Insight and Analysis of Legal Issues Impacting the Energy Industry
Louisiana appellate court unanimously dismisses cross-appeals in legacy case, finding that the trial court improperly designated partial summary judgment rulings as final under Article 1915 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure.
In Spanish Lake Restoration, LLC v. Shell Oil Company, et al., the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal recently dismissed cross-appeals taken…
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 extended downturn in the oilfield economy is showing up in some taxpayers’ inability to pay their Texas real property and personal property ad valorem taxes when those taxes become due. This note reminds taxpayers what happens when the ad valorem taxes are not timely paid. It also reminds lenders with security interests in real…
The Texas Franchise Tax is imposed on taxable entities that do business in Texas or that are chartered or organized in the state. Taxpayers subject to the Texas Franchise Tax may compute their tax liabilities under several alternative methods to determine which one results in the lowest amount of tax due.
One such method is…
Since this blog’s post on production in paying quantities on January 26, 2016, the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal rendered its latest decision on the subject in Middleton v. EP Energy E&P Co., L.P., 50,300-CA (La. App. 2d Cir. 2/3/16). While not particularly groundbreaking, Middleton does provide further guidance to mineral lessees…
On February 1, 2016, a federal district court issued a ruling in Moore v. Denbury, — F.3d — (W.D. La. 2016), with important implications for “legacy” lawsuits in Louisiana. The court interpreted the 2014 amendments to Act 312 (La. R.S. § 30:29) to hold that “a plaintiff cannot directly recover additional remediation damages…
The sharp decline in oil prices over the past year and a half has had a significant impact on operators and mineral lessees in Louisiana and in other oil-producing states. Mineral lessees may be particularly concerned with whether recent production levels have maintained their leases beyond their primary terms.
In Louisiana, as in most jurisdictions…
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 what may appropriately be called a “swing and a miss”, the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio has rejected plaintiffs’ attempt to avoid the need for medical expert testimony in a toxic tort case by pleading damages for “symptoms of discomfort” instead of disease. Cerny v. Marathon Oil Corp, et al.,…
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,…
