A jury verdict out of Oklahoma may be a harbinger of what’s on the horizon for the many battles being waged in courthouses across the country between operators of horizontal wells and the vertical drillers who say their wells have been damaged—or destroyed—by hydraulic fracturing. Also, the Fifth Circuit puts the kibosh on a pipeline regulator’s attempts to implement a strict liability regime when Congress never authorized one.
The Battle Between Horizontal and Vertical Wells
Liability in the Oil and Gas Fields: Shooting the Gap Between Your Company and Its Employees
The Texas courts have continued to evaluate the nature and extent of liability that property owners have for the acts of independent contractors. As indicated in a new opinion from the Eastland Court of Appeals, this is highly relevant for owners, operators, and drillers. By way of background, the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code contains a provision entitled Liability for Acts of Independent Contractors. That provision specifically restricts the exposure of property owners to…
KRCL’s Energy Practice Group Featured in New Law360 Series
A member of KRCL’s Energy Practice Group, trial lawyer Tom Ciarlone, was the subject of the first installment of Law360’s new “Expert Analysis” series, What I Learned In My First Year, featuring attorneys’ true-life tales from the earliest days of their legal careers. You can read the article by clicking here.
KRCL Energy Law Podcast: iOS and Android Apps Available for Download
Yes, there’s an app for that! We’re excited to announce the release of custom iOS and Android apps for our podcast, Energy Law Round Up. Get the latest news and developments in oil-and-gas law pushed directly to your iPhone, iPad, or Android device. Download the iPhone/iPad app today by clicking here (http://tinyurl.com/energyios), or the Android app by following this link (http://tinyurl.com/energyandroid). The Energy Law Round Up app contains the following features: Car mode: rotate your…
A Cautionary Tale for Operators
In this week’s episode of our energy law podcast, find out about new guidance for calculating royalties on federal oil and gas leases, the BLM’s termination of restrictive Obama-era fracking rules, and a cautionary tale for operators who might mistakenly assume that they have a security interest in the oil they sell to downstream purchasers.
The FCPA: Energy Companies Doing Business Internationally Must Be Proactive
Halliburton Settles With the SEC On July 27, 2017, Halliburton agreed to settle a cease and desist proceeding brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), charging it with violating the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). To settle, Halliburton agreed to pay $29.2 million and to obtain an independent compliance consultant to oversee anti-corruption procedures and policies in Africa. Halliburton’s payment included $14 million in…
The Texas “Anti-Slapp” Law: A Gorilla in a Baby’s Pram?
Current court interpretations of the “anti-Slapp” law, and how they affect employers in the energy sector and elsewhere. An adorable baby was born in 2011. This baby is called the Texas anti-SLAPP law,[i] or the Texas Citizens Participation Act (“TCPA”).[ii] The birth was attended to by then-Governor Perry who brought the swaddling law to eagerly-awaiting, yet diverse, “parents,” such as the Better Business Bureaus of Central Texas and the American Civil Liberties Union, among many other interested…
Everything You Need to Know About Oil and Gas Law—2Q17 Edition
Earlier this year, we brought you our first quarter update on major developments in oil and gas law in Texas and throughout the country. Now, we are back with our second quarter update. We began 2Q17 with a discussion of the intersection of the oil patch with class actions and the Fair Labor Standards Act; the federal government’s liability for the environmental cleanup of refinery waste; and a shortsighted discovery ruling that could have left the Dakota…
Oil and Gas Law: 2017 Midyear Update (Complimentary Whitepaper)
Available now for download is our firm’s complimentary white paper, Oil & Gas Law: 2017 Midyear Update. Click here, or on the image below, to access our informative, 25-page summary of some of the most critical legal developments in the industry so far this year.
Oil-and-Gas Law Update: July 11, 2017
Our energy law podcast is back from a brief hiatus for the Independence Day holiday with a quick look at the legal developments in oil-and-gas law that July has brought us so far.