The 2025 Louisiana Legislative Session has continued to stay busy on the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) front, with a mix of outcomes for proposed bills.
Continue Reading Pipelines, Property, and Policy: CCS Legislation Continues in 2025 Louisiana Session
The Texas Supreme Court, in Myers-Woodward, LLC v. Undergrounds Services Markham, LLC, — S.W.3d —, No. 22-0878, 2025 WL 1415892 (Tex. May 16, 2025), held that surface owners own subsurface salt caverns, even when such caverns are created by mineral owners.
Continue Reading Ownership of Underground Storage Space Under Texas Law Resolved by Texas Supreme Court Decision
On March 12, 2025, EPA Administrator Zeldin announced that the agency will undertake 31 deregulatory actions to advance President Trump’s Day One executive orders and EPA’s “Powering the Great American Comeback.”
Continue Reading EPA Announces 31 Historic Actions Publicized as “Greatest Day of Deregulation Our Nation Has Seen”
On March 12, 2025, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers issued a joint memorandum providing guidance to field staff on implementing the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) as it pertains to “adjacent wetlands.”
Continue Reading EPA and Army Corps Issue New Guidance for Implementing WOTUS Definition under Supreme Court’s Sackett Decision
The Offshore Parity Act of 2024 (H.R. 10183), introduced on November 20, 2024, by Congressmen Garret Graves (R-LA) and Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA), looks to extend Louisiana’s state authority from 3 to 9 nautical miles offshore into the Gulf of Mexico.
Continue Reading Casting a Wider Net: Proposed Expansion of Coastal States’ Authority
The Louisiana Supreme Court has declined to review the First Circuit Court of Appeal’s ruling in Rise St. James v. LDEQ, essentially cementing the appellate court’s holding that an analysis of environmental justice (EJ) issues is required under Louisiana’s Public Trust Doctrine.
Continue Reading EJ Analysis Remains Part of Louisiana’s Public Trust Duty
On Friday, June 28, 2024, the United States Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. __ (2024), ushering in a new era of judicial review of agency action.
Continue Reading SCOTUS Dials Back Chevron Deference in Loper Bright Opinion
On May 17, 2024, the Texas Supreme Court held that when a lease requires royalties to be paid on all gas sold or used off the premises, but the valuation point for said royalties is “at the well,” gas used off premises as fuel is deductible as a matter of law.
Continue Reading Texas Supreme Court Determines That Off-Lease Fuel is Deductible from Royalties Valued at the Well
On May 31, the Louisiana Legislature passed HB 492 expressly providing that a pipeline company has authority to expropriate property rights for pipelines transporting carbon dioxide for Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) projects.
Continue Reading Transforming and Transporting: Louisiana Legislature Amends Law to Allow Pipeline Transporters Expropriation Authority for CCS Projects
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently certified a question to the Texas Supreme Court asking what effect a free-use clause and an off-lease clause have on a royalty clause valuing royalties at the well. At issue was whether gas used as fuel off the leased premises could be deducted from royalties when the royalties were to be valued at the well under an oil and gas lease containing an off-lease clause and a free-use clause. Texas Supreme Court precedent provides that when a lease states that royalties must be valued on the gross proceeds received by lessees, free-use clauses do not allow for gas used as fuel off the leased premises to be deducted, but it is not clear on whether that same rationale would apply when royalties are valued at the well. Given that uncertainty, the Fifth Circuit could not confidently make an Erie guess on the issue and instead opted to certify the question to the Texas Supreme Court.
Continue Reading At the Well vs. Off the Lease: The Fifth Circuit Asks the Texas Supreme Court to Determine Whether Off-Lease Fuel May be Deducted from Royalties Valued at the Well