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 […]
When Production gets “Allocated”
The advent of the “Allocation Well” comes with a fresh legal challenge, where horizontal well royalties are concerned. A new Railroad Commission phenomena has developed recently, despite obvious rulings to the contrary. The name? Allocation Wells. Operators that are diving into horizontal drilling may already know all they need to know, but for the rest, […]
From the General Counsel: The Point of Valuation
In New Mexico, a challenge to a lower court’s decision has caused the state’s Supreme Court to take a longer look at what it means to pay a lessor an established portion of the “net proceeds” from the sale of gas. More than a few months ago I wrote about the Commissioner of Public Lands […]
From the General Counsel: “Just Compensation” Could be “For the Taking”
House Bill 1496, if passed, could bring a new twist to the old workings of eminent domain. Most operators have probably come across that one local municipality that is such a pain to deal with, due to regulations and restrictions imposed upon drilling activities, that the better option seems to be avoidance of such an […]
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: The Overriding Royalty Interest
Overriding royalty interests (“ORRIs”) and the way they are treated by both Lessees and case law have been a cause for some contention in Texas. As many are aware, ORRIs terminate when the lease terminates. This allows a calculating Lessee to choose to let a lease terminate, and take a new lease without the ORRI […]