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Contract Disputes Contract Terms Oil & Gas

Jackson Walker

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Default Ownership of Produced Water in Oil & Gas Leases – Key Questions Remain

Jackson Walker on

On June 27, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court issued a pivotal decision in Cactus Water Services, LLC v. COG Operating, LLC, holding that under the language of the granting clause found in the standard oil and gas lease, produced...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

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Sixth Circuit Rules That Driller Must Establish Marketability of Each Gas Product Under Market Enhancement Clause

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

Let’s assume you own 105 acres in Greene County, Pennsylvania. In 2020, you signed an oil and gas lease with ABC Exploration. During the negotiations, you agreed that only those post-production costs which actually...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Production Disputes and Estoppel Claims Cloud Lease Termination in Milam County

McGinnis Lochridge on

In this lease termination case (Pruett v. River Land Holdings, LLC, No. 03-22-00478-CV, 2024 WL 1745652, at *1 [Tex. App.—Austin Apr. 24, 2024, no pet.]), the Austin Court of Appeals was tasked with examining a cessation of...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

McGinnis Lochridge

Affirmative Defenses Are Insufficient to Rebut the Van Dyke Presumption

McGinnis Lochridge on

Under Van Dyke, deeds with double-fraction royalty reservations referencing “1/8” are presumed to reserve a floating royalty interest unless clearly contradicted. Defenses like waiver, ratification, and limitations cannot...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Tariff Turbulence: Navigating Force Majeure Risks in Texas Oil and Gas Contracts

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Upstream oil and gas producers and oilfield service companies are facing new uncertainties from recently imposed federal tariffs. In early 2025, the US expanded tariffs on a broad range of imports, suddenly increasing costs...more

Gray Reed

Geophysicist’s Claims Turn on Definitions

Gray Reed on

Sewak v. Sutherland Energy Co. Ltd. is of interest for how the court defined terms commonly used in consulting contracts in the oil and gas industry, and how difficult it is to foresee all contingencies when negotiating a...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

Marcel Exception to Louisiana Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Act Clarified

Gray Reed on

An understanding of Willis v. Barry Graham Oil Service LLC requires knowledge of two principles underlying the Louisiana Anti-Oilfield Indemnity Act: The LOAIA bars an oilfield agreement to the extent that the agreement...more

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Une mine de bitcoins exploitée sur une concession de pétrole et de gaz fait l’objet d’une injonction permanente

Dans Roy Flowers v. Persist Oil and Gas Inc., la Cour du Banc du Roi de l’Alberta (la « Cour ») a prononcé une injonction permanente interdisant à la défenderesse d’exploiter une entreprise de minage de bitcoins parce que le...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

How Does the Model Form JOA Address an Operator/Non-Operator Dispute?

Gray Reed on

Texas Crude v. Burlington Resources Oil and Gas considers the relationship between the operator and non-operators under Articles V and VI of the 1982 Model Form Joint Operating Agreement....more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Don’t Be a Junkyard Dog: Put Your Agreements in Writing!

A federal judge in Louisiana has dished out some harsh criticism of contractors who don’t reduce their contracts to writing. The case involves the decommissioning of 26 orphaned oil and gas wells near Baton Rouge. The...more

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Court Issues Permanent Injunction Against Bitcoin Mining on Oil and Gas Lease

In Roy Flowers v. Persist Oil and Gas Inc., the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta issued a permanent injunction precluding the defendant from operating a Bitcoin mining operation, based on the failure of the underlying lease...more

Gray Reed

Arbitration Result Can Be “Good”, “Bad” or “Ugly”

Gray Reed on

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

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

Gray Reed

Sole Discretion Not to Close Renders Texas Oil Deal Unenforceable

Gray Reed on

Maverick Natural Resources, LLC at al v. Glenn D. Cooper Oil & Gas, Inc. is for control freaks wherever you are … and for those of you who advise the aforesaid control freaks....more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Texas Supreme Court Addresses Fuel Gas Question

Many oil and gas leases across Pennsylvania allow the driller to divert and use volumes of raw gas to power and fuel production operations both on and off the leasehold. Is a driller obligated to pay a royalty on that volume...more

Gray Reed

Supreme Court of Texas Decides Another Post-Production Cost Dispute

Gray Reed on

In Carl v. Hillcorp Energy the Supreme Court of Texas addressed the relationship between the lessee’s use of gas off-premises under a free-use clause and the lessor’s burden to share post-production costs (PPCs) under the...more

Gray Reed

Who is responsible for the negligence of the “company man” on the well?

Gray Reed on

Parkman v. W&T Offshore, Inc., et al features two contractors playing hot potato over liability for a company man’s alleged negligence. The takeaway: Write your Master Service Agreement to address your liability concerns, and...more

Gray Reed

Master Service Agreement Dispute Turns on Definitions

Gray Reed on

The outcome of a multimillion-dollar suit was in the hands of a jury of 12 good and honorable citizens. The question: Was a certain party an agent, consultant, contractor, or none of the above? One side wanted the jury to be...more

Gray Reed

Defense of a Deed Signed by a 12-Year-Old Fails

Gray Reed on

Foreshadowing a grim future for family weddings and funerals, Bell and Petsch v. Petch is a property dispute over five tracts of land in Gillespie County, Texas, in which siblings are the combatants. The events are less...more

Gray Reed

Insurance Coverage Not Limited by a Texas Service Agreement

Gray Reed on

As you negotiate your master service agreements are you confident that you know how insurance choices might affect indemnity obligations? Me neither. That’s why I turn to my Gray Reed partner Darin Brooks and his insurance...more

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