Oil and Gas Lawyer Blog

Here is a graph from the Energy Information Administration showing the Texas crude miracle: Texas now produces 36% of US oil production.  The graph below is from a Reuters article, showing the resultant drop in US crude imports: 

The New York Times reported recently that the number of mobile or “walking” drilling rigs in operation now exceeds the number of conventional rigs, by 650 to 500. “Pad drilling” — the drilling of multiple wells from a single pad site — has now become the norm in unconventional plays,…

From Northern Oil and Gas: http://www.northernoil.com/drilling-video

Recent news relating to oil and gas exploration and development in Texas: Dune Sagebrush Lizard — Good article on efforts of industry and State regulators to avoid problems raised by possible listing of the Dune Sagebrush Lizard under the Endangered Species Act. Here is a map of the lizard’s habitat…

The Klotzman mineral owners have appealed the Texas Railroad Commission’s order granting EOG a permit to drill an “allocation well” on their land. A copy of the petition can be viewed here: Klotzman Petition.pdf. Our firm represents the Klotzmans.  For my previous posts about allocation wells and the Klotzman case,…

The San Antonio Court of Appeals recently decided a case illustrating the new kinds of issues that can arise from the drilling of horizontal wells. In Springer Ranch v. Jones, Alice Burkholder owned a ranch, 8,545 acres in La Salle and Webb Counties. She signed a single oil and gas…

Data from the Energy Information Administration shows that Texas’ oil production is now the highest it’s been in thirty years. Texas crude production is now approaching 3 million barrels/day, a rate not seen since the 1960’s. Below are EIA graphs showing production of oil from the Eagle Ford and the…

On December 20, the Office of Inspector General of the Environmental Protection Agency issued its “Response to Congressional Inquiry Regarding the EPA’s Emergency Order to the Range Resources Gas Drilling Company.”  The report was requested by Congress as a result of an emergency order issued by the Dallas regional office…

The Energy Information Administration has created a nifty website presenting energy information by state, with a great map interface. Here is the link to the Texas map:  http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=TX  Click on “full screen,” then play with the different layers for the map. Under “layers/legend,” click on “views” and explore the different layers…

In November, Texas Monthly hosted a panel discussion at Rice University’s Baker Institute for public policy about the boom in shale oil development in the US. The panel members: Arthur E. Berman, a Sugar Land-based geologist; Scott W. Tinker, the director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of…