Oil and Gas Lawyer BlogLone Oak Club, a hunting and fishing club, owns a tract of land in Galveston County near Galveston Bay, through which runs Lone Oak Bayou: Members of the public boat up into Lone Oak Bayou and sometimes wade and fish or hunt in its shallow waters. Lone Oak complained about this activity and asserted that […]
Search Results for: texas supreme court
Published on:
Texas Supreme Court Weighs In On Application of Rule Against Perpetuities to Overriding Royalty Reservations
Last week the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in Yowell v. Granite Operating Company, No. 18-0841, again grappling with the ancient Rule Against Perpetuities in the context of modern oil and gas transactions–the second time in two years in which the court tackled the inscrutable “Rule.” The facts (simplified): The Yowells own an overriding […]
Published on:
Texas Supreme Court Opines on Consent-to-Assign Provision
When an oil and gas lease requires the lessor’s consent to assign, without more, must the lessor have a reasonable basis to withhold consent?
Published on:
Texas Supreme Court Decides Another Fraction-of-Royalty Case
In U.S. Shale Energy II, LLC v. Laborde Properties, L.P., the Texas Supreme Court grappled again with a royalty reservation. In a 1951 deed, the grantors reserved the following: There is reserved and excepted from this conveyance unto the grantors herein, their heirs and assigns, an undivided one-half (1/2) interest in and to the Oil […]
Published on:
Texas Supreme Court Opines on Retained Acreage Clauses
Last Friday the Texas Supreme Court issued opinions in XOG Operating, LLC v. Chesapeake Exploration Limited Partnership et al., No. 15-0935, and Endeavor Energy Resources, L.P. et al. v. Discovery Operating, Inc. et al., No. 16-0155. In both cases, the Court affirmed the decisions of the trial courts and courts of appeals. Both cases garnered […]
Published on:
Superior Court of Pennsylvania Disagrees with Texas Supreme Court on Whether Rule of Capture Applies to Hydraulic Fracturing
On April 2, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania issued its opinion in Briggs v. Southwestern Energy Production Co., 2018 PA Super 79, No. 1351 MDA 2017. It held that “hydraulic fracturing may constitute an actionable trespass where subsurface fractures, fracturing fluid and proppant cross boundary lines and extend into the subsurface estate of an adjoining […]
Published on:
Three Recent Arguments in Texas Supreme Court: Offset Clauses, the Rule Against Perpetuities, and the Duhig Rule
Last Tuesday the Texas Supreme Court heard arguments in three cases on oil-and-gas-related topics. Murphy Oil v. Adams, No. 16-0505: Our firm represents the Herbsts in this case. Murphy owns a lease on their lands in Atascosa County, shown in blue below. While the Herbst Lease was in its primary term, Comstock drilled the Lucas […]
Published on:
Cases to Watch in Texas Supreme Court
Oil and gas cases I’m following that are now pending before the Texas Supreme Court: 16-0107, Hill v. Shamoun & Norman Fight over attorneys’ fees related to litigation of trust from H.L. Hunt Estate. Case has been argued. I wrote about the case in a prior post. 16-0804, Perryman v. Spartan Texas Six Capital Partners […]
Published on:
H.L. Hunt Estate Fee Dispute Lands in Texas Supreme Court
The Texas Supreme Court heard argument last week in a fee dispute between Albert Hill Jr., an H.L. Hunt heir, and one of his attorneys, Gregory Shamoun. Albert G. Hill, Jr. v. Shamoun & Norman, LLP, No. 16-0107. The Dallas Court of Appeals reversed a take-nothing judgment and awarded Shamoun $7.5 million in fees. 483 […]
Published on:
Texas Supreme Court Denies Motion for Rehearing in BP America Production Co. v. Red Deer Resources, LLC
On September 22, the Texas Supreme Court refused to reconsider its opinion in BP America v. Red Deer Resources, No. 15.0569 – after some 16 amicus briefs and letters were filed urging the court to grant Red Deer’s motion for rehearing. The Court addressed the construction of a shut-in royalty clause in an oil and […]