In the latest episode of Oil and Gas Law: In 5 Five Minutes or Less, KRCL’s video series covering key legal developments for energy industry professionals, litigation partner Tom Ciarlone discusses the troubling intersection of division orders, joint tenancies, and estoppel.
The Troubling Intersection of Division Orders, Joint Tenancies, and Estoppel
PODCAST: Interview with In-House Counsel at Encore Permian
In the latest episode of KRCL’s energy law podcast, litigation partner Tom Ciarlone sits down with Brett Podkanowicz, in-house counsel for land and legal at Encore Permian in Midland, Texas.
Texas Supreme Court Addresses Interpretation of Oil-and-Gas Contracts
In the second episode of Oil and Gas Law: In 5 Five Minutes or Less, KRCL’s new video series covering key legal developments for energy industry professionals, Tom Ciarlone examines a recent Texas Supreme Court decision on interpreting mineral leases and other oil-and-gas contracts.
PODCAST: Interpreting Oil-and-Gas Contracts, The Rule of Capture and Mineral Trespass, and Class Action Developments for Operators
In the latest episode of our energy law podcast, we discuss recent guidance from the Texas Supreme Court on interpreting oil-and-gas contracts; cross-jurisdictional differences surrounding the rule of capture and subsurface mineral trespass; and troubling class action developments for operators and other industry participants.
Rule-of-Capture Showdown: Pennsylvania v. Texas
Last year, I wrote about Pennsylvania’s departure from Texas on the law surrounding trespass by hydraulic fracturing. As first stated in Coastal Oil & Gas Corp. v. Garza Energy Trust, 268 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. 2008), trespass claims for drainage by hydraulic fracturing are barred in Texas by the venerable “rule of capture”—shorthand for the theory […]
SCOTX Issues Another Key Decision for Interpreting Oil-and-Gas Contracts
The Texas Supreme Court, beginning in 2017, began issuing a number of decisions altering the analysis for the interpretation of oil-and-gas agreements, principally mineral leases and conveyances. I wrote about many of these opinions as they were released: “Texas High Court Ruling Sows Confusion On Mineral Deeds” (Wenske v. Ealy) (Law360, subscription required)—chipping away at […]
Offset Wells and the Ongoing “Fixed”-Versus-“Floating” Royalty Saga
In the latest episode of our energy law podcast, learn when an “offset well” is not an offset well, according to the Texas Supreme Court. Also, get up to speed on the latest installment in the ongoing “fixed”-versus-“floating” royalty saga that continues to confound courts and counsel across the Lone Star State.
The Neverending Story: “Fixed” vs. “Floating” Royalties in Texas
The Texas Supreme Court and our Courts of Appeals have now been struggling for years with the elusive distinction between “fixed” and “floating” royalties. In application, the difference between the two can have drastic and—depending on your position in a mineral title dispute—potentially catastrophic consequences.
Condemnation and Eminent Domain in the Oilfield and Beyond
In the latest episode of our energy law podcast, the Managing Partner of KRCL’s Houston office, Marcy Rothman, addresses recent developments on a topic that pipelines and other energy companies confront on a regular basis: condemnation and eminent domain.
SCOTX: Term Royalty Interests Survive the Rule Against Perpetuities
It is one of those arcane principles discussed at length in textbooks that manifests itself in the real world far less frequently: the rule against perpetuities, the notion “that no interest within its scope is good unless it must vest, if at all, not later than twenty-one years after some life in being at the creation of the interest.” Hunt […]