A federal judge in Dallas has ruled that Chesapeake cannot deduct post-production costs on the Plaintiffs’ leases covering lands in Tarrant and Johnson Counties, in the Barnett shale. The order can be viewed here: Winscott – Order on MSJs The case is Trinity Valley School, et al. vs. Chesapeake Operating,…
Last week, the US Energy Information Administration provided a summary of states’ severance tax revenue (click on image below to enlarge): With the precipitous decline in oil prices, Alaska, North Dakota and Wyoming will be hurting. According to EIA, Texas collected $931 million in severance tax revenues in the first…
Big news this week about the Environmental Protection Agency’s new proposed regulations to limit emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from oil and gas drilling, operating, compression and processing facilities. EPA’s proposed new rules can be viewed here. Among other things, the proposed regs would require operators to…
Chesapeake is spending a lot of money on lawyers. Dan McDonald, a Fort Worth attorney, has filed some 250 cases against Chesapeake contending that it is underpaying its royalty owners. Companies affiliated with former House of Representatives Speaker Tom Craddick have now been added to McDonald’s client list. So many…
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the regulator of oil and gas in Oklahoma, has directed operators of 23 injection wells in a designated area to reduce rates of injection by 38% by October 2, 2015. The order covers a 15-mile-by-40-mile “area of interest,” stretching northwest from the outskirts of Oklahoma City.…
The rights of local municipalities to regulate or ban drilling activity within their jurisdictions has been a hot topic over the last few years in several states, especially Pennsylvania, Texas and Colorado. Shale development has been intense in all three states, but their reactions to urban drilling regulation have differed…
The EPA this week published a “proposed framework” for a new voluntary program for the oil and gas sector to reduce methane emissions – the “Natural Gas STAR Methane Challenge Program.” It is part of the administration’s continuing effort to reduce emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The proposal…
When exploration began in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, it was the wild west transported to the east. Speculators sprung up and bought oil and gas leases with the expectation of selling them for a profit. The forms of oil and gas leases I saw being used in Pennsylvania were…
Here is an excellent article by Michael Levy, senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations: “Fracking and the Climate Debate,” published in the journal Democracy. A well-reasoned and balanced summary of the debates over the role of natural gas in our energy future and…
Representative Drew Darby, Chair of the Texas House Committee on Energy Resources, wrote the members of the committee to ask their input on issues that should be addressed by the committee during the interim between legislative sessions. A copy of the letter can be viewed here: Darby letter. Of the…