Close

Oil and Gas Lawyer Blog

Updated:

Can a Division Order Modify Lease Provisions?

Section 91.402(h) of the Texas Natural Resources Code, the “division order statute,” provides that the execution of a division order … shall not change or relieve the lessee’s specific, expressed or implied obligations under an oil and gas lease …. Section 91.402(g) of the division order statute provides that Division…

Updated:

Cowboys and the Law – the “Cowboy Way”

I recently read a biography of R.B. Masterson, famous cattleman, written by his son-in-law Z.T. Scott in 1930. Scott listed as Masterson’s first outstanding quality his honesty. “Schooled in the days when a man’s word was his bond and elaborate contracts with legal perplexities were unthought of, his sense of…

Updated:

The Problem of Abandoned Wells

The article below appeared in the latest newsletter of the Texas Land and Mineral Owners Association. It reviews the Texas Railroad Commission’s recent amendment of its Rule 15, dealing with dormant oil and gas wells. Thanks to TLMA and the author, Trey Scott, for giving me permission to publish his…

Updated:

Forest Oil v. El Rucio Land and Cattle Company, No. 14-0979, Texas Supreme Court

When I last wrote about this case, I reported that the Texas Supreme Court had denied the petition for review of the Corpus Christi Court of Appeals’ decision affirming a $15 million arbitration award against Forest. On motion for rehearing, the Supreme Court granted the petition for review. The case…

Updated:

Quakes and the Commission

The Dallas Morning News has published an excellent, in-depth investigative report — “Seismic Denial? Why Texas Won’t Admit Fracking Wastewater is Causing Earthquakes,” by Steve Thompson and Anna Kuchment — about the Texas Railroad Commission’s failure to recognize or address the relationship between salt water disposal wells and earthquakes in…

Updated:

Harold Hamm, Donald Trump, and Earthquakes

National press have reported that oil tycoon Harold Hamm, billionaire founder and CEO of Continental Resources, is being considered for Energy Secretary in the Trump administration. Last year, it was reported that Hamm pressured the University of Oklahoma to dismiss scientists who were studying links between disposal wells and earthquakes…

Updated:

Pennsylvania Appellate Court Dismisses Landowner’s Claim Against Range Resources of Water Well Contamination

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania last month issued its decision in Kiskadden v. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, copy of opinion here: Kiskadden. Kiskadden claims that chemicals from Range Resources’ Yeager wells, located about a half-mile from Kiskadden’s water well, contaminated his well. One judge dissented. The Commonwealth Court is…

Contact Us