The United States Supreme Court has denied the Petition for Certiorari filed by the United States Department of the Interior in Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp. v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 554 F.3d 1082 (5th Cir. 2009). The high court’s refusal to consider Interior’s appeal allows the Fifth Circuit’s January 2009 decision to

By Marie Carlisle

On May 28, 2009, the Fifth Circuit decided In the Matter of: Lease Oil Antitrust Litigation, case no. 08-40230, reversing the District Court’s denial of the State of Texas’ motion to intervene in a matter concerning unclaimed settlement money from the oil antitrust action. The Fifth Circuit found that Texas met the

      On November 21, 2007, the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s ruling in favor of Chevron U.S.A., Inc. (“Chevron”), the Plaquemines Parish Government (“PPG”), and others in a dispute with the State of Louisiana over the validity of a 1938 mineral lease granted by the Buras Levee District (“BLD”). The State

By Joe Giarrusso: 

In Louisiana, a lawsuit is generally deemed abandoned when the parties fail to take any step in its prosecution for three years.  This rule is operative without any formal order.  La. Code Civ. P. art 561.  However, Act 361 of 2007 extended the period for abandonment to five years where (1) the

The Associated Press reported today that a federal jury found Kerr McGee liable for additional royalties on crude oil produced from federal properties and sold through Texon.  The case is noteworthy in that it was brought as a False Claims Act case by Bobby Maxwell, an auditor with the Mineral Management Service, who alleged that