On February 6, 2015, The Supreme Court of Texas released its second opinion in FPL Farming Ltd. (“FPL”) v. Environmental Processing Systems, L.C. (“EPS”). The Beaumont court of appeals had held that injected fluids that migrate beyond the boundary of the land owned by the surface owner constitute a trespass on…
On January 30, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Hooks v. Samson Lone Star, Limited Partnership, No. 12-0920. In doing so, it kept alive a $21 million verdict against Samson and limited its prior holdings barring suits by mineral owners based on the statute of limitations. The principal claim…
Earthquakes linked to oil and gas activity are in the news. A recent study in Ohio linked a rash of small earthquakes to fracing of wells in the area. Earthquakes in Oklahoma have increased tenfold since 2009. A swarm of small earthquakes hit the Dallas-Fort Worth area recently. The US…
In a special section of the January 17 edition of The Economist, Edward Lucas gives a broad overview of the world energy outlook and the future for renewable energy. His is an optimistic forecast for cleaner, cheaper and more plentiful energy. His article can be found online here. First, the…
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…