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Texas Oil & Gas TX Supreme Court

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

McGinnis Lochridge

Oil & Gas Newsletter: Producer's Edge, Vol. 7, Issue 1

McGinnis Lochridge on

The McGinnis Lochridge Oil and Gas Practice Group publishes the Producer’s Edge with the purpose of keeping our valued clients and contacts in the oil and gas industry updated and informed regarding interesting Texas case law...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

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

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

McGinnis Lochridge

Supreme Court of Texas Washes Out the “Anadarko Washout”

McGinnis Lochridge on

The so called “Anadarko Washout” involves a washout of oil and gas leases on undivided working interests owned by non-operating mineral cotenants. This particular species of lease washouts is based on two recent cases from...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

McGinnis Lochridge

Who Owns the Empty Space? Texas Supreme Court Affirms Surface Ownership of Salt Caverns in Landmark Ruling

McGinnis Lochridge on

In Myers-Woodward, LLC v. Underground Services Markham, LLC, No. 22-0878, 2025 WL 4356581 (Tex. May 16, 2025), the Texas Supreme Court resolved two significant issues affecting mineral owners and surface owners: (1) who owns...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

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

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

Oliva Gibbs

Muscled Out While “Muscling In”: The Role of Actual Drainage in MIPA

Oliva Gibbs on

In Ammonite Oil & Gas Corp. v. R.R. Comm’n of Tex., the Texas Supreme Court held that the Railroad Commission (the “RRC”) did not abuse its discretion in denying a “muscle in” application under the Texas Mineral Interest...more

Porter Hedges LLP

Wellbore Transactions Update - Conveyances, Reservations And Related Lease Severance Issues

Porter Hedges LLP on

This article focuses on the state of Texas law regarding wellbore rights and various related issues raised by transactions involving such rights (and other similar lease severance issues) and provides some practical tips to...more

White & Case LLP

Implications of the Texas Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling on Fuel Gas Royalties

White & Case LLP on

On June 4, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an "at the well" royalty holder's class action lawsuit after the Texas Supreme Court held that Hilcorp Energy Co. properly...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Three Unfolding Cases Could Shape Future Energy Litigation, and Perhaps Business Practices

A stream of judicial decisions in the pipeline will have important implications for the energy industry. The three cases discussed below are among those that energy litigators and industry professionals are watching in 2024....more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Texas Supreme Court Decides What “One-Half of One-Eighth” Means in 1924 Oil and Gas Deed

Foley & Lardner LLP on

Simple math isn’t always simple. As the Texas Supreme Court recently put it, “[o]nly in a legal text could the formula ‘one-half of one-eighth’ mean anything other than one-sixteenth.” No. 21-0146, 2023 WL 2053175 (Tex....more

Gray Reed

Texas Supreme Court Rules on Suspension of Proceeds of Oil and Gas Production

Gray Reed on

Freeeport-McMoRan Oil and Gas, LLC and Ovintiv USA Inc. v. 1776 Energy Partners LLC  presented a recurring question faced by Texas oil and gas producers:  When can proceeds of production be withheld by the operator without...more

Hicks Johnson

How Do JOA Exculpatory Clauses Work Under Texas Law? Part Two: The Recent Decision in Bachtell Defines “Activities”

Hicks Johnson on

As discussed in part one of this series, a Joint Operating Agreement’s (JOA) exculpatory clause relieves the designated “operator” from liability for certain conduct or activities. But, as explained by the Texas Supreme Court...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Reasonably Prudent Operator or Good and Workmanlike Manner: Does Your Contract Have the Right Standard of Care?

The standard of care is an important provision in any operating, management or services agreement because it sets forth the expectations of the parties as to how the contract should be carried out. It also functions as the...more

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