Texas Crude v. Burlington Resources Oil and Gas considers the relationship between the operator and non-operators under Articles V and VI of the 1982 Model Form Joint Operating Agreement.
Burlington owed 87.5.% of a prospect and was the operator. Texas Crude owned 12.5. Warwick acquired a 10% working interest from Texas Crude. That interest was
In Steelhead Midstream Partners, LLC v. CL III Funding Holding Company, LLC, the Texas Supreme Court authorized a pipeline owner’s breach-of-contract claim—alleging a co-owner used foreclosure to avoid cost-sharing obligations under a joint operating agreement. The claim was not an impermissible collateral attack against a judgment allowing a foreclosure because the
Patch LLC et al v. Indio Minerals LLC et al was a dispute over title to a 1/8th NPRI in land in Midland County. Viola Ash, an Illinois resident, executed a warranty deed in 1932 for land in Midland County, reserving a 1/8 NPRI. Viola died in 1974 leaving no children.
Due diligence
Patch’s
Boren Descendants et al v. Fasken Oil and Ranch, LTD, offers something to talk about beyond interpretation of the fixed-or-floating NPRI question. At issue was this reservation, expressed as a double fraction, in a 1933 deed:, “an undivided … 1/4th of the usual … 1/8th royalty” from a conveyance of real property”.
The
After four stops at the lower courts, Kenneth Hahn v. ConocoPhillips has been resolved by the Supreme Court of Texas. The Court opined on the effect of two instruments often used to clarify land titles in Texas: ratifications of an oil and gas lease and stipulations of interests.
Who owns produced water in Texas? And what is produced water anyway – oil and gas waste and part of the mineral estate, or groundwater and part of the surface estate? We may be closer to an answer to these questions now that the Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear a
Alas, we might never know. Opiela v. Railroad Commission of Texas and Magnolia Oil & Gas Operating, was a challenge to the Commission’s authority to issue permits for allocation wells and wells drilled under Production Sharing Agreements. The parties have submitted a Joint Unopposed Motion For Reversal and Remand Pursuant to the Parties’ Settlement
The message in RSM Production Corporation v. Gaz du Cameroun SA: According to the federal Fifth Circuit, an arbitration tribunal’s construction of a contract and the arbitration rules governing the dispute “hold, however good, bad, or ugly.” Translation: Good for one party, bad or ugly for the other, just like the courthouse.
RSM was