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…
Everything You Need to Know About Oil and Gas Law—2Q17 Edition
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…
A Railroad Runs Through It: How to Evaluate Who Owns the Minerals in Your Field of Dreams
As long as the current economic conditions prevail and domestic oil production provides better opportunity for American interests, the acquisition and development of stateside mineral rights will predominate. An excellent and obvious example of this is the redoubled interest in the Permian Basin and the ramping up of activity in Midland-Odessa. As these plays continue to run, title questions will continue to emerge. Where especially arcane conveyances to railroads are memorialized in ancient documents, the…