May 2011 Archives

May 14, 2011

Texas Supreme Court Again Reverses Jury Verdict Favoring Royalty Owners

by John McFarland

The Texas Supreme Court has once again overturned a jury verdict in favor of royalty owners, finding "no evidence" to support the jury's finding. The court's opinion in the case, BP America Production Company, Atlantic Richfield Company and Vastar Resources, Inc. v. Stanley G. Marshall, Jr., et al., No. 09-0399, was issued last week. The case evidences the Court's continued hostility to royalty owners' claims of lease termination.

The important facts are as follows:

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Posted In: Lessor's Remedies , Recent Cases

May 11, 2011

Duke University Researchers Find Correlation Between Marcellus Shale Drilling and Methane-Contaminated Drinking Water

by John McFarland

Researchers at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University have written an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences titled "Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing," which finds "systematic evidence for methane contamination of drinking water associated with shale-gas extraction" in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and New York. The article has already elicited a strong response from the industry. To my knowledge, this is the first scientifically based study finding a correllation between the drilling of shale wells and the contamination of aquifers.

 

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Posted In: Energy and the Environment , Hydraulic fracturing , Unconventional Resources

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