winter Storm Uri and Force Majeure: The Legal Battles Continue

McGinnis Lochridge on

Winter Storm Uri sent shockwaves through Texas, freezing gas supplies at a time of critical need and plunging the state into widespread power outages. In the aftermath, the courts have been flooded with force majeure claims,...more

Gray Reed

Definitions Mattered in Oil Field Master Services Agreements

Gray Reed on

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

Oliva Gibbs

The Texas Division Order Statute: How It Works and Who It Serves to Protect

Oliva Gibbs on

A division order is a statement executed by all owners of interests in an oil and gas well.  The division order’s essential purpose is to “authorize and direct to whom and in what proportion to distribute” proceeds from the...more

Adams & Reese

Redefining Willful Misconduct: Texas Appellate Court Announces a New, Lower Standard

Adams & Reese on

In Apache Corp. v. Castex Offshore, Inc., the Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeal announced that showing an oil-and-gas operator’s “willful misconduct” under an operating agreement’s exculpatory clause does not require...more

17 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 1

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide