Archives: Energy Litigation

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United States Supreme Court Issues First Decision in Climate Litigation

By Edward Duhe, Elizabeth Byrne and Kelly Brechtel Becker on Posted in Appellate, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Environmental Business & Transactional, Environmental Regulatory, Exploration and Production, Industry News, Litigation, Oil & Gas, Regulatory, Toxic Tort & Environmental Litigation
Updated from May 18, 2021 post. On May 17, 2021, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in the climate change litigation affecting the fossil fuel industry. In a 7-1 decision (Justice Alito recused), the Court held that an appellate court must consider all grounds for removal when an appeal is taken pursuant to … Continue Reading

United States Western District of Louisiana Issues Opinion on Notice Required Under La. R.S. 30:103.1 and 103.2 to State a Plausible Claim for Relief

By Michael Ishee, Brittan J. Bush and April Rolen-Ogden on Posted in Energy, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Louisiana Mineral Law, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Unleased Mineral Owners
In recent years, there has been an increase in litigation relating to the unleased owner reporting requirements contained in La. R.S. 30:103.1 and the penalty imposed in La. R.S. 30:103.2.  There are few cases interpreting these statutes. However, the existing authority recognizes that even if an operator fails to comply with such reporting requirements, an … Continue Reading

Texas Supreme Court Update: Boundary Dispute Between Leasehold Owner and Lessees of Adjacent Tract

By Jana Grauberger and Daniel E. Rodriguez on Posted in Appellate, Contracts, Energy, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Exploration and Production, Litigation, Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts, Property Law, Texas
Bringing to mind the infamous Hatfield-McCoy family feud, Concho Resources, Inc. v. Ellison is a classic boundary dispute between a leasehold owner and neighboring lessees with allegations of fraud and more than $1 million at stake.  See 2021 WL 1432222 (Tex. Apr. 16, 2021).  The plaintiff, Martha Ellison d/b/a Ellison Lease Operating, alleged that the … Continue Reading

Texas Supreme Court Update: TRO-X Lives to Fight Another Day in Contractual Dispute over Share of Income on Production from Equitable Interests

By Daniel E. Rodriguez on Posted in Appellate, Civil Procedure, Civil Procedure, Contracts, Energy, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Exploration and Production, Litigation, Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts, Royalty
The Texas Supreme Court recently released its anticipated opinion in Eagle Oil & Gas Co. v. TRO-X, L.P., 18-0983, 2021 WL 1045723, at *1 (Tex. Mar. 19, 2021) (“Eagle II”).  The Eagle II case is the second case that arose between TRO-X, L.P. (“TRO-X”) and Eagle Oil & Gas Co. (“Eagle”) regarding their agreement to … Continue Reading

President Biden Faces Constitutional Challenges to Revocation of Keystone XL Permit

By Gus Laggner, Hunter Chauvin and Brian Capell on Posted in Climate Change, Constitutional, Energy, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Industry News, Oil & Gas, Pipeline, Texas
During his first  hours in the Oval Office, President Biden issued Executive Order 13990, entitled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” Section 6 of the Order revoked TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P.’s March 2019 permit to construct and operate cross-border pipeline facilities at the U.S.-Canada border in Montana. This … Continue Reading

Texas Supreme Court Update: The Court Decides Issue of First Impression Related to the Scope of an Oil and Gas Lease’s Free-Use Clause and Further Interprets Conflicting Royalty Clause Provisions

By Elizabeth Byrne on Posted in Appellate, Contracts, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Litigation, Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts, Royalty, Texas
The Texas Supreme Court recently issued its anticipated decision in BlueStone Natural Resources II, LLC v. Randle, affirming in part and reversing in part the lower court’s ruling.  No. 19-0459, 2021 WL 936175 (Tex. Mar. 12, 2021).  The Court (1) affirmed that the lower court correctly concluded the oil and gas lease at issue explicitly … Continue Reading

Western District Rejects Disgorgement of Profits Claim for Pipeline Trespass

By Paul M. Adkins on Posted in Appellate, Energy, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Exploration and Production, Litigation, Louisiana Law, Louisiana Mineral Law, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Mineral Servitudes, Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts, Pipeline, Property Law, Real Estate, Unleased Mineral Owners
In Mary v. QEP Energy Company, the Western District of Louisiana rejected, for the second time in this case, Plaintiffs’ claims seeking a disgorgement of QEP’s profits.  QEP was the lessee of a mineral lease covering Plaintiffs’ property, but because it wanted to transport off-site gas across their property, QEP also obtained a pipeline servitude … Continue Reading

Future Outlook for Subsurface Trespass Claims Against Third Party Purchasers of Minerals

By Nena Eddy and Denice Redd-Robinette on Posted in Appellate, Energy, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Environmental Regulatory, Exploration and Production, Legacy Litigation, Litigation, Louisiana Law, Louisiana Mineral Law, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Oil & Gas, Pipeline
A recent decision from the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal may have lasting effects on good faith purchasers of oil. In Hill v. TMR Exploration, Inc, 2021 WL 267916, the First Circuit affirmed a district court ruling on summary judgment applying the good faith purchaser defense provision set forth in La. Civ. Code arts. … Continue Reading

