If you drive around Pennsylvania, you are likely not going to encounter a “For Sale” sign offering a cavern in the ground. But the voids, pore spaces, and cavities in the subsurface can be quite valuable now and in the...more
Does the Texas Supreme Court’s Decision in Cactus Water Services v. COG Operating Provide Guidance About Lithium and Rare Earth Minerals Ownership in Pennsylvania? Lithium demand is expected to continue to increase as...more
The American Land Title Association (ALTA) is considering approval of a new Energy Project Endorsement for owner's and loan policies at its spring session. The endorsement (proposed as the ALTA 36.9) Energy Project – Minerals...more
The U.S. Department of the Interior (Interior) released a final rule that will protect millions of acres of Alaskan wildness from the development of oil, gas and minerals. Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which...more
This is the second in a two-part series on wellsite repurposing projects in the Canadian oilpatch. Part one looked at the background and advantages of repurposing projects....more
A Colorado bankruptcy court has departed from the widely reported holding in Sabine Oil that permitted a debtor to reject a certain midstream gathering agreement. On September 30, 2019, the United States Bankruptcy Court for...more
Welcome to today’s grab-bag of unrelated topics. The climate avengers are clever in the way they demonize the industry. They give zero credit for technological advancement. Truth is, the industry’s use of technology is...more
It is no secret that Wyoming’s economy is heavily reliant on the energy and natural resources sector. In fact, the primary forces behind the economy of the Cowboy State are mineral extraction, in the form of coal, oil,...more
Voters in several western states on November 6th defeated citizen-initiated ballot initiatives that would have heavily regulated mineral and energy development. The highest profile failed initiative was Colorado’s Proposition...more
In 2016 Ridge contacted the McDaniels (Double Eagle’s predecessors) with an offer to “lease” their mineral interests in Winkler County. The McDaniels informed Ridge about a producing lease from 2004, and were assured that it...more
Briggs v. Southwestern Energy is another way to say “chaos” in Pennsylvania. The Superior Court ruled that fracking may constitute a trespass when subsurface frac-fluid and proppants cross boundary lines and extend into the...more
In XTO Energy v. EOG Resources, a title dispute over the mineral estate in 1,653 acres in Atascosa and McMullen counties, Texas, the loser tried both, to no avail....more
What could go wrong when the well recovers two times its costs in nine months? Plenty, as we see in Dimock v. Sutherland Energy....more
Trespass by hydraulic fracturing is alive in Pennsylvania. In a case of first impression in the state, on April 2, the Superior Court held that hydraulic fracturing under the land of an adjoining property may create an...more
There are specific requirements for proving that an oil and gas lease has survived past its primary term. Fail to hit them all when the lease is challenged at the courthouse, wand disappointment will be order of the day....more
The Supreme Court of Ohio issued an opinion on January 3, 2018 in Alford v. Collins-McGregor Operating Co., Slip Opinion No. 2018–Ohio–8, affirming the dismissal of the landowners’ complaint for failure to state a claim upon...more
As we reported, the House and Senate have passed a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act disapproving the SEC Resource Extraction Rule and that President Trump was expected to sign the legislation that...more
On September 21, Governor Snyder signed a package of bills (2016 PA 281-283) that significantly expands the types of medical marijuana facilities permitted under state law, and establishes a licensing scheme similar to the...more
New rules issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that require resource extraction issuers to disclose payments made to U.S. and foreign governments for the commercial development of oil, natural gas or...more
Moral hazard (one of this blog’s preoccupations) usually comes up in disputes over the scope of coverage under an insurance policy. But state legislatures often address it, too—for example, by imposing limits on agreements...more
Continuing Brexit coverage: With the pound in freefall and markets going haywire, leaders on both sides of the Brexit debate in the UK signaled today that Britain hopes to stay in the EU marketplace, while some in Parliament...more
Let’s start with a little background: Under the Accommodation Doctrine an oil and gas lessee has an implied right to use the land as reasonably necessary to produce and remove the minerals, but must exercise the right with...more
A Federal Magistrate Judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that an oil and gas exploration company may challenge a township ordinance that makes it unlawful to deposit flowback water into underground injection wells within the...more
In Fleck v. Missouri River Royalty Corp., the North Dakota Supreme Court outlined the test that should be used to determine whether a well is producing in paying quantities to satisfy the habendum clause. That test involves...more
On September 9, 2015, Judge Mary Leavitt of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reversed the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County’s ruling, which had set aside the Board of Supervisors of Fairfield Township’s (the...more