Over the last 100 years courts have developed a body of case law in disputes between lessors and lessees of oil and gas leases. Courts have held that certain provisions are “implied” in the contracts, even though there is no language in the lease to support those provisions. The rationale…
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission now allows landowners with complaints against operators to file their complaint online. Go to http://cogcc.state.co.us/ and click on “Complaints” in the left-hand column.If you’re a surface owner with no mineral rights and you have objections to a proposed well location, you can also…
Here is a chart I came across estimating what oil price is necessary to achieve a 20% after-tax rate of return on wells in various shale plays. Not pretty in light of current oil prices.
A recent “swarm” of small quakes in Irving has caused a stir and ignited a series of articles about the relation between oil and gas activity and seismic events. The quakes in Irving were strong enough to knock some books off of shelves. After residents of the town of Azle…
Here are Flint Hills postings for Texas for January 1, 2, 5 and 6: Eagle Ford West Light Crude has dropped from $42/bbl on January 1 to $36.75/bbl yesterday. Amazing. View all Flint Hills postings here: http://www.fhr.com/refining/bulletins.aspx
The only three essential terms of an oil and gas lease are the granting clause, including a description of the property, the habendum clause, which defines the term of the lease, and the royalty clause. The following would be a valid, enforceable lease: John Doe hereby leases to Gusher Oil…
As I have written, Chesapeake has asked the Texas Supreme Court to reverse the San Antonio Court of Appeals’ decision in Chesapeake v. Hyder. The court of appeals ruled that Chesapeake could not deduct post-production costs from the Hyders’ royalty. The Texas Land & Mineral Owners’ Association and the National…
An essential element of any oil and gas lease is a description of the land to be covered by the lease. The test for a legal description is that it must contain, or make reference to recorded documents that contain, a description of the land of sufficient specificity that a…
The Texas Railroad Commission has adopted amendments to its pipeline permits rule, 16 TAC Sec. 3.70. The amendments require pipeline companies to submit documentation to support their claim that they will operate the line as a common carrier or gas utility. In Texas, pipelines have the right to condemn pipeline…
In Texas, an oil and gas lease grants to the lessee the fee mineral estate in the leased premises for the term of the lease. The lease provides for an initial term during which the lessee need do nothing in order to keep the lease in effect — called the…