A colleague recently pointed out to me that I had miss-read the Texas Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Endeavor Energy Resources v. Energen Resources Corporation. In my previous post on the case I said that the Court had concluded that the retained acreage clause being construed was ambiguous and had…
Oil and Gas Lawyer Blog
What Happened to the Texas Electric Grid?
Here is an excellent article in which engineers discuss the crisis that almost shut down Texas’ electric grid: Texas Electricity Crisis: Engineers Explain What Went Wrong.
Due Process and the No-Extrinsic-Evidence Rule: Challenges to Default Judgments When Service Was By Publication
Governmental entities in Texas like school districts, municipalities, hospital districts, and counties rely heavily on property taxes to finance their operations. Mineral interests are real property interests, and when a producing well is drilled the owners of rights to production from the well, both the working interest and the royalty…
Solar Consumption per Capita by Country
This is from Visual Capitalist (click on image to enlarge):
Toxic substance or water supply? Lawmakers to weigh whether wastewater from oil fields could replenish the state’s aquifers
Article from Texas Tribune, by Erin Douglas, republished with permission: Deep underneath the ground, fluids travel down and shoot through ancient shale formations, fracturing rock and starting the flow of oil — the essential part of hydraulic fracturing technology that’s transformed America’s oil industry. But that’s not all that comes…
The Periodic Table of Commodity Returns
Here’s a great visual from visualcapitalist.com (click on image to enlarge):
Lyle v. Midway Solar: Solar farm meets accommodation doctrine
The El Paso Court of Appeals tangled with the accommodation doctrine in Lyle v. Midway Solar, LLC, No. 08-19-00216-CV, and the mineral owner lost. The Lyles own a 27.5% mineral interest in 315 acres in Pecos County. Gary Drgac owns the surface. Drgac leased the 315 acres to Midway Solar…
After Five Years of Litigation, Texas Supreme Court Concludes that Lease’s Continuous Development Clause is Ambiguous
Texas courts are very reluctant to hold that oil and gas lease provisions are ambiguous. The same holds true for deeds and wills. These instruments affect title to land, and if an instrument is ambiguous it inserts uncertainty into land titles and results in litigation over the parties’ intent using…
Another Case on Post-Production Costs
Netty Engler Energy, LP has asked the Texas Supreme Court to review the decision of the Fort Worth Court of Appeals in Netty Engler Energy, LP v. Bluestone Natural Resources II, LLC, 2020 WL 3865269 (July 9, 2020). Engler owns a royalty interest in a section of land in Tarrant…
The Passing of a Judicial Giant
Thomas M. Reavley, senior judge on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, died today at age 99. Judge Reavley was on the Texas Supreme Court when I clerked there in 1975-76. The obituary below is from the Texas Supreme Court. Tom Reavley, who served for nine years on the Texas…