News & Analysis as of

Texas Oil & Gas Property Owners

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Creating a Chasm or Filling a Void?

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

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

Gray Reed

Texas Court Splits Family Timber Land Over Heir’s Objections

Gray Reed on

“He who comes for the inheritance is often made to pay for the funeral”.* When heirs inherit property together and can’t agree on its use, Texas courts strongly prefer dividing the land physically rather than forcing a sale,...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Colored Horses, Toxic Brews and Lithium Too?

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

McGuireWoods LLP

Texas Supreme Court Rules Produced Water Is Oil-and-Gas Waste, Further Disputes Foreshadowed

McGuireWoods LLP on

On June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court of Texas issued an opinion in a closely watched case addressing the ownership of produced water — the byproduct of drilling, fracking and formation fluids. In Cactus Water Services v. COG...more

Gray Reed

Limitations and Standing to Sue Dry Up Landowners’ Claim to Texas Riverbed

Gray Reed on

State of Texas. V. Reimer et al. studied lawyer-nerdy questions of standing to bring a lawsuit and statutes of limitations as applied to inverse condemnation suits.  Spoiler alert: To the chagrin of the landowners, waiting...more

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

McGinnis Lochridge

26-Step Mechanical Framework For Interpreting Deeds? Texas courts reject "mechanical" deed interpretation while creating a 28-step...

McGinnis Lochridge on

The El Paso Court of Appeals recently published an opinion that provides what might be characterized as 26-step step system for analyzing a deed that (perhaps inadvertently) highlights a growing irony in Texas jurisprudence....more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Ownership of Salt Caverns

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

On May 16, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court issued a decision ruling that, absent specific contractual language, surface owners retain ownership of the caverns created by salt mining operations. The issue of ownership of salt...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

Bracewell LLP

Surface vs. Mineral Owners: Texas Supreme Court Settles Salt Cavern Ownership Dispute

Bracewell LLP on

The Texas Supreme Court has settled the issue of who owns the voids, known as salt caverns, created in subsurface salt formations (whether naturally occurring or caused as a result of salt mining operations). In...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

Gray Reed

Texas Pore Space Ownership – Royalty Calculation

Gray Reed on

In Myers-Woodward, LLC v. Underground Services Markham, LLC et al, (discussed previously) the parties disagreed on how to calculate Myers’ royalty on salt produced by Underground....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

McGinnis Lochridge

Texas Supreme Court Rules on Modification of NPRIs

McGinnis Lochridge on

In this recent case, the Texas Supreme Court resolved whether ratification of a lease or signing of a stipulation agreement could transform a fixed non-participating royalty interest (NPRI) into a floating NPRI....more

McGinnis Lochridge

Drowning in Liability: Court Extends "Waste" Rule to SWD Operator; but preserves RPO defense

McGinnis Lochridge on

In a watershed ruling, the El Paso Court of Appeals extends "waste" liability under the Nat. Res. Code to commercial disposal well operator—potentially increasing exposure for this critical wastewater industry—while...more

Oliva Gibbs

Reservation or Limitation on Warranty? Navigating the Fine Line — Lessons from Valence Operating Co. v. Davidson

Oliva Gibbs on

In Valence Operating Co. v. Davidson1, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana addressed whether the provision, “all Oil, Gas and other Minerals have been excepted and reserved by former...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

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

Gray Reed

Ratifications, Stipulations, and Fixed vs. Floating Royalty Interests

Gray Reed on

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

Gray Reed

Timing Matters: Deadlines for Filing a Texas Mineral Lien Under Chapter 56

Gray Reed on

Not all liens are created equal. The most commonly discussed lien is related to construction improvements under Chapter 53 of the Texas Property Code. For those in the oil & gas/energy segment lien rights exist under Chapter...more

Oliva Gibbs

Coverting a “Fixed” to a “Floating” NPRI: What (If Anything) Does ConocoPhillips v. Hahn Add to the Conversation?

Oliva Gibbs on

In ConocoPhillips Co. v. Hahn, the Supreme Court of Texas addressed whether a “fixed” nonparticipating royalty interest (“NPRI”) was later converted to a “floating” NPRI. The court weighed two possible means of this...more

Porter Hedges LLP

Recent Victory For All Texas Landowners Facing Pipeline Condemnation

Porter Hedges LLP on

Porter Hedges recently scored a significant victory for landowners Terrance and Kenneth Hlavinka and their families (“the Hlavinkas”) against HSC Pipeline Partners, a subsidiary of Enterprise Products Partners. On June 18,...more

22 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