United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Finds That Louisiana Citizen Suit Legacy Claims Can be Heard in Federal Court

By Kelly Brechtel Becker, Kathryn Zainey Gonski and Trinity Morale on Posted in Appellate, Civil Procedure, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Legacy Litigation, Litigation, Louisiana Law, Louisiana Mineral Law, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law
In its recent decision in Grace Ranch, L.L.C. v. BP America Production Company, et al., No. 20-30224 (5th Cir. Feb. 24, 2021), the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit addressed a question that has increasingly become a sticking point in Louisiana “legacy” cases:  whether claims brought under a Louisiana citizen suit provision … Continue Reading

Ethical Obligations in Technology Assisted Review

By Tyler Trew on Posted in Civil Procedure, Civil Procedure, Construction, Contracts, Energy Litigation, Litigation
Technology Assisted Review (TAR), also known as predictive coding or computer-assisted review, has been defined as “[a] process for prioritizing or coding a collection of documents using a computerized system that harnesses human judgments of one or more subject matter expert(s) on a smaller set of documents and then extrapolates those judgments to the remaining … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Punts on Important Arbitrability Question

By Thomas J. McGoey II and Melanie Derefinko on Posted in Appellate, Arbitration, Business, Business Law, Business Litigation, Contracts, Employment Law, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Environmental Business & Transactional, Finance, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Litigation, Maritime, Oil & Insurance Business Law, Maritime, Oil & Insurance Litigation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Non-Compete Agreements, Oil & Gas Contracts, Real Estate, Trade Secrets
On January 25, 2021, the United States Supreme Court dismissed, as “improvidently granted,” a writ of certiorari it had previously granted on a petition asking it to consider “[w]hether a provision in an arbitration agreement that exempts certain claims from arbitration negates an otherwise clear and unmistakable delegation of questions of arbitrability to an arbitrator.”  … Continue Reading

Second Circuit Upholds Independent Contractor Status for E & P Company

By Paul M. Adkins on Posted in Appellate, Contracts, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Exploration and Production, Litigation, Louisiana Mineral Law, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts
The issue of whether a company is an independent contractor of an E & P company is frequently litigated in oilfield injury accidents, as the injured worker searches for multiple sources of possible recovery.  In McDaniel v R.J.’s Transportation, LLC,  —- So.3d —, 2021 WL115917, the Second Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of Comstock … Continue Reading

The Meaning of “And” Determines Outcome of Oil and Gas Feud

By Jana Grauberger, James T. Kittrell and Daniel E. Rodriguez on Posted in Appellate, Contracts, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Exploration and Production, Litigation, Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts, Property Law, Texas
In Tier 1 Resources Partners et al. v. Delaware Basin Resources LLC, 08-20-00060-CV, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth District of Texas (El Paso) recently held oral argument on the proper construction of the word “and” used in a Delaware Basin oil and gas lease.  The meaning of the word is hotly contested, the … Continue Reading

Carbon Capture and Sequestration in 2021: The Path Forward

By Aubrey Denton Landry, Madeline Thomas and Kelly Brechtel Becker on Posted in Carbon Capture, Carbon Capture and Sequestration, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Environmental Business & Transactional, Environmental Regulatory, Exploration and Production, Industry News, Oil & Gas, Renewable Energy
2021 is already poised to offer substantial growth in the area of carbon capture and sequestration (“CCS”). On January 21, Elon Musk announced on Twitter that he will donate $100 million to the “best” carbon capture technology, chosen through a competition whose details and judging criteria are yet to be announced. Further, on February 1, … Continue Reading

Is the Frequency of Louisiana Environmental Quality Act Citizen Suit Litigation Increasing?

By Jonathan J. Fox and Jamie D. Rhymes on Posted in Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Environmental Regulatory, Exploration and Production, Legacy Litigation, Litigation, Louisiana Law, Louisiana Mineral Law, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Oil & Gas
In 2003, the Louisiana Supreme Court rendered its landmark decision in Corbello, et al. v. Iowa Production, et al.  Since then, Louisiana courts have seen a steady stream of “legacy litigation” claims being filed.  Legacy litigation claims generally concern alleged contamination arising from historic oil and gas operations under theories of both breach of contract … Continue Reading

It’s Heating Up: United States Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Proper Jurisdiction for Climate-Change Lawsuit

By Edward Duhe, Elizabeth Byrne, Michael Cash and Wade Howard on Posted in Appellate, Arbitration, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Environmental Business & Transactional, Environmental Regulatory, Exploration and Production, Industry News, Litigation, Oil & Gas, Regulatory, Toxic Tort & Environmental Litigation
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the climate change lawsuit filed by the City of Baltimore in 2018 against energy companies. This case is one of a number of cases brought by states, cities, and other municipalities against energy companies alleging that the companies contributed to climate change. By granting certiorari … Continue Reading

