PanAmerican Operating Inc. v. Maud Smith Estate highlights the perils of working through independent landmen: maintaining enough control to be sure the work is done as you like it, but also wanting authority to disavow his actions should you desire.
PanAmerican hired an independent contractor, Wormser, to obtain oil and gas leases
Ross et al v. Enervest Operating, L.L.C. et al has several teachable moments for Louisiana royalty owners.
“Nice to Meet You” is Not a Demand
Under the Louisiana Mineral Code, a lessee is entitled to written notice from the lessor that royalties are due. The court concluded that such a notice must be more than
Co-author Travis Booher.All legislation is not good legislation. The good news is that some of it fails. Such is the case with H.B. 2590 passed by the 2013 Texas legislature but vetoed by the Governor. We mention it because it will be back in the next session.
The Bill, “An act relating to
Comparative Title Analysis in Texas, North Dakota and Montana. Co-authored by Katie English and Taylor Lamb
The Title Question
Your title examiner often encounters a conveyance to an individual “as Trustee” with no Trust specified in the instrument. For example, the Mineral Deed conveys all right, title and interest in Blackacre to “Harold Smith, Trustee,”
It must be maddening to non-lawyers that a large segment of an industry can operate in harmony by agreeing that a contract in widespread use means one thing, only to have party-crashers decide it means another. Total E & P U.S.A., Inc. v. Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp. et al arose out
Most of the time, if you read Stroud et al v. Hosford et al. even Hamilton Burger might have won on these facts. But when a lease subject to an override is terminated and replaced by another, Texas cases usually end up against the overriding royalty owner.
The Holding:
The court agreed with the jury
Gasland II made its villainous debut this week on HBO. It‘s more egregious than the first in that it not only repeats disproven scenarios, but adds new ones that are equally misinformed. I complain about these injustices as a hobby, so
Many years ago, in the days of cheap oil and cheaper natural gas, The Superior Oil Company often hired geologists and engineers away from Mobil Oil. As a result of many years of attracting good talent, Superior became the largest independent producer in the U.S. In 1986 Mobil acquired Superior. It was said at the
We begin with a tribute to global warming of a different sort.
For those not yet overexposed to reports on President Obama’s climate change policy announcement, I offer this reasonably objective factual summary of the highlights from the Washington Post (rather than the platitudes underlying many reports). A link to the text of the President’s
A provision in a contract, no matter how unequivocal, does not always trump the law. The oil and gas lease allowed assignments, but no change or division in ownership of the land or royalties would be binding on the lessee until the acquiring party had furnished lessee with the instruments constituting his chain of title