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…
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…
The Sunset Advisory Commission will meet November 10 to vote on its recommendations to the Texas legislature for legislation to continue the Railroad Commission for another 12 years. Committee members have proposed modifications to several of the staff report, and also add several additional recommendations. The staff recommendations and proposed…
“Liberty doesn’t work as well in practice as it does in speeches.” “Democrats never agree on anything, that’s why they’re Democrats. If they agreed with each other, they would be Republicans.” “If you ever injected truth into politics you would have no politics.” “The more you read and observe about…
The Wall Street Journal reported that Sanchez Energy Corp is in talks to buy Anadarko’s leases and production in the Eagle Ford, partnering with Blackstone Group LP, for $3 billion to $3.5 billion. Separately, Sanchez Energy is selling $181 million of “non-core” Eagle Ford leases, about 15,000 acres, to Carrizo…
Two new opinions, one from the San Antonio Court of Appeals and one from the El Paso Court of Appeals, again tackle the task of construing mineral and royalty conveyances and reservations. A spate of these cases has arisen as a result of the recent shale plays, where lands never…
Royalty owner opposition to Chesapeake is heating up in Pennsylvania. Chesapeake has sent royalty owners letters saying it has overpaid them by failing to deduct post-production costs and demanding reimbursement. Post-production cost deductions are exceeding revenues on Chesapeake’s royalty checks, resulting in a “negative royalty.” The Commissioners of Bradford County,…
I ran across this video from the Austin American Statesman – a reporter asking people what is the business of the Texas Railroad Commission. Not many voters know. Once again, the Sunset Commission has recommended that the Commission’s name be changed to something like the Texas Energy Commission. Sounds like…
The environmental group Ceres has released a map showing the overlap between shale plays and water-stressed areas of the U.S. You can view it here. It is based on a study of 110,000 wells fracked over the past five years. Read Ceres’ summary of findings here. Its report is an…
In May of this year, the Provost Umphrey law firm filed a class action complaint in federal court in Pennsylvania against Talisman Energy USA, Inc. for underpayment of royalties on production from the Eagle Ford field in South Texas. Regmund v. Talisman complaint The Plaintiffs are three royalty owners who…