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In 2010, under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“the FWS”) designated 6,477 acres in Mississippi and Louisiana as “critical habitat” for the Rana sevosa or the dusky gopher frog.  This frog has historically lived in nine counties or parishes across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.  Since its 2001 designation as an endangered species, an estimate of 100 adult frogs are known to only exist in Harrison County, Mississippi.  The gopher frog spends most of its time living underground, but will migrate to short-lived, ephemeral ponds to breed.  After breeding, the frog will return to its underground habitat, along with its offspring.  According to the FWS, the greatest threat to the gopher frog population is the low number of adult frogs and human-induced environmental stressors, such commercial development.  Markle Interests, L.L.C. v. United States Fish & Wildlife Serv., 2016 WL 3568093, at *1-2 (5th Cir. June 30, 2016).
Continue Reading The Dusky Gopher Frog Causes Big Problems for Industrial and Commercial Development in Parts of St. Tammany Parish

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released its long awaited new Notice to Lessees and Operators (NTL) updating the procedures and criteria used to determine when and if additional supplemental financial assurance is required for an Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lease, pipeline right-of-way, or right-of-use and easement.  New BOEM NTL No. 2016-N01, dated July 12, 2016, takes effect on September 12, 2016 and supersedes and replaces NTL No. 2008-N07, which was commonly referred to by industry as the “supplemental bond” NTL.
Continue Reading BOEM Releases Long Awaited New Financial Assurance Notice to Lessees and Operators

Effective upon signature of the Governor, the Louisiana Legislature will have amended the Risk Fee Statute, La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 30:10, which governs unit operations in the absence of a joint operating agreement.  The amendment is contained in Senate Bill No. 388, and would make the changes summarized below.

  1. Notices Allowed After Spudding

Under…

U.S. District Court Judge Dee Drell (Western District, LA) recently denied a motion to alter or amend the Court’s judgment against CITGO Petroleum Corp.– allowing an $81 million judgment against the oil company to stand.

The judgment is the latest in a suit the EPA filed against CITGO under the Clean Water Act for a…

The Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal, in Middleton, et al. v. EP Energy E&P Company, L.P., et al., concluded that, in considering whether mineral leases terminated for failure to produce in paying quantities, a fact finder may consider periods of production years prior to filing suit, but must consider all factors which would influence…

The Louisiana Supreme Court recently issued a decision in a downhole damages case, reversing the Third Circuit’s misguided application of the manifest error standard of review. Hayes Fund for the First United Methodist Church of Welsh, LLC v. Kerr-McGee Rocky Mt., LLC, No. 2014-C-2592, 2015 La. LEXIS 2530 (La. 2015). The dispute arose out…

In yet another “retained-acreage” dispute, the Amarillo Court of Appeals recently ruled that an assignee was entitled to retain all acreage covered by the assignment of four leases, where the assignment’s retained-acreage clause invoked the maximum acreage prescribed by the applicable field rules governing proration units, and, in the absence of any such field rules,…

A Texas appeals court recently ruled in ConocoPhillips Company v. Vaquillas Unproven Minerals, Ltd. that a lease’s retained acreage clause invoked the Texas Railroad Commission’s field spacing rule as well as the statewide drilling unit rule, Rule 38, which operated to reduce the acreage the lessee was permitted to retain under the lease from 640…

In Kachina Pipeline Company, Inc. v. Lillis, No. 13-0596, the Supreme Court of Texas interpreted a natural gas-purchase contract and held that a producer was not required to share in the costs of compression, even though that compression helped yield a higher re-sale price. Whether this decision narrowly reflects the language of one specific…