Texas Rice Land Partners v. Denbury is back before the Texas Supreme Court. The case that caused such controversy when originally decided by that court in 2012, involves when a pipeline company can exercise the right of eminent domain to condemn pipeline easements. Denbury decided to build a pipeline to…
On Saturday, Oklahoma experienced the third-largest earthquake on record in the state, a 5.1-magnitude quake in northwest Oklahoma. It was felt across Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas, and was followed by 10 smaller quakes ranging from 2.5 to 3.9. In response, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission announced…
Bloomberg’s estimates of the oil price necessary to recover drilling, completion and operating costs in various shale plays (click to enlarge): The winners: DeWitt County in the Eagle Ford Shale, $23/bbl, the Wolfcamp in Reeves County, $24/bbl, and the Bone Spring in Ward County, $25/bbl. Except for DeWitt County, all…
Republican candidates for the open seat on the Texas Railroad Commission were interviewed by Evan Smith of the Texas Tribune in an open forum yesterday. They were asked about global warming, earthquakes, the EPA, House Bill 40 and municipal regulation of drilling, Sunset Commission review of the Commission in the…
On January 29, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in Hysaw v. Dawkins, a unanimous decision with opinion by Justice Guzman. Our firm represents one group of the plaintiffs in the case, which concerns construction of Ethel Hysaw’s will. Ethel Hysaw had three children: Dorothy, Howard and Inez. Her will,…
Last week the Texas Supreme Court denied Chesapeake’s motion for rehearing in Chesapeake v. Hyder. The court originally affirmed the lower courts’ opinions in favor of the Hyders, with four justices dissenting. On rehearing, the court’s alignment did not change, but Justice Hecht issued a new opinion for the majority,…
The Texas Railroad Commission website includes a tool it calls the Public GIS Viewer, that all mineral owners should become familiar with. It can be found at http://wwwgisp.rrc.state.tx.us/GISViewer2/, and it looks like this (click to enlarge): The RRC website also has a page showing you how to use the viewer,…
Flint Hills Resources, LLC, a refiner owned by Charles and David Koch, offered to pay $1.50/bbl for North Dakota Sour crude, from the Bakken shale. Flint Hills originally posted a price of -$0.50/bbl (that’s right, minus fifty cents) for the sour crude, but later said that was a mistake and…
The Texas Supreme Court recently denied a petition for review filed by the Aycocks in their suit against Vantage Fort Worth Energy. The trial court and court of appeals both ruled against the Aycocks’ claims. The holding in the case is not surprising, but dicta in the court of appeals’…
An article by Jim Malewitz in The Texas Tribune, “As Oil Prices Plunge, Questions about Big Tax Credit,” sheds light on an arcane and technical issue not well understood even by most oil and gas lawyers – classification of wells as “oil wells” or “gas wells” by the Texas Railroad…