On August 16th, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”) issued an advisory bulletin to clarify the regulatory requirements that may vary depending on the operational status of a pipeline under 49 C.F.R. Parts 192 and 195 (2016).… Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
The United States Supreme Court recently addressed whether the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ determination that wetlands are “waters of the United States” constitutes a final agency action that is subject to judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc., 15-290, 2016 WL 3041052 (U.S. … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
The Fourth Court of Appeals recently held that surface owners control the matrix of the underlying earth; thus, a surface owner can give permission to drill through the subsurface to an adjacent lease. In Lightning Oil Co. v. Anadarko E&P Onshore, No. 04-14-00903-CV, 2014 Tex. App. Lexis 8673 (Aug. 19, 2015), Anadarko leased the mineral … Continue Reading
By: Joe Norman, Kelly Becker, James Lapeze, and Kathryn Gonski Recently the Louisiana Supreme Court handed down a ruling that has significant implications on the oil and gas industry in the state. The Court denied the Plaintiff-landowner’s writ application which sought review of a Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal opinion that affirmed dismissal of the landowner’s claims … Continue Reading
By Carlos Moreno: The Supreme Court of Texas recently delivered a revised opinion discussing the power of eminent domain exercised by a common carrier CO2 pipeline. In Texas Rice Land Partners, LTD v. Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC, No. 09-0901, 2012 Tex. LEXIS 187 (Tex. Mar. 2, 2012), the Court was asked if a landowner can challenge … Continue Reading
By Everard Marseglia: Last Friday, the Supreme Court of Texas issued decisions in two companion cases, No. 05-1076; Exxon Corp., et al. v. Emerald Oil & Gas Co., et al. (“Miesch”), and No. 05-0729; Exxon Corp., et al. v. Emerald Oil & Gas Co. (“Emerald”). Butch Marseglia, counsel in Liskow & Lewis’s Houston office, submitted … Continue Reading
The Texas Supreme Court this morning issued its long-awaited decision in Coastal Oil & Gas Corp. v. Garza Energy Trust, holding that the rule of capture bars recovery for damages for subsurface trespass caused by hydraulic fracturing. A concurring opinion and an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part were also filed. Copies of … Continue Reading
By Anna Knull: In Hamilton v. Morris Resources, Ltd., the San Antonio Court of Appeals affirmed a decision in favor of holders of oil and gas deeds executed in the 1920s and 1930s over the claims of lessor, holding that, based on the four corners of the conveyances in question, the original deed holders did … Continue Reading
By Jonathan A. Hunter In Weyerhaeuser Co. v. A. D. Hinton, No. 07-30117 (5th Cir., May 1, 2007), the Fifth Circuit upheld a decision by the Federal District Court for the Western District of Louisiana rejecting a challenge to a group of mineral servitudes created in 1971. The plaintiff landowner, Weyerhaeuser Company, asserted that a … Continue Reading
In Waterfowl Limited Liability Co. v. United States, No. 05-30219 (5th Cir. Dec. 12, 2006), the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted the petition for panel rehearing, withdrew its earlier panel opinion, and held that Louisiana law did not apply to a settlement agreement that arose out of earlier litigation over … Continue Reading
A deed reserving a mineral servitude for a period of ten years does not create a ten-year fixed servitude, but instead re-affirms the statutory ten-year prescription of nonuse applicable to mineral servitudes established in article 27 of the Louisiana Mineral Code. Thus, the right did not expire after the passage of ten years, but was kept … Continue Reading
