In October 2025, a district court in Cameron Parish granted a challenge brought by environmental justice groups who sought to vacate a coastal use permit (CUP) issued by the Office of Coastal Management (OCM) for the construction of an LNG facility. In granting petitioners’ challenge, the district court primarily cited OCM’s failure to analyze climate
A new lawsuit filed in Crane County, Texas claims that operators have over injected produced water causing contamination on a West Texas ranch. See Billy Wayne Meister Jr. v. Blackbeard Operating, LLC et al., Cause No. 25-052-DCCV-00098, in the 109th Judicial District of Crane County, Texas. According to the petition, injection wells on and around
The United States Supreme Court is currently presented with what many believe is the best opportunity for the Court to provide sorely needed guidance in the vastly growing climate change docket—where energy companies are facing liability for injuries allegedly sustained due to greenhouse gas emissions. In Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc., et al. v. County Commissioners
On November 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) published its Notice of Availability of the 1st Analysis and Proposal of the Draft Proposed Program (DPP) for the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program (11th OCS Program), opening up a statutorily required 60-day public review and comment period on
In late October 2025, a Paris civil court handed down a decision that could reshape how global energy companies discuss their efforts in climate transition. The court ruled that an energy company misled consumers through a 2021 rebranding campaign where the company promised to be “a major player in the
BOEM’s Final Notice of Sale (FNOS) for Big Beautiful Gulf 1 (BBG1), to be published in the Federal Register on November 10, 2025, will offer for leasing approximately 15,083 unleased OCS blocks located across the Gulf of America (GOA) – all, regardless of water depth, at the lowest allowable federal offshore royalty rate of
In late October 2025, Exxon Mobil Corporation filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, launching a major constitutional and regulatory challenge to California’s landmark climate disclosure regime. The company’s lawsuit targets two statutes enacted in 2023: Senate Bill 253—the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, and Senate
With anxiety looming over regulation of so-called “forever chemicals,” some industry players have proposed a solution: federal preemption. That was the response voiced by trade associations last month, as they answered an August 15, 2025 request from the Department of Justice and National Economic Council. The two agencies requested industry feedback on “Which State laws
Due to the government shutdown, which began on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) implemented their respective contingency plans that were prepared in the event of a lapse in government funding. These contingency plans essentially halt renewable energy activities while prioritizing
In this episode of “Energy Law This Week,” hosts Matt Jones and April L. Rolen-Ogden discuss the Texas Railroad Commission with Kelli Kenney, who is deeply immersed in the legal practice involving that agency. The Texas Railroad Commission is the earliest dedicated agency to regulate oil and gas, and it has been