Late last week, the Texas Supreme Court told a cautionary tale for operators with its unanimous opinion in Samson Exploration LLC v. T.S. Reed Properties Inc., which addressed the circumstance in which a well is situated within not just one pooled unit, but instead within two overlapping units. The operator, Samson Exploration, took it upon itself to pay royalties from the well to interest owners from one of the units, to the exclusion of the…
Seeing Double: Operator Must Pay Royalties To Multiple Units, Says Texas Supreme Court
Jury Returns Defense Verdict for Operator That Deducted Affiliate Fees from Royalties
In this week’s edition of our energy law podcast, you’ll learn about multiple decisions that came out of the Texas Supreme Court on Friday, which can directly impact your operations in the oil patch, as well as one of the first jury verdicts addressing the increasing trend of mineral lessors challenging the deduction from their royalties of affiliate fees for post-production transportation and processing. The podcast is available on iTunes and on Google Play, so…
Texas Supreme Court Upends Traditional Rules of Construction for Mineral Deeds
On Friday, a deeply divided Texas Supreme Court—in a surprising turn of events—disturbed long-standing rules for interpreting mineral conveyances in its 5-4 decision in Wenske v. Ealy. There, when the Wenskes bought property in Lavaca County in 1998, the sellers kept for themselves a 1/4th non-participating royalty interest (the “NPRI”). Five years later, the Wenske family sold the land to the Ealys, by way of a deed expressly providing that the sale was “subject to”…
Eighth Circuit Makes It Easier For Plaintiffs To Take Fracing Contamination Claims To Trial
In the latest episode of our energy law podcast: the Eighth Circuit makes it easier for plaintiffs to take fracing contamination claims to trial; the Texas Supreme Court rules on the validity of county-wide mineral conveyances; and the Oklahoma Supreme Court is asked to clarify the often vexing “marketable product” rule for post-production expense deductions. Our energy law podcast features new episodes every week, and is available at www.energylawroundup.com and also on iTunes and on Google…
BREAKING: Texas Supreme Court Upholds Validity of County-Wide Mineral Deeds
For the second Friday in a row, the Texas Supreme Court has issued a watershed decision with sweeping implications for the oil-and-gas industry. Last week, the Court ruled that offsite penetration—horizontal drilling across one tract to reach a second tract—does not constitute mineral trespass. Yesterday, the Court decided an appeal that challenged, as ambiguous, a mineral conveyance that had been made on a county-wide basis (in other words, a mineral deed providing for the transfer of all the seller’s…
New Guidance for Noise and Pollution Claims in the Oil Patch
Featured in this week’s episode of our energy law podcast: the Texas Supreme Court issues new guidance for noise-and-pollution claims in the oil patch, as well as a landmark opinion on subsurface mineral trespass; Colorado energy regulators ask their state’s high court to clarify their responsibilities; another federal court strikes down an oil-and-gas class action for lack of common facts; and the Texas Railroad Commission survives Sunset review without a scratch.
BREAKING: Horizontal Drilling Across Neighboring Tract Not Trespass, Says Texas Supreme Court
In a case that has been closely watched in the oil-and-gas industry, yesterday the Texas Supreme Court decided whether drilling through a mineral estate—one which is not under lease by the driller—to access a reservoir beneath a bordering tract constitutes a form of trespass. The operator in the case, Anadarko Petroleum, secured permission from the surface owner—of a tract adjacent to the company’s leasehold—to spud a well and drill directionally into the mineral estate “next door.”…
The Texas Railroad Commission Will Not Ride Off Into The Sunset
In Texas, all state agencies effectively have an “expiration date”: each is periodically abolished, by operation of law, unless the Legislature passes a bill to extend its existence. Established in 1977, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission evaluates agencies and issues recommendations to lawmakers. According to the agency’s website, “Sunset answers a basic question for the Texas Legislature: Are an agency’s functions needed, and if so, how can the agency work better and save money for…
Everything You Need to Know About Oil-and-Gas Law So Far This Year
The first four months of 2017 have been chock full of major developments in the law surrounding oil and gas, and we have been reporting on them regularly in our podcast, Energy Law Round Up. Today, we bring you a convenient summary of everything that’s happened so far this year. Back in January, we addressed critical new guidance from the Texas Supreme Court about when a pipeline company can qualify as a common carrier for…
Federal Regulators Get Closer to Abandoning Stringent New Fracing Rules
KRCL oil-and-gas trial lawyer Tom Ciarlone, in the latest episode of our energy law podcast, gets you up to speed on the status of stringent new fracing rules for federal and tribal lands, and also dials you into several important developments out of the Texas Supreme Court—including a little-known pitfall that could get your well damage case dismissed with prejudice. You can subscribe to our energy law podcast on iTunes and on Google Play.