The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear Devillier v. State of Texas, Docket No. 22-913, a suit by the Devilliers and others to recover for damages to their land caused by the State. The facts are described in the Devillier’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari: This case arises out…
Oil and Gas Lawyer Blog
City of Dallas v. Trinity East Energy – Texas Supreme Court Refuses City’s Petition on Appeal of $33 million judgment
In 2014 the City of Denton banned drilling of wells within its city limits. In response the Texas Legislature quickly passed HB 40, giving the Texas Railroad Commission exclusive jurisdiction to issue drilling permits within municipalities and allowing cities to regulate oil and gas activity only if their ordinances relate…
World Electricity Sources in 2022
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/electricity-sources-by-fuel-in-2022/ Worldwide only 14.4% of electricity comes from renewables – wind, solar, geothermal; if you add in hydroelectric, the number is 29%.
Federal District Court Addresses Post-Production Costs in Light of Devon v. Sheppard
The federal district court in Pecos, Judge David Counts, issued a memorandum opinion in H.L. Hawkins, Jr., Inc. v. Capitan Energy, Inc., P:22-CV-DC[Hawkins] addressing Hawkins’ claim that Capitan had improperly deducted post-production costs from its royalty. The Court held that the reasoning in the recent Texas Supreme Court case of Devon…
Cactus Water Services v. COP Operating — Who Owns Produced Water?
Production of oil and gas is often accompanied by production of water from the same formation. In recent years, water has been injected into wells in the process known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” Much of the frac water returns with oil and gas during the initial production of the…
PBEX v. Dorchester — Adverse Possession of a Non-Operating Working Interest
The Amarillo Court of Appeals recently decided PBEX II, LLC, et al. v. Dorchester Minerals, L.P. et al., addressing an interesting issue on adverse possession of a non-operating working interest. One justice dissented. The Court’s opinion relies on two Texas Supreme Court decisions that were controversial: Natural Gas Pipeline co.…
Carbon Contracts for Farmers and Ranchers
Tiffany Dowell Lashmet and Karli Kaase, with Texas AgriLife Extension, have put together a great resource for landowners considering carbon contracts. It can be found here. Tiffany has regular blog posts providing great information for landowners.
Texas Leads US in Renewables
From Visual Capitalist (click on image to enlarge):
Colors of Hydrogen
Maybe you’ve heard of “green hydrogen.” There’s been a lot of press lately about projects to produce hydrogen to use as an alternative fuel, and the Inflation Adjustment Act provides tax credits for production of “green hydrogen.” But did you know that there are other hydrogen “colors”? An excellent article…
Carbon Capture and Underground Storage
Since passage by Congress of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022, significant activities and developments have taken place in Texas regarding carbon capture and underground storage (CCUS) projects. The IRA provides tax credits for injection and underground storage of carbon dioxide. As a result, major companies have begun developing…