In January of last year, the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas issued an opinion that centered on surface use by an oil and gas operator. The Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s judgment, which found in favor of the surface owners, Will and Loree Hegar. The operator, Key Operating & […]
Subsurface Trespass Considered
In a previous issue, we discussed the question of subsurface trespass, which was before the Texas Supreme Court in the case styled FPL Farming Ltd. v. Environmental Processing Systems, L.C. In that case, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Beaumont held that the operator, Environmental Processing Systems, L.C., (“EPS”) was immune from subsurface trespass […]
From the General Counsel: A Matter of Balance
The Eleventh Court of Appeals, located in Eastland, Texas, recently dealt with an issue I tend to avoid, if I can, in these articles: the seemingly never-ending dispute between the respective rights of surface owners and oil and gas operators. In this unique case, the operator, Southwest Royalties, Inc. (SRI), sued the surface owner, Mr. […]
Getting Technical
The devil is in the details, where some deals are concerned. Recently, a Petition for Review was filed in the Texas Supreme Court centering on an assignment terminating due to non-payment of overriding royalty interests. Specifically, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Appellate District of Texas, Texarkana, looked at the issue of “strict compliance” […]
From the General Counsel: The “Wash-Out” Debate
Lessees who pay overriding royalty interests are obliged to continue honoring those ORIs with every lease renewal or extension, without exception. Or are they? That’s now a question for the state’s Supreme Court. Do pesky overrides give you issues? The Supreme Court may soon provide a solution to that particular problem. The high Court has […]
“Accommodation” Revisited
An important doctrine comes in for clarification at the hands of the Texas Supreme Court On June 21, 2013, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion on a case I have written about before, Merriman v. XTO Energy, Inc. The case, centering on the accommodation doctrine, involved a cattle rancher complaining that the location of […]
On Being Accommodating
The accommodation doctrine could draw a further opinion from the Texas Supreme Court The Texas Supreme Court heard argument recently on an important case for both landowners and operators: Merriman v. XTO Energy. Although I wrote about this case several months ago, a revisit is prudent. To refresh memories, the Texas Supreme Court was asked […]
From the General Counsel: NPRI Owners and Their Interests
The Non-Participating Royalty Interest Owner has been known to make things interesting for operators when the former has not fully been taken into account. Operators of oil and gas lands can potentially tread some dangerous water when it comes to the payment of royalties to all interest owners. Typically, operators have Drilling Title Opinions drafted […]
From the General Counsel: No Going Back
The backdating of pooling agreements is not permissible, per the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Supreme Court recently provided guidance on the practice of backdated pooling agreements when it denied review of a memorandum decision issued in June 2012 by the Eleventh Court of Appeals. Eddie E. Godfrey, individually, and Eddie E. Godfrey and Jay […]
From the General Counsel
When JOA’s Pass to Subsequent Purchasers The Joint Operating Agreement—not always the simplest contract to interpret—can spawn additional issues when “heirs, successors, and assigns” enter the picture. In late June of this year, TransTexas Gas Corp. (Sandridge Onshore, LLC, is now TransTexas’ successor in interest) filed a petition for review in the Texas Supreme […]