With the prevalence of cases involving royalty disputes in Texas, the state’s Supreme Court has never hesitated to address these issues. But the Court’s sporadic holdings regarding royalty clauses, each so specific to the particular language of the lease, have left lessees on unsteady footing. BlueStone primes the Court to resolve a Texas appellate court … Continue Reading
This article was updated on April 14, 2020. Day-to-day life has been dramatically impacted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and many courts in Louisiana and Texas have been forced to close or limit operations in conjunction with stay-at-home orders. A brief discussion of how COVID-19 has affected Louisiana and Texas courts is discussed here.… Continue Reading
Today, countries worldwide are responding to a pandemic of respiratory disease spreading from person-to-person caused by a novel coronavirus. The disease has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”). The pandemic poses a serious public health risk, and government response has included closure of schools and businesses, declarations of emergency, and issuance of a variety … Continue Reading
Last year, in another dispute over who should bear the cost of decommissioning offshore facilities, the Southern District of Texas held that a former sub-assignee of offshore operating rights was entitled to equitable subrogation from the record title owner and initial assignor. Sojitz Energy Venture, Inc. v. Union Oil Co. of California, 394 F. Supp. … Continue Reading
The Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion today in Energy Transfer Partners, L.P v. Enterprise Products Partners, L.P., a case previously featured on the Blog. This case began in 2011 when ETP and Enterprise explored the possibility of partnering to modify and extend, or construct anew, a pipeline to transport oil southbound from Cushing, Oklahoma.… Continue Reading
Last week the Texas Supreme Court granted review in Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. v. Enterprise Products Partners, L.P., a case concerning Texas partnership law. Energy Transfer Partners has garnered significant amicus support on both sides of the “v.” and has been closely followed by the energy industry.… Continue Reading
In a decision that could have far-reaching implications, the United States Supreme Court issued a June 10 opinion holding that California’s wage-and-hour laws do not apply to workers on oil and gas platforms located in open water on the Outer Continental Shelf. The plaintiffs in Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton, were offshore rig workers who filed … Continue Reading
On Thursday, a divided panel of the Texas Court of Appeals in Houston held that the 2014-2015 drop in oil prices is not a force majeure for purposes of general force majeure contractual protection. In TEC Olmos, LLC v. ConocoPhillips, the court addressed a dispute between ConocoPhillips Company and TEC Olmos over a farmout agreement … Continue Reading
The White House has announced the nominees to fill four vacant seats on the U.S. Fifth Circuit and two seats in the Eastern District of Louisiana.… Continue Reading
On July 7, 2017, the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, in Associated International Insurance Company v. Scottsdale Insurance Company, held that, under Texas law, the subrogation clause of an insurance agreement allowed a subrogated insurer to seek reformation of a contract between its insured and a third party. In that appeal, the defendant’s … Continue Reading
With oil prices still far below their highs of a few years ago, many energy companies—some of which expanded rapidly when oil was north of $100 a barrel—now find themselves with more office space than they can reasonably use (or even afford). In order to mitigate their lease exposure, these companies are looking to sublease … Continue Reading
Hours before a controversial set of new reporting requirements for government contractors was set to take effect, a federal court in Texas enjoined implementation of the requirements across the country.… Continue Reading
On September 2, 2016, the Texas Supreme Court agreed to review three oil and gas cases involving issues pertinent to the industry and land and mineral owners. BP America Production Company v. Red Deer Resources, LLC In BP America Production Company v. Red Deer Resources, LLC, the lessee of a top lease, Red Deer, sued … Continue Reading
On June 17, 2016, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that an oil and gas producer (“Southwest”) was not entitled to a statutory exemption from sales taxes on its purchases of casing, tubing and pumps used in the production of oil and gas (the “Equipment”). At issue in Southwest Royalties, Inc. v. Hegar was whether the … 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 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 … Continue Reading
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., No. 04-14-00650-CV, … Continue Reading
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, … 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
A Texas appeals court recently ruled in ConocoPhillips Company v. Vaquillas Unproven Minerals, Ltd. that a lease’s retained acreage clause invoked the Texas Railroad Commission’s field spacing rule as well as the statewide drilling unit rule, Rule 38, which operated to reduce the acreage the lessee was permitted to retain under the lease from 640 … Continue Reading
In Kachina Pipeline Company, Inc. v. Lillis, No. 13-0596, the Supreme Court of Texas interpreted a natural gas-purchase contract and held that a producer was not required to share in the costs of compression, even though that compression helped yield a higher re-sale price. Whether this decision narrowly reflects the language of one specific contract … Continue Reading
Like the final season of ABC’s hit series Lost, the Texas Supreme Court’s opinion in Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C. v. Hyder, No. 14-0302, was highly anticipated, but left many of us scratching our heads. The 5-4 decision, authored by Justice Hecht, is the latest in a series of cases from high courts across the country addressing … Continue Reading
By Andrew Wooley On May 8, 2015, the Supreme Court of Texas held in Phillips v. Carlton Energy Group, LLC[1]/ that an expert witness’s pre-suit evaluations of a coal bed methane concession in Bulgaria and his and another expert’s opinion testimony at trial were too speculative to support a jury’s damage finding for tortious interference related … Continue Reading
Bennett v. Reynolds, No. 08-0074, 2010 WL 2541096 (Tex. June 25, 2010). By Natalie Barletta and Andrew Wooley In Bennett v. Reynolds the Supreme Court of Texas clarifies that the maximum ratio for exemplary to actual damages in Texas will rarely exceed 4 to 1 and that a defendant’s conduct generally, not just that specifically … Continue Reading