Louisiana Third Circuit Confirms Settled Application of Subsequent Purchaser Doctrine Where Expired Mineral Leases at Issue

By Erin Bambrick, Kelly Brechtel Becker and Elizabeth S. Wheeler on Posted in Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Legacy Litigation, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Oil & Gas, Subsequent Purchaser Doctrine
As it “is impossible to transfer rights to an assignee under an expired mineral lease,” in a case where oil, gas and mineral leases had expired prior to plaintiff’s acquisition of the property, the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal in Litel Explorations, L.L.C. v. Aegis Development Company, L.L.C., et al. affirmed dismissal of claims … Continue Reading

Louisiana Third Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Royalty and Other Claims Based Upon Prescription

By Erin Bambrick, Kelly Brechtel Becker, Kathryn Zainey Gonski, Trinity Morale and Elizabeth S. Wheeler on Posted in Energy Litigation, Louisiana Mineral Law, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Oil & Gas, Royalty
In a straightforward application of Louisiana’s prescriptive principles, the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit affirmed the trial court’s grant of exceptions of prescription, finding plaintiff’s claims for fraud, under the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act (LUTPA), and for unpaid royalties all prescribed in Karen May v. The Succession of Mayo Romero. … Continue Reading

Louisiana Supreme Court Addresses the Role of Louisiana Tax Commission

By Robert S. Angelico and Cheryl M. Kornick on Posted in Appellate, Constitutional, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Tax
The Louisiana Supreme Court addressed the role of the Louisiana Tax Commission in its decision in the case of D90 Energy, LLC v. Jefferson Davis Parish Board of Review, No. 2020-C000200.   While the case addressed the property tax assessments of a specific taxpayer, its larger importance is the holding regarding the role of the Louisiana … Continue Reading

Louisiana Supreme Court Grants UNOCAL’s Writ Application from Third Circuit Decision Involving Prescription and Breach of Contract in Act 312 Case

By Nena Eddy and Denice Redd-Robinette on Posted in Appellate, Contracts, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Environmental Regulatory, Legacy Litigation, Louisiana Law, Louisiana Mineral Law, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts
On October 6, 2020, the Louisiana Supreme Court granted a writ application filed by UNOCAL in State of Louisiana, et al. v. Louisiana Land & Exploration Co., et al. This application sought review of the Louisiana Third Circuit’s decision that affirmed the Vermilion Parish School Board’s authority to sue on behalf of the state, rejected … Continue Reading

The Future of Carbon Capture and Sequestration

By Aubrey Denton Landry and Madeline Thomas on Posted in Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Environmental Business & Transactional, Environmental Regulatory, Exploration and Production, Oil & Gas
By ratifying the 2015 Paris Agreement,[1] nations across the world made a commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by the year 2030.  Carbon dioxide is one of the primary greenhouse gases found in the Earth’s atmosphere, accounting for 76% of global greenhouse gas emissions according to published reports. Any effort to … Continue Reading

U.S. Supreme Court To Review Scope of Appellate Review for Federal Officer Removal in Climate Change Litigation

By Edward Duhe and Elizabeth Byrne on Posted in Appellate, Arbitration, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Environmental Business & Transactional, Environmental Regulatory, Exploration and Production, Industry News, Litigation, Oil & Gas, Regulatory, Toxic Tort & Environmental Litigation
Today, the United States Supreme Court granted a Petition for Certiorari filed by energy companies in Baltimore’s climate change lawsuit.  By granting the petition, the Supreme Court has agreed to review the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision remanding the suit to state court after rejecting the energy companies’ contention that they were acting as … Continue Reading

DOI Announcement of a Proposed Rule on Risk Management, Financial Assurance and Loss Prevention

By Kathleen Doody on Posted in Bankruptcy, Business, Construction, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Environmental Business & Transactional, Environmental Regulatory, Exploration and Production, Finance, Industry News, Offshore, Oil & Gas, Pipeline, Regulatory, Sublease
The long-awaited proposed changes to the Department of Interior’s Financial Assurance Rule (“Proposed Rule”) were finally announced yesterday by the Trump Administration.  The announcement provides, among other things, that the proposed rulemaking is in efforts to clarify, streamline and provide greater transparency to the financial assurance requirements (e.g., supplemental bonding) for OCS lessees and grant … Continue Reading

Louisiana’s Coastal Land Loss Litigation Produces Opinion of Interest to Appellate Practitioners in Federal Court

By Laura Springer Brown on Posted in Appellate, Energy Litigation, Litigation
The jurisdictional contest over the proper forum for Louisiana’s sprawling coastal land loss litigation continues as petitions for panel and en banc rehearings on federal jurisdiction pend before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs’ strident effort to return to the state courts, located in the coastal Parishes whose governments have sued … Continue Reading
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