The Texas Supreme Court recently released its opinion in Devon Energy Production Company, L.P. v. Sheppard, — S.W.3d —, No. 20-0904, 2023 WL 2438927 (Tex. 2023), in which it held that lessees owed royalties in excess of their gross proceeds, specifically “adding back” costs incurred by third-party buyers that were enumerated in the sales
In advance of holding an offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, which is expected this summer, the Department of Interior recently took several steps to update the offshore wind regulatory framework. First, Interior issued a Final Rule, which reassigns the responsibilities for certain regulations governing offshore wind from BOEM to BSEE. This reassignment aligns
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), signed into law on November 15, 2021, amended Section 40307 of the Outer Continental Shelfs Act (OCSLA) to provide authority to the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) to grant leases, easements, or rights of way that “provide for, support, or are directly related to the injection of a
Over the past year, the U.S. Department of Interior has taken several important steps toward making wind energy development a reality in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the first in a series of articles in which Liskow’s offshore team will discuss the regulatory framework for wind energy projects in federal waters and highlight legal
In a recent opinion released by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the court declined to vacate a deficient environmental impact statement (“EIS”) prepared in connection with two offshore lease sales held in 2018, the records of decision announcing the sales, or the leases issued.
The court stated that
Last week, the U.S. Department of the Interior released its proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) five-year program for offshore oil and gas leasing. The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) requires the Secretary of the Department of the Interior to “prepare and periodically revise and maintain an oil and gas leasing program” (i.e., a five-year
On June 23, 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a draft guidance on mitigating potential impacts of offshore wind development on commercial and recreational fishing. The final guidance document will set forth required information that lessees must submit to BOEM at each stage of a wind project, i.e., Site Assessment Plan (SAP)
On February 11, 2022, the Biden Administration’s climate change agenda sustained a major blow as Judge James D. Cain of the Western District of Louisiana enjoined a Biden administration executive order that charged federal agencies with considering the “social cost of carbon” in their decision making. The injunction could have far reaching impacts on the
Within the first six weeks of 2022, both state and federal governments have taken steps toward offshore wind energy development off the coast of Louisiana.
On February 1, the Climate Initiatives Task Force submitted the Louisiana Climate Action Plan to Governor Edwards. The Plan offers strategies and actions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in
The Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (the “Act”), which was passed into law on November 15, 2021, included key amendments to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”) that pave the way for carbon sequestration in offshore federal waters.
Prior to the Act’s passage, OCSLA (as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005) authorized